Performing Arts: The Arts + Mental Health: The Impact on the Human Spirit - A Two-Day Exploration, through Conversation and Performance, of the Roles that the Arts Play in Mental Health

Event Details

Bobby McFerrin (photo by Carol Friedman)Bobby McFerrin (photo by Carol Friedman)Cornell Council for the Arts’ panel and performances surrounding the general topic “The Arts and Mental Health” will address the importance and impact of participatory and presentational art in the lives of the general population, and, in particular, members of the academic community. The panel will include members of the academic, musical, medical, and psychiatric community.

Thursday, 6:00-7:30 p.m.

I: Making Art – Performances by Cornell faculty and guest artists

- Poetry of Sylvia Plath and Joanie Mackowski, Assistant Professor of Creative Writing,Cornell University

- Ned Rorem’s Ariel, based on suicide poems by Sylvia Plath, performed by clarinetist Frank Daykin. pianist Armand Ambrosini, and soprano Judith Kellock.

- Performance: "Musical Genius and Psychiatric Illness" by Dr. Richard Kogan

 

Friday, 2:30-4:45 p.m.

 

II: Observing Art – Panel Discussion
Cornell University’s panel and performances surrounding the general topic “The Arts and Mental Health” will address the importance and impact of participatory and presentational art in the lives of the general population, and, in particular, members of the academic community. The panel will include members of the academic, musical, medical, and psychiatric community.

 

2:30 PM Interactive performance by Bobby McFerrin, vocalist, conductor, ten-time Grammy Award winner and co-host of 2009 documentary The Music Instinct, based on musician/scientist Daniel Levitin’s book, This Is Your Brain On Music. McFerrin’s song, "Don't Worry Be Happy," won awards for Song of the Year and Record of the Year.

 

3:30 PM Panel Discussion
Moderator: Dr. David Skorton, President, Cornell University, Weill Cornell Medical College Advisory Board member, and amateur musician

Dr. Richard Kogan, Director of Medicine and Music Initiative, psychiatrist, and accomplished pianist

Misheaila Neil, Director of Performing Arts Programming, Elmira College

Dr. Carlyle Miller, Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Equal Opportunity Programs at Weill Cornell Medical College, and published poet

Dr. David Shapiro, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Attending Psychiatrist, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Chairman of the Music and Medicine Initiative, and amateur musician

 

Produced in collaboration with the Cornell University Council for the Arts.