In Saturday’s (6/7) Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Lois M. Collins writes, “The role music plays in bolstering health will be center stage as roughly 1,200 professional musicians gather in Salt Lake City June 11-13 for the League of American Orchestras’ 80th national conference. Music is integral to well-being, Simon Woods, the president and CEO of the League, told Deseret News…. ‘There’s been just such an explosion of interest in the power of music for health and wellness,’ he said. Orchestras large and small across the U.S. and Europe are investing their energy, time and talent into their communities through programs as diverse as incorporating yoga or meditation into a performance to teaching children about music, including both listening and making it. Musicians have gone into prisons and memory care facilities, hospitals and shelters. One of the driving forces in the effort—and the conference keynote speaker—is American soprano Renée Fleming, who became so interested she ultimately edited a book about it called ‘Music and the Mind.’… The value of music to improve health is so important that the League created a ‘Catalyst Guide’ to showcase ongoing work and help those who aren’t engaged in well-being in their community get started…. Woods said … ‘What’s interesting and so strong about the field today is the way that orchestras now think so deeply about how they can make the biggest possible impact in their communities.’ ”
