Healing Thru Music & Dance

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Healing Thru Music & Dance A member project of the North Star Community Foundation. Each participant receives a harmonica to keep and basic instruction.

The Mission of HTMD is to share skills to create music & dance; clear a path for safe, creative expression of feelings; begin trauma recovery; build lasting relationships; connect often. Our purpose is to foster self-esteem through respecting culture and education, by developing activities that help youth feel safe, engaged, strong, and resilient, while nurturing positive, healthy habits of self-expression. Our Vision: Healing and hope in every Alaskan community through the transformative power of music and dance. The Mission of Healing Through Music & Dance (HTMD) is to share skills to create music & dance; clear a path for safe, creative expression of feelings; begin trauma recovery; build lasting relationships; connect often. Using music and dance to create connectedness and self-expression in a safe and creative environment, HTMD offers interactive workshops, concerts and dance opportunities in Alaskan communities. The program features Canadian virtuoso Harmonica Man Mike Stevens, who specializes in using the arts to connect with those who have experienced trauma or other life challenges. Students work individually and in teams to create stories and musical works that give them strength and inspiration. Mike collaborates with a local musician, drummer and/or dancers sharing cultures and creating new works of self-expression using both traditional and contemporary styles. HTMD strives to foster self-esteem through respecting culture and education, by developing activities that help youth feel safe, engaged, strong and resistant to alcohol, drugs and other forms of abuse. This work addresses the need to prevent su***de by developing connections with those who have survived trauma. The purpose is to teach new skills, promote self-esteem and creative self-expression. Stevens, founder of ArtsCan Circle, has led award-winning programs in Canadian villages for more than 20 years.

Mike & Jeff treated the elders of the Nome XYZ Center to a mini concert during lunch.
09/25/2026

Mike & Jeff treated the elders of the Nome XYZ Center to a mini concert during lunch.

Another one in the books - thank you Brevig Mission for hosting us! 🎶🎸
09/24/2026

Another one in the books - thank you Brevig Mission for hosting us! 🎶🎸

09/23/2026

Meet Mike Stevens — or as most of Alaska knows him, "Harmonica Man."

Mike is a Canadian harmonica player and the founder of ArtsCan Circle. For more than 20 years, he's used music to reach people who've been through hard times. He's been the heart of HTMD since it started in 2013.

Mike doesn't just perform — he teaches. At every stop, he shares his own story of struggling in school, hands a harmonica to everyone in the room, then steps back and lets them lead. Within an hour, they're making up their own music.

He's not trying to create musicians. He's trying to create a moment where someone finally feels heard.

Follow along this fall to see Mike back on the road across Alaska.

Our fall tour is officially underway — first stop, Nome!Monday, September 21, Mike Stevens and Jeff Black spent a full d...
09/22/2026

Our fall tour is officially underway — first stop, Nome!

Monday, September 21, Mike Stevens and Jeff Black spent a full day in this community: an assembly with students at Nome-Beltz Middle High School, a hands-on harmonica workshop right after, and an evening performance at the Home Plate shelter.

The day covered a lot of ground and we have many more stops to go!

Follow along the next couple of weeks for an inside look at the musical fun, learning and healing Mike Stevens, Jeff Black & Marc Brown are bringing to villages across Alaska!

Want an inside seat to everything we're working on, no matter where you're watching from?We just started an email list —...
09/14/2026

Want an inside seat to everything we're working on, no matter where you're watching from?

We just started an email list — tour dates, behind the scenes, and a story from the road now and then, sent straight to your inbox. No spam, ever. Unsubscribe any time you want.

Sign up below. Our first tour stop is coming up at the end of September!

Tour dates, stories from the road, and concert invites from Healing Through Music and Dance, an Alaska nonprofit using harmonicas and dance to help people feel heard. No spam, easy to unsubscribe.

The 555 is TODAY, and here's the best part: you can support Healing Thru Music & Dance from wherever you are. 🏃‍♀️Every ...
09/05/2026

The 555 is TODAY, and here's the best part: you can support Healing Thru Music & Dance from wherever you are. 🏃‍♀️

Every registration for the North Star Community Foundation's 5K is a donation, and you get to name the nonprofit it goes to. Name Healing Through Music and Dance and every dollar stays right here in Alaska, helping bring music and movement to people who need it most.

Want to come out? Meet us at the Tanana Lakes Pavilion — activities start at 5, the walk/run kicks off at 5:55. Prefer to cheer from the couch? Register anyway and let someone else do the miles for you!

Find more details and register here (and name Healing Through Music and Dance!):

Welcome to 'The 555' North Star Community Foundation 5K walk/run September 5th at Tanana Lakes Recreation Area. NSCF is focusing on opportunities to give to the community in ways important to you. “The 555” 5th a 5k loop around the Tanana Lakes Recreation Area on Saturday, September 5th with act...

Since 2013, we've put nearly 9,000 harmonicas into the hands of people across Alaska. Every single one is a gift they ca...
09/04/2026

Since 2013, we've put nearly 9,000 harmonicas into the hands of people across Alaska. Every single one is a gift they can cherish forever.

For a lot of the participants we work with, it's the first thing that's truly, only theirs. Something to carry home, practice with, and turn to on a hard day.

You don't need to read music or take years of lessons to play a harmonica. You just need to breathe — which means almost anyone can pick one up and start feeling something real within minutes.

9,000 harmonicas sounds like a big number. Really, it's 9,000 small friendships — 9,000 people who now have one more way to say how they feel.

For more than 10 years, Healing Through Music & Dance has done one simple thing really well: give people across Alaska a...
08/26/2026

For more than 10 years, Healing Through Music & Dance has done one simple thing really well: give people across Alaska a safe place to feel what they feel, and a way to let it out.

We use music and dance to help individuals and communities build self-esteem, work through hard days, and connect with each other. You don't need to read music. You just need a harmonica, a little encouragement, and people who show up for you.

This page is where we'll share our stories, our upcoming fall tour stops, and the small moments that remind us why we do this. We're so glad you're here! ✨

03/07/2026

UPDATE: Due to circumstances beyond our control, the tribute concert for Robert Franz has been postponed to Sunday, October 4, 2026, at 4pm. (more details below)

Concert in remembrance of Robert Franz – Save the Date
In remembrance of Robert Franz (1968-2025), the Healing through Music and Dance (HTMD) Program of North Star Community Foundation will present a tribute concert on Sunday, October 4, 2026, at 4pm at the UAF Charles Davis Concert Hall in Fairbanks, AK. The program will feature HTMD Harmonica Man Mike Stevens, Marc Brown and other musicians who wish to honor Robert. Details will be posted here and on our website as they become available. If interested in participating, please contact Terese Kaptur at [email protected]

Robert’s commitment to bringing the music to the people is the inspiration for this HTMD program. Terese Kaptur, currently HTMD Program Director and retired Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival Director, brought Robert to AK to lead the financially struggling FSAF orchestra program and serve as Music Director. Not only did he turn the economics around and mend fences with local musicians, he then developed the string intensive, and collaboratively, the opera intensive, partnered with the Composing in the Wilderness program, and all of the outreach programs. Mike Stevens was with the FSAF American Roots division when he performed with the FSAF orchestra. Robert gave young string players and singers an opportunity to perform with an orchestra for the first time.

Thank you for your support of HTMD and for joining us in honoring Robert’s legacy.

To make a gift in memory of Robert Franz, use the link below and choose a dedicated donation:
https://nscfundalaska.org/donations/htmd/
or mail a check to:
Healing thru Music & Dance, c/o NSCF
745 7 th Avenue
Fairbanks, AK 99701

Please include in the memo: Robert Franz Memorial Fund

Address

745 7th Avenue
Fairbanks, AK
99701

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