The concept of music therapy will take center stage this summer at a unique collaborative event involving Interlochen Center for the Arts, Munson Healthcare, and world-famous opera singer Renée Fleming. The free event, titled “Renée Fleming: Music & Mind,” is scheduled for the evening of August 6 and will convene Fleming with a panel of local health and arts leaders for a conversation about music’s ability to “improve brain health, reduce stress, foster connection, and support healing.”

Interlochen announced last year that Fleming would be coming to northern Michigan in 2026 as part of the institution’s new Shirley Young Distinguished Artists Series. An alumnus of both the Julliard School and the Eastman School of Music, Fleming came to prominence in 1988 when she was named one of the winners of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She’s since won five Grammy Awards, sung with the likes of Luciano Pavarotti and Andrea Bocelli, and earned global renown for her lyric soprano voice.

Fleming has also become a leading advocate for the positive effects of music on health. In 2024, Penguin Random House published Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts for Health and Wellness, a curated collection of essays “from leading scientists, artists, creative arts therapists, educators, and healthcare providers about the powerful impacts of music and the arts on health and the human experience.” During the Music & Mind event in Traverse City, Fleming will give a presentation drawing on that anthology to “explore how creative engagement can strengthen cognitive function, support emotional resilience, and help build healthier communities.”

Following Fleming’s presentation, she will be joined by a panel of local healthcare and arts leaders “for a discussion about the role of music and creativity in health and wellness.” The panel will include Troy DeShano, executive director for the Northwest Michigan Arts & Culture Network; Christopher Archangeli, chair of Munson’s behavioral health service line and chair of the psychiatry department; and Erica Austin, medical director of Munson Neurosciences.

The Music & Mind conversation is free and open to the public, with no tickets required. The event will take place at the Mallory-Towsley Center for Arts Leadership Great Room on the Interlochen campus, starting at 6pm on Thursday, August 6. Fleming will then perform at Interlochen’s Kresge Auditorium two days later.