How do our brains and music work in harmony?

Humans have been creating music about falling in and out of love from time immemorial. Such music can have powerful effects on the human brain. Whenever a person engages with music, countless neurons are firing―when a piano student practices a scale, a jazz saxophonist riffs on a melody, someone sobs to a sad song, or a wedding guest gets down on the dance floor. Playing an instrument requires all of the resources of the nervous system, including cognitive, sensory, and motor functions, and can actually change the structure of our brains. Something as seemingly simple as listening to a tune involves mental faculties most of us don’t even realize we have. And when that music is a love song, the effects on our brains go to a whole new level.

This multi-media Valentine’s Day concert and lecture is a collaboration between the Portland Chamber Orchestra and Science on Tap, using music, visuals and science to show how our brains and music work in harmony. Music is considered in all the ways we encounter it―teaching, learning, practicing, listening, composing, improvising, and performing―showing how the brain functions and even changes in the process. Audiences will enjoy world-class performances of modern and classical love songs while gaining perspectives on learning to play, teaching, how to practice and perform, the ways we react to music, and why the brain benefits from musical experiences. The program includes:

1. Neuroscientist, public speaker, and lifelong musician Dr. Larry Sherman, who co-authored the popular book Every Brain Needs Music: The Neuroscience of Making and Listening to Music
2. Grammy award-winning, Hopi-Nez Perce Native American flutist James Edmund Greeley
3. Internationally acclaimed gospel, jazz and blues singer Marilyn Keller
4. Singer, composer, pianist and recording artist Naomi LaViolette, and
5. Members of the Portland Chamber Orchestra

Music- and science-lovers from all walks of life will enjoy this unique show, and will experience both wonderful old and new music while gaining fresh perspectives on the roles of music – and love – in their lives.