So I started at the VA in San Francisco just two weeks ago as a music therapy fellow with MusicianCorps, and it's been one long blur of logistics and bureaucracy that I don't need to bore you with. Let's just say that getting something done at the VA reminds me of trying to buy vodka for my host family in Russia right after the Soviet Union fell: you had to wait in a long line in order to get a number, another line to choose your item, and a last line to pay for it a good two hours…

Thank you to everyone who made our MLK Day of Song & Service a great success. Over 200 volunteers, including local residents, students, teachers, parents, and 50 Google employees showed what can happen when people come together to serve. Thank you also to all the local musicians of all ages who came and shared their music and art with us. Thank you to…

Laurel Fontaine, 16, (left) and her twin sister Heather. When Laurel was 11 years old, she suffered a stroke that destroyed 80 percent of the left side of her brain. The singing therapy helped her regain the ability to speak. [Photo by Ellen Webber for NPR]

by…

Next August I'll embark on a year-long project that supports goodwill-driven organizations in every state in the U.S. and Washington, D.C. Along the way I'll support various music service initiatives including Music National Service and several El Sistema-inspired initiatives.

Please support this project! We need to raise $10K by Feb. 13, and I am working with groups around the country to organize the 51 sub-projects. There is a lot of scope for music service folks to unite!…

Have you ever wanted to volunteer with the Center for Music National Service (MNS) or MusicianCorps and see music-driven service live in-action? Now's your chance to do so!



MNS is reaching out to all ServiceArtist.net members in the Bay Area to offer you an exciting opportunity to volunteer with us and participate in our upcoming MLK Day of Song & Service on…

It is afternoon in hot and humid Zanzibar, the beautiful East African island off the coast of Tanzania. Derrick Rainey, 25, is teaching a music class. He came all the way to Zanzibar from his home in Little Rock, Arkansas to teach this class. On his…

An awesome article and video from ABC Nightline that shows how music therapy helps to aid recovery in patients with brain damage.

GABBY GIFFORDS: FINDING WORDS THROUGH SONG - By KATIE MOISSE, BOB WOODRUFF (@bobwoodruff), JAMES HILL (@jameshillABC) and LANA ZAK - Nov. 14, 2011



ABC NIGHTLINE -…

"In the business world of the future, in the political world of the future, in the creative world of the future, you're going to have to be an improviser," says Roger Brown, president of Berklee College of Music. "A music or arts education can be very powerful." As a drummer, successful businessman, and now leader of the world's largest contemporary music school, Brown has a unique perspective on the…

“One question that troubles my mind on almost a daily basis is: ‘What is the best way to utilize music and the arts to help solve global problems?’” For Aaron Appleton, 27, the elusive answer to that self-posed…

Today - Thursday, September 15 - is the National Call Day to save service in America. Federally funded service programs like AmeriCorps are making a critical difference in communities across the U.S. and are putting Americans to work. Yet, along with virtually all federally funded programs, national and community…

Demone Carter—musician, rapper, educator, and arts advocate—has been bringing hip hop and contemporary art into California classrooms for the past eight years. Currently, Demone directs a Bay Area based arts program called Future Arts Now that seeks to positively engage students in their school and…

"We are not reinventing the wheel. The positive effects of music therapy have been known for over 900 years." http://tinyurl.com/3orxywc

Now I gotta go research Turkish modes!

Check out this cool video of a recent service event MNS hosted at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, which shows youth engaged in re-purposing commonly used hospital items during a fun and educational instrument-making workshop: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZJ-GR8lqjg&feature=related

After spending time working with international development agencies in West Africa, Marco and Carmella Sotelino wanted to start working for themselves while continuing to have a beneficial impact in these same communities. They…

The good people at KSK records are producing a groundbreaking documentary that I urge you to check out: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1585738736/music-in-mali-life-is-hard-music-is-good…

Check out the tune MC Fellow Hernando Buitrago recently released featuring local Bay Area artist Alicia Gomez! It's pretty sweet if I do say so myself!!!