Joy, sorrow, tears, lamentation, laughter – to all these music gives voice, but in such a way that we are transported from the world of unrest to a world of peace, and see reality in a new way.                               --Dr. Albert Schweitzer

I've just spent a refreshing and restoring weekend in the Berkshires. My talk on Thursday, July 19  at the First Congregational Church in Stockbridge drew 35 people, some of whom were medical professionals, others who were musicians or artists.  My reflections on medical musicians and the role of music in healing alternated with movements from Bach's Goldberg Variations which were movingly and beautifully performed by Andy Jennings, Matt Dane and Norman Fischer. 
    I shared stories and thoughts of Dr. Albert Schweitzer.

Start early to instill in your students awareness that they are on this earth to help and serve others--that is as important to pass on to them as knowledge
 
Following the presentation, I had the opportunity to meet colleagues from the Berkshires, including Dr. Deborah Buccino, a clarinetist/pediatrician who played with the Longwood Symphony during her pediatric training in Boston, and Dr. David Elpern, whose thought-provoking blog is invites the reader to consider the role of the arts and humanities in medicine.
 
Thanks to Suburban Internal Medicine of Lee for sponsoring the event, First Congregational Church of Stockbridge for hosting, and my deep gratitude to David Anderegg and Kelley DeLorenzo for organizing the event.

Vermont is a beautiful, idyllic place. I visit there every summer to soak in the music from a variety of music festivals, appreciate the art, and revel in the rolling hills (ever notice how each hill is a slightly different shade?).

On the way home from each of these trips, I always make a point to stop in the town of Woodstock for an iced coffee, pay a visit to the jersey cows at Billings Farm and buy a new fish mobile for my pediatric office from the Yankee Bookshop.

But this summer I had a new mission: A friend called last week to tell me that he had purchased Scales to Scalpels at a bookstore in Woodstock. First I stopped at Shiretown Books, across the street. While they did not yet have the book, my visit prompted them to think about stocking it - the saleswoman told me her brother was a jazz pianist at Berklee who would love it.

Then I went across the street to Yankee Bookshop to inquire after the book.They had just SOLD OUT and were placing an order for more!

The conversation on music and healing continues!

Last week, I gave readings of Scales to Scalpels at two bookstores, the first at New England Mobile Book Fair in Newton and the second at The Harvard Coop in Cambridge.

I opened each reading with the Allemande from Bach's G major Suite No. 1 - it was a way for all of us to breathe in harmony for a moment. Not only was this moment calming for those gathered in the audience, it was also calming for me.

I was so touched that many friends came to the reading, including Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program physician Dr. Jim O'Connell. Jim and I go back 20 years, when Longwood Symphony Orchestra played its first Healing Art of Music concert with the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship.

Next Thursday I'll be giving a lecture at the Countway Library at Harvard Medical School, and I was surprised and happy to see displays about my talk at the Harvard Medical Center Coop and at the Library itself. 
What's thrilling about all of this is - it isn't about me, but a new opportunity to further the dialogue about the importance of the