The Jameel Arts & Health Lab announced today that Carnegie Hall has been designated as its inaugural Healing Arts centre of excellence.
A global initiative, the Jameel Arts & Health Lab was co-founded by the World Health Organisation regional office for Europe (WHO Europe), NYU Steinhardt, Community Jameel and CULTURUNNERS, to measurably improve health and wellbeing through the arts.
This inaugural designation recognises Carnegie Hall as an exemplar in the field of arts and health, with a long history of inclusive and transformative programmes. As a centre of excellence, Carnegie Hall will champion the role of cultural institutions and artists as partners in public health and advance ambitious scientific research on music and wellbeing.
Clive Gillinson, executive and artistic director of Carnegie Hall commented: “Through our own experiences with Carnegie Hall’s music education and social impact programmes, we’ve seen the positive impact that the arts can have on people’s health and wellbeing. We’re thrilled that the Jameel Arts & Health Lab has recognised our work, designating Carnegie Hall as its inaugural Healing Arts centre of excellence. We look forward to our continued partnership and welcome researchers, policymakers and members of the healthcare and cultural communities to New York to join us in developing this important area of study.”
The announcement was made by Christopher Bailey, founding co-director of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab and arts and health lead for the WHO after a ‘Wellbeing concert’ hosted by Carnegie Hall, featuring vocalist Sarah Elizabeth Charles and pianist Jarrett Cherner, with special guest, Grammy Award-nominated harpist Brandee Younger. The concert is part of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Healing Arts week which includes a major research symposium at NYU Steinhardt, a policy panel at Lincoln Centre, and collateral events at The Julliard School and Whitney Museum.
Dr Nisha Sajnani, co-director of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab and Associate Professor at NYU Steinhardt said: “Designating Carnegie Hall as our first Healing Arts centre of excellence represents the beginning of a journey together that will not only deepen our scientific understanding of the healing potential of the arts but also create pathways to wellbeing with communities around the globe."
Each season, more than 800,000 people across the globe participate in education and social impact programmes created by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute (WMI). For more than a decade, Carnegie Hall has facilitated programmes and presented concerts in diverse settings, exploring the ways that music can be catalytic in people’s lives. Inspired by evidence that music can help people heal and thrive, along with Carnegie Hall’s mission to bring the transformative power of music to the widest possible audience, WMI offers a broad range of programmes to support health and wellbeing.
Select programme examples include 'Wellbeing concerts,' hour-long concert experiences that combine elements of mindfulness and meditation with performance; the ‘Lullaby project,’ which pairs new and expecting parents and caregivers with professional artists to write and sing personal lullabies for their babies, supporting maternal/parental health and the connection between parent and child; ‘Musical connections,’ a songwriting workshop for men incarcerated at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, that gives participants the chance to express their perspectives and build community; ‘Future music project,’ a programme that gives justice-involved young musicians ages 14–19 the chance to create and perform their own music; and more.
Carnegie Hall is also involved in several innovative research projects with scholars and universities around the world to assess the impact of these programmes. The concert was followed by a reception of international policymakers, renowned artists and notable scholars to celebrate the announcement and explore inter-sectoral collaborations that centre the arts’ ability to support individual and collective wellbeing.