Music and Medicine

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Francisco D. Lara.  Dr. Lara is an ethnomusicologist and musician with pedagogical, research, and performance interest in the music and culture of Latin America, Afro-Latin America, and music, health, and wellness. He is on the faculty at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee.

In this episode of Music & Medicine, Žak Ozmo continues the conversation with Stephen Johnson, a British author, BBC music broadcaster, and composer.  His recent book, How Shostakovich Changed My Mind, won the prestigious 2021 Rubery Book Award.

Johnson explores the power of Shostakovich’s music during Stalin’s reign of terror and talks about the extraordinary healing effect of music on sufferers of mental illness.  He further reflects on his own experience, where he believes Shostakovich’s music helped him survive the trials and assaults of bipolar disorder.

In this episode of Music & Medicine, Žak Ozmo is in conversation with Dr. Lee Bartel. Dr. Bartel is Professor Emeritus of Music and former Associate Dean-Research at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto, and Founding Director of the Music and Health Research Collaboratory. In the past 10 years he has been pursuing a research agenda of sound and brain stimulation at Mount Sinai Hospital, Wasser Pain Management Centre and Women's College Hospital with pain conditions, at Toronto Rehab on music and cardiac rehab, at Baycrest with Alzheimer's, and at University Health Network with major depression.

The conversation includes discussions of using sound in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, fibromyalgia, and more.

In this episode of Music & Medicine, Žak Ozmo is joined by Dr. Andrew Rossetti. Dr Rossetti is a music therapist on staff at the Louis Armstrong Department of Music Therapy at Mount Sinai Beth Israel hospital in New York City. There he supervises the multi-site music therapy program in radiology oncology. His practice extends to the infusion suite, surgery, and neonatal intensive care unit, and he specializes in treating emotional trauma.

The conversation includes discussions of setting up a music therapy program in a department of radiation oncology, wider adoption of music-based interventions within modern healthcare systems, and more.

In this episode of Music & Medicine, Žak Ozmo is in conversation with Stephen Johnson, a British author, BBC music broadcaster, and composer.  His recent book, How Shostakovich Changed My Mind, won the prestigious 2021 Rubery Book Award.

Johnson explores the power of Shostakovich’s music during Stalin’s reign of terror, and talks about the extraordinary healing effect of music on sufferers of mental illness.  He further reflects on his own experience, where he believes Shostakovich’s music helped him survive the trials and assaults of bipolar disorder.

How is it that music that reflects pain, fear and desolation can help sufferers find – if not a way out, then a way to bear these feelings and ultimately rediscover pleasure in existence? Johnson draws on interviews with the members of the orchestra who performed Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony during the siege of Leningrad, during which almost a third of the population starved to death.

In this episode of Music & Medicine, Žak Ozmo speaks to Professor Nigel Osborne MBE.  Professor Osborne is a British composer, teacher, and aid worker. He served as Reid Professor of Music at the University of Edinburgh and has also taught at Hanover University of Music, Drama, and Media.  Professor Osborne is known for his extensive charity work supporting war traumatised children using music therapy techniques, especially in the Balkans during the Bosnian War in the 90s, and the current Syrian conflict.  Professor Osborne speaks about his work in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as other conflict zones over the years, methods used to help children deal with trauma, and the development of new music technologies.  Includes music by Nigel Osborne, Sting, and Bosnian traditional sevdah music.

In this episode of Music & Medicine, Žak Ozmo is joined by Dr. Joanne Loewy.  Dr. Loewy is the founding Director of the Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine at Mount Sinai Health System in New York City, and the Editor in Chief of the international, peer-reviewed journal Music and Medicine.  Dr Loewy has edited several books including Music Therapy in Pediatric Pain, Music Therapy in the NICU and she co-edited Music Therapy at End of Life,  Caring for the Caregiver: Music Therapy in Grief and Trauma and the new Integrative Advances in Music and Medicine: Music, the Breath and Health.

In this episode of Music & Medicine, Žak Ozmo speaks to Professor Michael Trimble.  Professor Trimble is a neuroscientist who was for many years a Professor of Behavioral Neurology and Consultant Physician to the Department of Psychological Medicine at the National Hospital Queen Square, London, where he now holds emeritus status.  He has written thirteen books, including Why Humans Like to Cry: Tragedy, Evolution, and the Brain (Oxford University Press, 2014) and the upcoming book on Death in Opera.  The program includes a discussion of the links between music and emotions, music and epilepsy, death in opera, and more!

In the third episode of Music & Medicine, Žak Ozmo is joined by the neuroscientist Dr. Kiminobu Sugaya and the violinist Dr. Ayako Yonetani as they explore how music impacts brain function and human behavior. The discussion includes an overview of topics such as reducing pain and symptoms of depression, mitigating the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, and the use of music in cancer care. Dr. Sugaya and Dr. Yonetani are both professors at the University of Central Florida where they have been teaching one of the most popular courses in The Burnett Honors College titled “Music and the Brain”.

In the second episode of Music and Medicine, Žak Ozmo speaks to Martina de Witte about the use of music in alleviating stress.  The program is illustrated with music that can both aid – and cause you – stress!  Martina de Witte is a lecturer and researcher in Music Therapy and Research Methodology at the HAN University of Applied Sciences in Nijmegen and the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.  Her research focuses on the effects and applicability of music therapy interventions for stress regulation.

In the inaugural episode of Music & Medicine, Žak Ozmo speaks to Dr. Remi Chiu about the similarities between historical plagues and the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the role of music in the healing process. The program is sprinkled with music that heals our body and regulates our mood! Dr. Chiu is Associate Professor of Renaissance Music History, Musicology and Core Music at Loyola University Maryland and is the author of the book titled Plague and Music in the Renaissance (Cambridge University Press, 2017).