What Music Is

What Music Is: The Summit

Orchestra in green stage light with wave patterns on the screen

Music, Science, Wellness & Technology

April 21-23, 2028 in New York City

A cross-sector conference and festival where new research is fully integrated with live arts.

Launching a new interdisciplinary publication:
The State of Music Science

Dr. Robert Zatorre, Editor-in-Chief

Neuroscientists, music therapists, educators, sound healers, tech innovators, arts advocates and cultural leaders each hold a piece of music’s story. The What Music Is Summit brings them together at a scale and in a format never seen before: three days in New York City where new research and live performance unfold side by side, and every session is built across disciplines. Hear from headline names in music, science and culture, and leave with new collaborators, fresh evidence and a shared case for why live music matters. Whether you make music, study it, advocate for it, or heal with it, this is your room.

SUMMIT LEADERSHIP

Summit Steering Committee

  • Adrian Bawtree

    Conductor, Retired Director of Music and Organist, Rochester Cathedral, UK 
    Concert Theatre Works Board Member

  • Dr. Rhoda Bernard

    Founding Managing Director, Institute for Accessible Arts Education 
Assistant Chair, Music Education Department, Berklee College of Music
TEDx speaker, scholar, author, presenter, program leader, trainer in Accessible Music Education 

  • Dr. Matteo Cantiello

    Senior Research Scientist, Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute
    Visiting Associate Researcher, Center for Computational Astrophysics, Princeton University
Astrophysicist and Co-Author, What Music Is

  • Will Koffel

    North America Director, NVIDIA Inception program
    20+ years as founder, venture-backed CTO and technical leader
Concert Theatre Works Board Chair

  • Dr. Joanne Loewy

    Founding director, Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine, Mount Sinai Health System
Associate Professor, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai
Author, editor, researcher and speaker

  • James Murphy

    CEO and co-founder of Drink LMNT
    Builds businesses aligned to health and human biology

  • Dr. Indre Viskontas

    Associate Professor of Psychology, University of San Francisco
    President, Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity
Chief Science Officer, Reverberation
Neuroscientist, musician and science communicator

  • Dr. Lukas Volz

    Head of the Network Plasticity Lab at the University of Cologne
Neurologist and Co-Author, What Music Is

  • Dr. Lisa Wong

    Associate Co-Director, Arts and Humanities Initiative, Harvard Medical School 
Pediatrician, musician, arts advocate and author 
    Concert Theatre Works Board Member

  • Dr. Robert Zatorre

    Author, Professor and Canada Research Chair, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University
Editor in Chief, The State of Music Science