Alice visits with her "Musical Brain" mentor

Today I had the pleasure of spending some time with my dear music medicine mentor, Dr. Arthur Harvey! I am vacationing in Sarasota and Dr. Harvey has now moved here from Hawaii! We had some scintillating conversation this a.m. about music and surgery and he gave me some great ideas for music to use during surgery. He also filled me in on some important resources that I had not yet mined and will be doing so this evening and beyond.

Dr. Arthur Harvey is one fantastic, awesome, and yet very humble individual and I hope we can have these inspiring visits for years to come! Thanks for helping me to step into this field Arthur!

Lecture at Clemson University Introduces Healing Music Concepts

Last Thursday night, September 13, 2007 will live in my memory for many decades to come. On that night in Clemson, S.C. at Clemson University, I presented the Inaugural William H. Hunter, M.D. Endowed Lecture. This newly endowed lecture will be presented as part of the Calhoun Lecture Series and I believe will always be on a medical topic. I feel so honored to have been asked to deliver this lecture because the subject of Music as Medicine is still, unfortunately, somewhat controversial. Despite the fact the we have documented evidence from throughout history that music has been used for heaing purposes, in our scientific and empirical data age, many people still see music therapy and music healing as "soft science" and something to be quite skeptical about.

This lecture was sponsored by AnMed Health Foundation in Anderson, S.C. and this wonderful group is already fully supportive of the use of music in hospitals and are providing music therapy and music healing. It was so wonderful to see many old friends there and friends of my parents and many, many people purchased books, CD's and tapes. Thank you sooooooooo much to everyone who made this possible!

The Brain, Biking, and Improvisation

Today was Labor Day and I deicided to do the Mayor's Bike and Hike Event down by the Ohio River. It was a beautiful day and riding the 10-12 miles downtown and along the river was just a gorgeous trip.
When I got home, I was ready to sit down at the piano and start working on my new Christas CD music. I was amazed at how easy the arranging of my music was today and I totally attribute it to the endorphins, dopamine and adrenaline that I stirred up by riding my bike up and down the rolling hills and valleys earlier today. What do you think?