Music and the Brain
Music and the Brain
As part of the 200th anniversary celebration of The Abyssinian Baptist Church in the City of New York, where Calvin O. Butts, III is pastor, the Abyssinian Baptist Church choir joined neurologist/author Oliver Sacks in an exploration of the power of music to inspire and uplift, and as an effective tool in the therapeutic process. Blending neuroscience with the choir's vibrant and extensive repertoire, along with reflections on the role of African-American sacred music's significant historical expressions, this program provided a stimulating context for Sacks' true-life accounts of patients whose lives were altered by the empowerment of music.
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Abyssinian Baptist Church Choir
The Abyssinian Baptist Church Choir is the resident choir of one of the most prominent African-American institutions in America. The Church, an iconic champion of spiritual empowerment, social justice and reform, is currently celebrating its bicentennial anniversary, Abyssinian 200: True to Our God, True to our Native Land.
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Calvin O. Butts, III
The Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III, is Pastor of the nationally-renowned Abyssinian Baptist Church, President of SUNY College at Old Westbury, and chairman of the Abyssinian Development Corporation. Under his leadership, the Church leads crucial community development and social justice initiatives in Harlem.
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Oliver Sacks
Neurologist Oliver Sacks has spent a lifetime exploring a vast array of human experience – from Tourette's syndrome and autism to phantom limb syndrome and schizophrenia. His many best-selling books include Uncle Tungsten, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, and Awakenings, which became an acclaimed film. Sacks is a professor of clinical neurology and clinical psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center. His writings appear regularly in The New Yorker and The New York Review of Books.
This event was supported by the NYC Cultural Innovation Fund of
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