Modals
9am
Registration Check-in
Lobby
9am - 3pm
Free Music & Wellness Expo
Atrium
9:30am
Welcome Address
Ecolab Theatre
Registration lanyard required for
entry at each concurrent session.
9:35am – 10:15am
SESSION I
Lecture
A Biological Perspective on the
Transformative Power of Music
Aniruddh D. Patel, PhD
Tufts University & Neurosciences Institute
Ecolab Theatre
Offering a compelling, evidence-based discussion of the power of music to impact the human brain and its non-musical cognitive functions – such as language processing, attention, and memory – the highly regarded author of Music, Language, and the Brain shares his insightful work on the cognitive, neural, and evolutionary foundations of musicality, highlighting music as a biologically fundamental transformative technology.
Case Study
Social Prescribing: Connecting Arts,
Healing, and Belonging
Chris Appleton
Founder & CEO, SocialRX
Napa Valley Vintners Theater
Exploring the intersection of arts and well-being, the founder of SocialRx (formerly Art Pharmacy) shares his journey in the creation of this groundbreaking company built to address the dual mental health and loneliness crises through a social prescribing solution, connecting individuals with non-clinical, community-based arts, culture, and nature activities. Learn more about the emerging field of social prescribing as Appleton shares practical insights about belonging, creativity, and community as essential components of mental health.
10:20am – 11am
SESSION II
Lecture
AWE-some: How Music Can Make Us Well
Indre Viskontas, MM, PhD
University of San Francisco,
SF Conservatory of Music, & Reverberation
Ecolab Theatre
Music can elevate our mood, move our bodies, and bring us closer to one another. But can it visibly improve our mental health? Neuroscientist and musician Dr. Viskontas shows how music should be used not as a sledgehammer but as a Swiss army knife: a precision tool that can strategically and effectively target specific psychiatric and neurological symptoms, and in so doing, help us not just heal but thrive.
Case Study
Music as Access: The YPC Model
Francisco J. Nuñez
Founder & Artistic Director
Young People’s Chorus of New York City
Napa Valley Vintners Theater
What happens when you build a children’s chorus on a single, radical premise: everyone gets in? Rather than asking what can children do with music, Núñez asks what can the community around them give so that each may succeed and give back. The answer has produced college-ready, resilient young people who perform in the world’s great concert halls, with documented results in academic preparedness, social-emotional growth, and lifelong community engagement, providing a successful framework for how the arts, when anchored in artistic rigor and radical welcome, function as a genuine intervention for youth mental health, belonging, and self-determination.
11:00am – 12pm
SESSION III
Concert – Festival Live!
Jackson Family Wines Amphitheater
Admission-free
Open for Summit attendees and the general public
Join us for a lively chamber concert featuring the students and faculty of The Frost School at Festival Napa Valley's Blackburn Music Academy.
Workshop
Working in Concert
Gary Muszynski
Founder & CEO, Orchestrating Excellence
Private Dining Room 1 & 2
Through the power of music, this hands-on/ears-on workshop gives participants the opportunity to be part of a synchronized and adaptive ensemble, building a sense of trust, collaboration, innovation, and community.
12pm - 1:20pm
LUNCH & NETWORKING
General Admission
On your own in the Oxbow District; reservations recommended for The Grove at Copia
Reserve Luncheon
Reserve registration required
Chuck Williams Museum
Network with Summit presenters as you enjoy a buffet style healthy meal prepared by the CIA at Copia culinary team paired with select Napa Valley wines and non-alcoholic beverages.
1:30pm - 2:15pm
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Music and Mind
Renée Fleming
Ecolab Theatre
Famed opera star Renée Fleming is a leading advocate for the study of the powerful connections between the arts and health. Editor of the 2024 anthology Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts for Health and Wellness (Viking Penguin Random House), Fleming developed her Music and Mind presentation to engage the public and scientific professionals in interactive conversations that explore the impact of music and the arts on health and the brain. Appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for Arts and Health by the World Health Organization, Fleming served Artistic Advisor to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts until 2025, spearheading the Sound Health collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with the participation of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) which explored and brought attention to research and practice at the intersection of music, health, and neuroscience, leading to workshops at the NIH as well as events and performances at the Kennedy Center. In the wake of this initiative, the NIH awarded $20 million for music and neuroscience research over five years.