UNO Sound Health

Sound Health: Bringing Music to Medicine bridges music and healthcare through live performances by UNO music students. The program enriches the environment of care for patients, families, healthcare providers, and staff while giving students meaningful service-learning opportunities and professional performing experience within their community.

Sound Health seeks to contribute to a welcoming and healing healthcare environment while expanding students’ understanding of the role musicians can play beyond traditional performance spaces. By breaking down the traditional “fourth wall” between performer and audience, students learn to connect more directly and meaningfully with the people they serve, experiencing firsthand the ways music can foster connection, comfort, and a sense of community.

Dr. Mary Perkinson founded Sound Health in 2010 at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. After joining the faculty at the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2014, she brought the program to Omaha, launching a pilot in spring 2015. Since then, Sound Health has continued to provide live music in healthcare settings throughout the Omaha community.

Sound Health is part of Citizen Musician, UNO’s community engagement and service-learning program that prepares music students to use their artistry in service to others. Through experiences in healthcare and other community settings, students develop as performers, collaborators, and engaged musicians while exploring the broader role of music in the communities they serve.