Centre for Music and Health

22/05/2026

We wrapped up the final community performances of our COHESION choirs last November and have been diving into the data and results 🎶🧡

COHESION (𝘾𝙊𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙃𝙀𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡-𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙙𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙎𝙄𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙊𝙉𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣) is a 12-week community-based, mixed-methods study led by the Centre for Music and Health, along with our community partners, Voices of Singapore and two Active Ageing Centres (from Presbyterian Community Social Services and Lions Befrienders).

Over 10 weeks of rehearsals, older adults met weekly for one-hour choir sessions led by trained facilitators, learning new songs, co-creating, and building connections together. The final performances brought this all together as a celebration of not just music, but the community formed along the way.

Grateful to everyone who made this possible:
🎵 Voices of Singapore for leading the training, facilitation, and performance preparation
🏡 Active Ageing Centres for hosting the programme, supporting recruitment and coordination, and accompanying participants each week
👥 All the seniors and facilitators for showing up with curiosity, commitment, and joy

We are excited to share that the preliminary results of the COHESION study will be presented during the 9th International Conference for the International Association for Music and Medicine (IAMM). Looking forward to sharing more as we continue this journey. ✨

Pictured: Chen Yifan (Research Coordinator, CMH), A/Prof Kat Agres (Director, CMH), Tay Hwee Ling (Assistant Manager, Voices of Singapore).

14/04/2026

We would like to thank NHG Population Health for the kind invitation to speak at the recent 𝗣𝗢𝗣 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀. Prof Kat Agres was honoured to share her talk, 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰-𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀.

The session highlighted how music naturally brings people together, offering a practical and inclusive approach to improving well-being across diverse communities.

POP Class is a co-learning series on population health transformation, jointly organised by NHG Population Health & CHI - Centre for Healthcare Innovation.

04/02/2026

🎶✨ Live webinar: Music & Mental Health

Don’t miss this session with Asst Prof Kat Agres, Founding Director of the Centre for Music and Health at YSTCM, NUS, as she showcases how music-based research is transforming mental health and wellbeing — from public health to clinical settings and cutting-edge emerging technologies.

Hosted by Prof Brian Kennedy, this webinar forms part of the Healthy Longevity Webinar Series.

📆 5 Feb 2026 | 7–8pm SGT
🔗 Free registration — https://nus-sg.zoom.us/webinar/register/1917367620874/WN_g5RF29EWQf65KDFfpVLjFA #/registration

26/01/2026

🎶🧠 Music, mental health, and technology—where they meet.

Join us at the SUTD Arts + Cognition + Health Seminar this Wednesday, 28 Jan (2–5pm) at SUTD, featuring a talk by Kat Agres: “From Music Interventions for Mental Health to Brain–Computer Interfaces.”

The talk spans music-based mental health interventions for students and clinical populations, and emerging music technologies— including affective music generation and brain–computer interfaces—to support emotion regulation and well-being.

📍 SUTD Singapore University of Technology & Design
⏰ 2–5pm

14/01/2026

✨ New year, new newsletter!

This month, explore updates from the Center for Arts in Medicine, along with a handpicked selection of the latest opportunities, research, and resources in the arts in health field.

We’re excited to celebrate inspiring projects and collaborations shaping the arts in health community—locally and beyond. 🌎

🔗: https://mailchi.mp/arts/artsinhealthtoday_january2026-9314117

This month features insights from:
UF College of the Arts
UF College of Public Health and Health Professions
Mid-America Arts Alliance
National Endowment for the Arts
Creative Forces
Benjamin Goldberg Foundation
Carnegie Hall
Emory University
National Academy for Social Prescribing
Centre for Music and Health
California for the Arts
Washington Post
The New York Times
UF Health Shands Arts in Medicine
& more!

Stay connected—subscribe now and keep up with discoveries, innovations, and opportunities in the field. ➡️ http://eepurl.com/dHHvyX

21/12/2025

12/12/2025

What an inspiring start to Healing Arts Singapore 2025, Asia’s first country-level Healing Arts initiative! 💫

On Monday, HASG held its opening session at National University of Singapore, which brought together the arts and health communities in a truly historic event. We started off the day with remarks from our organising partners: Dr. Kat Agres (Director, Centre for Music and Health, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music), Dr. Brett Stemple (Vice Dean, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory for Music), Dr. Michael Koon Boon Tan (Dean, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Singapore), alongside Ms. Catherine Cassidy-Dedics (Director, Jameel Arts & Health Lab).

We had the honour to feature three impactful keynote speakers in one session, including unique insights from Dr. Nisha Sajnani (Professor, New York University), and a meaningful coming-together of two ministries that do not often share the same stage - Ministry of Health, Singapore, Mr. Kwok Ming Lee (Group Director, Ageing Planning Office) and the National Arts Council Singapore, Ms. Aruna Johnson (Director, Arts Ecosystem Group, Literary Arts and Access & Community Engagement). These talks reflect Singapore’s growing momentum in integrating arts, health, and wellbeing across sectors. We would also like to extend our greatest gratitude to Ms. April Siwon Lee (Technical Officer, World Health Organization Western Pacific Region) for her invaluable perspectives on how the WPRO region approaches the arts and health, especially through the lens of social prescription.

A special highlight of the morning was the address by our Guest of Honour, Mr Baey Yam Keng, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth - MCCY & Ministry of Transport, whose support continues to strengthen the national conversation on arts and health. 🎶✨

We were also treated to a beautiful performance by yIN Harmony, whose multi-ethnic sound set the tone for a week about connection, creativity, and community.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this memorable opening session of Healing Arts Singapore week! 🎨

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09/12/2025

Youth mental health is an increasingly pressing issue, and creative arts programmes or interventions can offer engaging and effective ways to support the wellbeing of young people. In a panel session co-hosted with the Institute of Mental Health, Dr Daniel Fung, Ms Fontane Liang, Ms Sandra Cheah, MoPC, MT-BC, and Ms Jane Goh discuss how arts-based interventions or programmes can foster mental wellness in youths.

📍Healing Arts Singapore Symposium @ NUS
🕰️ 8 & 9 December 2025
🏛️ Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music
🎶 Conservatory Concert Hall

🔗 Join waitlist at https://healingartssingapore.org/events/nus-symposium

ABOUT HEALING ARTS SINGAPORE

Healing Arts Singapore (HASG) is co-led by the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Centre for Music and Health at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, NUS, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), University of the Arts Singapore (UAS), and the Jameel Arts & Health Lab. This multi-year initiative is part of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab’s global Healing Arts campaign produced in collaboration with the World Health Organization.

Stay updated at healingartssingapore.org

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07/12/2025

Celebrate the power of music in an inspiring evening that blends, classical masterpieces and contemporary works, exploring themes of resilience and renewal.

Featuring Beautiful Mind Charity, who aims to share love with the less privileged and strives to create a more inclusive and compassionate world where every child, regardless of physical ability or cultural background, can thrive through the transformative power of music. BMC endeavours to empower these children to fully express their musical abilities and realize their potential. They strive to discover and nurture the classical music talents of children with special needs, and provide them with the training, resources, and platform needed to develop into financially-independent professional musicians. They also seek to bring music to the community. To date, BMC has organised nearly 100 community concerts. BMC is part of an international philanthropic network granted a special consultative status by the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

🗓 7:30 - 9:30PM | December 8, 2025
📍YST Conservatory of Music, Concert Hall
🎟 Get your tickets at https://www.healingartssingapore.org/events/healing-arts-concert

Healing Arts Singapore (HASG) is co-led by the National University of Singapore‘s (NUS) Centre for Music and Health at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, NUS, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), University of the Arts Singapore (UAS), and the Jameel Arts & Health Lab. This multi year initiative is part of Jameel Arts & Health Lab‘s global healing arts campaign produced in collaboration with the World Health Organization.