UND Celebrates The Power of Music Therapy

Daniel Levitin.  (Photo by Janelle Vonasek/UND Today )

(By Janelle Vonasek. UND Today) – Music therapy — the brain science and the educational training — was still a mystery to at least some of the 100-plus people gathered recently inside the Josephine Campbell Recital Hall in UND’s Hughes Fine Arts Center.

They had come to learn more about what Music Therapy Program Director Carly Flaagan described on stage as an “evidence-based practice of using music as the agent of change to promote health care outcomes across the spectrum of life within an established therapeutic relationship.”

Right off the bat, Flaagan acknowledged that the very definition of music therapy can sound like a mouthful and seem a bit confusing. But on this evening, participants also would get to hear from one of the world’s leading experts on the subject.

Renowned neuroscientist and researcher, repeat bestselling author and accomplished musician Daniel Levitin had come to campus to talk to students and the Greater Grand Forks community while helping the College of Arts & Sciences celebrate the return of its Music Therapy bachelor’s degree after a 10-year pause.