2022
As President of the International Association for Music and Medicine (IAMM), Suzanne has been able to develop several interactive programs, including IAMM With You: In Conversation, Global Cafés, and the IAMM Book Club. She helped to plan IAMM’s 7th International Conference in Athens, Greece. Along with her students in the research class, she published a blog on the IAMM website, titled “Music, music medicine, and music therapy in the era of COVID-19: A sampling of resources.”
She published three articles in Music & Medicine: “Foundations of dementia care for music therapy and music based interventions; a research review, “The effectiveness of music-based interventions for dementia;” and an interview with a valued Berklee colleague, “Hearing the music in COVID-19’s medically-induced coma: An interview with Dr. William C. Banfield.” In addition, she co-authored an article in Scientific American, “Music and heart health,” and one with Berklee graduate, Camila Pfeiffer, in the Journal of Music Therapy, “Music based assessment for cognitive functions for Spanish-speaking adults with acquired brain injury (ECMUS): A pilot-validation study.” As part of the Global Council for Brain Health, she hosted a talkback for older adults about music for AARP. She also moderated a webinar for the Sound Health Network, and spoke at the 12th International Conference on Dementia & Alzheimer’s Disease online.
She was the keynote speaker for the Great Lakes Regional Conference for the American Music Therapy Association, where she spoke about “Music therapy techniques for the music therapist.” She was also the keynote speaker at the Universita della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano, Switzerland, presenting “Lo stato dell’arte della musica in medicina.” She opened the 7th International Conference of the International Association for Music & Medicine in Athens, Greece. She continues to serve on the Editorial Board of Frontiers in Medicine and remains active in the Boston Arts Consortium for Health (BACH).
Suzanne was interviewed on Scarlet Keys’ podcast, “What’s in a Song?” with Berklee graduate, Heather Woods. You can listen to “The healing power of songwriting and the power of vulnerability here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/whats-in-a-song/id1593031703
Here is a report from the Ticino Scienza:
2021
Suzanne was elected President of the International Association for Music & Medicine (IAMM). As President of the Organizing Committee for the 2020 International Conference that was scheduled to take place in Boston, Suzanne redesigned virtual convenings that included an online conference, 10th anniversary concert, recorded sessions, papers, and posters, a Special Interest Group Summer Series, IAMM Insights, and two series for 2021, IAMM Global Cafés and IAMM With You: In Conversation.
Dr. Hanser’s research collaborations resulted in three publications in medical/nursing journals, along with colleagues: “Resting state connectivity of auditory and reward systems in Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment” in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience; “ Editorial: Music therapy in geriatrics” in Frontiers in Medicine; and “The use of music by adolescents and young adults with sickle cell disease” in Creative Nursing. Her participation as an issue specialist on the Global Council for Brain Health resulted in an AARP publication, “Music on our minds: The rich potential music to promote brain health and mental well-being.”
Suzanne participated in several virtual symposia and conferences, including “Music therapy in nephrology” at UCLA Medical Center’s “Music and kidney: A virtual music and medicine event;” “Well-being and Neuroscience: Its development in different environments” at the INECO Foundation Symposium in Buenos Aires, Argentina; “Intervenciones musicales durante la era del COVID-19” at the simposio musicoterapia at the Panama Jazz Festival; “Music-based interventions during the era of COVID-19” at the “International Forum of Music, Health, and Multicultural Perspectives” at Wuhan Conservatory of Music, China; “Music strategies for wellness” at the Boston Arts Consortium for Health (BACH) webinar; “Music therapy in geriatrics roundtable” at the World Congress of Music Therapy; and “Music in geriatrics” with colleagues from around the world in the IAMM Special Interest Group webinar.
She created virtual music therapy sessions for Boston Hope Medical Center for patients recovering from COVID-19, and composed music as part of an inter-arts collaborative: Translations: Connected Art Reflecting Empathy (C.A.R.E.). She organized a production team to develop “Music is….A Virtual Ensemble” and wrote the lyrics for the music. She designed “Mood Manager Playlists” and is currently conducting research with colleagues at Northeastern University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
2020
Suzanne was honored this year with the Model of Healing Award from the Children’s Music Fund. Suzanne is Secretary of the International Association for Music and Medicine, and President of the Organizing Committee for the 2020 International Conference, to be hosted by Berklee’s Music & Health Institute, in May. She published two articles with Dr. Barbara Wheeler and colleagues in the journal, Music & Medicine, on Music Therapy and Music Medicine Studies in Oncology: Part I – A Comparison, Part II – The Use of the Delphi Technique. Dr. Hanser. She also co-edited a special issue of Frontiers in Medicine on “Music Therapy in Geriatrics,” and a special issue on “Music Therapy” in Medicines. Suzanne delivered the keynote address at the Ibero-American Music Therapy Research Conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on “Music Therapy in Integrative Medicine and Health.” She was an invited speaker at the International Conference on Arts and Neurology: Practice and Research at the Vilnius Medical College in Lithuania. She also spoke to a group of arts therapists in the Balkan states, at an event in Klaipeda. She was an invited participant in “The Radcliffe Exploratory Seminar on Music and the Heart” in Cambridge, and in “The Global Council for Brain Health” in Washington, DC. Locally, Dr. Hanser has spoken at Grand Rounds for the Center for Brain Mind Medicine at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Goddard House, Massachusetts General Hospital “Conversations with Caregivers” series, Temple Beth Elohim, and at a Music & Health Exchange for Berklee’s Music & Health Institute. Her latest composition, You Are a Blessing, was performed by the Zachor Chorale Chamber Chorus at the Children’s Music Fund event at the Boston Children’s Museum.
2019
Suzanne was delighted to publish the 3rd edition of her textbook, “The New Music Therapist’s Handbook.” Dr. Hanser devoted many of her academic contributions this year towards expanding research and offering advanced trainings in gero-psychiatry and geriatrics. She conducted clinical rounds at the Center for Brain Mind Medicine at Brigham & Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, and spoke at the Dementia Caregiver Support Program of the MGH Division of Palliative Care and Geriatric Medicine, as well as Goddard House Assisted Living Facility. She delivered a continuing music therapy education session at the New England Regional Conference of the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) on “Music Therapy in Geriatric Care.” Along with Dr. Annemieke Vink, she published a research review on “Music-based interventions for people with dementia” in the open access journal, “Medicines.” She was the guest co-editor of a special issue of “Frontiers in Medicine: Music Therapy in Geriatrics,” and is currently editing a special issue on Music Therapy for “Medicines.” In other specialties, she published “Music, sound, and health: A meeting of the minds in neurosciences and music” with Psyche Loui et al. in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Suzanne gave invited addresses at Beijing Cancer Hospital and UCLA Medical Center. She presented a paper, “Managing Stress and Pain through Music Therapy” at IAMM’s International Conference in Barcelona, Spain. Suzanne lectured on music-based interventions for pain at the Arizona Pain Conference of University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, and gave a series of lectures at the iArt School in Hangzhou, China. She delivered a paper on “Contemporary Approaches to Music Therapy Treatment Planning,” and taught a continuing music therapy education course on “Performance Wellness” at AMTA’s National Conference. She moderated panels at the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University and at BTOT on “Sexual Harassment: Case Study of a College in Distress.” She was particularly honored to be asked to present a “Master Class” on music therapy for BTOT. She continues her service as Secretary of IAMM, and is President of the Organizing Committee for IAMM’s 2020 International Conference at Berklee. Suzanne is currently collaborating on music therapy research at Boston Children’s Hospital, and with colleagues at Harvard Medical School and Northeastern University. Her creative “musixplorations” can be found at www.michiosmusings.com.
2018
This year, Palgrave Macmillan published Suzanne’s new book, Integrative Health through Music Therapy: Accompanying the Journey from Illness to Wellness. Suzanne published three other articles: “Twenty years of music therapy at Berklee College of Music” in Approaches: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Music Therapy, “Remembering Music” in the Valencia Alzheimer’s Associations’ Hilos de Memoria, and “Surviving cancer with music at your side” in the magazine, Coping. She also released a Massive Open Online Course with Annette Philip, entitled “Music for Wellness: An Integrative Approach.”
Suzanne presented papers and workshops at conferences around the country and the globe, including at the International Congress on Integrative Medicine and Health in Las Vegas, NV; the International Association for Music and Medicine, 4th International Conference in Beijing, China; the European Music Therapy Congress in Vienna, Austria; and the International Conference for Music Therapy and Children’s Health at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in Vilnius, Lithuania. She assisted in organizing “Remembering Music” week at Berklee Valencia, with concerts, presentations, and roundtables at the Ciutat de les arts i les ciènces and Valencia Alzheimer’s Center. Suzanne presented “Music: The heart and soul of people with Alzheimer’s disease.” She also delivered the Opening Address virtually for a conference in Wurzburg, Germany, at Würzburger Tagung zur Musiktherapie bei Behinderung und Demenz. Along with Dr. Susan Mandel, she presented “Who Cares for You? Personal Self-Care through Music” at the American Music Therapy Association National Conference in Sandusky, Ohio. She also took part in a Roundtable for the “Silk Road Arts & Healing Residency” at Harvard University.
Suzanne serves as the Secretary for the International Association for Music and Medicine, and on the Scientific Committee for the World Congress of Integrative Medicine and Health to be held in Berlin, Germany. She is on the Local Organizing Committee for the upcoming international conference, “Neuroscience and Music” in Boston. Suzanne has recently composed piano music to accompany a book of illustrations by Japanese artist, Michio, and looks forward to producing these electronically and as a book of illustrations and piano scores.
Suzanne published a chapter, “The education and training of the music therapist,” in The Oxford Handbook of Music Therapy, edited by Jane Edwards. She interviewed Marc Neikrug in a Music and Medicine article, entitled “Healing Ceremony: Perspectives on the music by the composer Marc Neikrug and music therapist Suzanne Hanser.” Additionally, Suzanne published a short story, “Only in memory,” in South Street: A Literary Journal. Her paper with Butterfield-Whitcomb, Kawata, and Collins, “Home-based music strategies with individuals who have dementia and their family caregivers,” was included in a virtual issue of articles selected for the American Music Therapy Association’s Arts Advocacy Day 2016 on Capitol Hill. Her new book, Integrative Health through Music Therapy: Accompanying the Journey from Illness to Wellness, will be published this month. Suzanne recently produced a CD, The Remembrance of One, with Dr. Daniel Kobialka. Last spring, she lectured at Bar Ilan University in Tel Aviv, Israel and at Universidad Carlos Albizu in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She gave workshops on managing stress and pain through music at the Apollo Institute in Beijing, China.
2017
Suzanne delivered Grand Rounds sponsored by Harvard Medical School, the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and spoke at Asahikawa Medical Center in Asahikawa, Japan, as part of Jazz Month in Asahikawa. She organized a half-day workshop at the Society for Integrative Oncology International Conference in Boston, and provided a virtual Presidential Address at the 3rd international Conference of Music Therapy in Pondicherry, India. She also spoke at “Music Therapy in Oncology and Palliative Care: International Perspectives and Current Trends in Research and Clinical Practice” in New York City. Suzanne was invited to lecture on webinars for the Oncological Nursing Society and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. Suzanne is secretary of the International Association for Music and Medicine, and served on the Editorial Board of Global Alliance for Health and Medicine. In addition, she is a research scholar at the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University. Suzanne represented the New England Region at the American Music Therapy Association Research Initiative. She is co-founder of the Boston Arts Consortium for Health (BACH).
EARLIER EVENTS
"Breathing in the Wind in Your Sails: Music for Self-Care," New England Regional Conference of the American Music Therapy Association, Newport, RI, March 31, 2017.
"Evidence-based Music Therapy Protocols in Integrative Medicine and Health," World Congress Integrative Medicine and Health, Berlin, Germany, May 3, 2017.
"Integrative Health through Music Therapy," World Congress for Music Therapy, Tsukuba, Japan, July 6, 2017.
MOOC on Edx, "Music for Wellness: An Integrative Approach," free online registration
"Myths and Ms," An Intergenerational Play by Rosie Rosenzweig, Women's Studies Research Center, Brandeis University, March 5, 2017.
SELECTED LECTURES
The Rhythms of Life: Silk Road Ensemble Harvard Residency, "Listening and Learning, Cambridge, MA
American Music Therapy Association National Conference, "Who Cares for You? Personal Self-Care through Music," with Dr. Susan Mandel, November 12th at 11:00am, Kalahari Park, Sandusky, OH
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, "Designing Apps with Purpose," Music & Health Technologies class, Cambridge, MA
Women's Studies Research Center, Brandeis University, "Integrative Health through Music Therapy," Waltham, MA
Cuitat de les Arts y Ciències, Museo des ciències, Berklee Valencia, Valencia, Spain, "Remembering Music," "Music: The Heart and Soul of People with Alzheimer's Disease"
Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, Vilnius, Lithuania, "Music Therapy and Medicine," "Workshop on Music Therapy for Pain and Stress”
European Congress of Music Therapy, Vienna, Austria, "Integrative Health through Music Therapy,"
International Association for Music and Medicine International Conference, Beijing, China, "A Revolution in Healthcare”
International Congress of Integrative Medicine and Health, Las Vegas, NV, "Music Therapy: A Workshop"
Grand Rounds, Harvard Medical School, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Bornstein Family Ampitheatre, 45 Francis Street, Boston, MA, "Integrative Health through Music Therapy"