Our Music as a Healing Art Initiative encompasses:

• Courses that introduce students to the art and science of therapeutic music, focusing on elderly and vulnerable populations.

• Scholarships for students to become Certified Music Practitioners, a growing career field of complementary medicine.

• Research into the clinical effects of therapeutic music.

DeShaun Gordon-King envisioned playing in orchestras or gaining international fame as a flute soloist. After participating in Longy’s Music as a Healing Art Initiative, he realized that using music to make a healing environment perfectly combined his spirituality, his love of storytelling, and his passion for music. The recognition he once sought as a performer seemed to pale in comparison to the difference he could make as a therapeutic music practitioner. “I’m okay with not pursuing these international competitions or these orchestral auditions because, at the end of the day, I know my music will be having a powerful impact on people—and that’s the most important thing for me.”