Renée Fleming celebrated at a symposium titled “Music and Mind.”
By Randy Fox
Hildegarde E. Mahoney, left, and George Q. Daley applaud David Mahoney Prize winner Renée Fleming. Image: Gretchen Ertl
The Harvard Mahoney Neuroscience Institute (HMNI) and Harvard Medical School celebrated Renée Fleming, the 2024 David Mahoney Prize winner, at a symposium titled “Music and Mind” on Nov. 18 at HMS.
Fleming received the prize, which honors people who have significantly increased public awareness about brain science and disorders of the nervous system, for her advocacy of research at the intersection of music, health, and neuroscience. During her remarks at the event, Fleming described her commitment to this cause as an “incredible passion.”
Fleming is an American soprano who has won five Grammy Awards and received the National Medal of Arts. She was appointed by the World Health Organization as a Goodwill Ambassador for the Arts and Health and received the Kennedy Center Honor for lifetime artistic achievement. She is also a founding adviser of the NeuroArts Blueprint Initiative and the Sound Health Network.
Before HMNI founder Hildegarde E. Mahoney presented the award, HMS Dean George Q. Daley, AB ’82, MD ’91, PhD, told Fleming, “Your commitment to this evolving interdisciplinary field is nothing short of extraordinary, and your generosity with your sublime musical gifts has already gone a long way toward alleviating suffering and improving the health and well-being of so many people.”
David Mahoney Prize
The prize is named for Harvard Mahoney Neuroscience Institute co-founder David Mahoney. It honors individuals who have significantly increased public awareness about brain science and disorders of the nervous system.
