Episode Description:
In partnership with WETA and other local PBS stations, PBS Books Heather-Marie Montilla is joined by World-Renowned Soprano and Arts/Health Advocate, Renée Fleming to discuss her latest book “Music and Mind” as the 2024 Library of Congress National Book Festival author featured this week by PBS Books.
A compelling and growing body of research has shown music and arts therapies to be effective tools for addressing a widening array of conditions, including providing pain relief, alleviating anxiety and depression, regaining speech after stroke or traumatic brain injury, and improving mobility for people with disorders that include Parkinson’s disease and MS. “Music and Mind” is a groundbreaking book, the perfect introduction and overview of this exciting new field.
The 24th annual Library of Congress National Book Festival will be held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, August 24, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
About the Book:
A compelling and growing body of research has shown music and arts therapies to be effective tools for addressing a widening array of conditions, from providing pain relief and alleviating anxiety and depression to regaining speech after stroke or traumatic brain injury, and improving mobility for people with disorders that include Parkinson’s disease and MS.
In Music and Mind Renée Fleming draws upon her own experience as an advocate to showcase the breadth of this booming field, inviting leading experts to share their discoveries. In addition to describing therapeutic benefits, the book explores evolution, brain function, childhood development, and technology as applied to arts and health.
Much of this area of study is relatively new, made possible by recent advances in brain imaging, and supported by the National Institutes of Health, major hospitals, and universities. This work is sparking an explosion of public interest in the arts and health sector.
Fleming has presented on this material in over fifty cities across North America, Europe, and Asia, collaborating with leading researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners. With essays from notable musicians, writers, and artists, as well as leading neuroscientists, Music and Mind is a groundbreaking book, the perfect introduction and overview of this exciting new field.
Guest Biography:
Renée Fleming
Renée Fleming is an acclaimed soprano and health/arts advocate who has performed at events ranging from the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony to the Super Bowl. She has received many honors and awards, including five Grammys, the National Medal of Arts and a Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Award. A prominent advocate for research at the intersection of the arts, health and neuroscience, Fleming serves as an artistic advisor to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where she launched the first ongoing collaboration between the Kennedy Center and the National Institutes of Health. She is also a 2023 Kennedy Center Honoree and serves as a World Health Organization goodwill ambassador for arts and health. Fleming is the editor of the new essay collection, “Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts for Health and Wellness,” which is featured at the 2024 National Book Festival.
