Wellness Resources
Support your health through music.
Browse this curated selection of videos, podcasts, publications, and events to discover research and practical tools to integrate the arts into your wellness practices, designed by music therapists, scholars, and arts practitioners.
For even more arts and health content, visit our Los Angeles County Arts and Health Week Summit webpage to watch recorded presentations from Summits past.
Spotlighting Leaders in Arts and Health Initiatives
LA Opera Connects is proud to spotlight leaders in arts and health initiatives as part of the 2025 Los Angeles County Arts and Health Week.
View this playlist to discover organizations working at the intersection of arts and health across Los Angeles county and the nation.
Organizations featured in this playlist:
Able ARTS Work, Arts & Healing Initiative, Dancing Through Parkinson's (Invertigo Dance Theatre), The Ebell of Los Angeles, Education Through Music-Los Angeles, Get Lit: Words Ignite, Lineage Performing Arts Center, National Endowment for the Arts, Piece by Piece, Rancho Foundation and Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, The Actors' Gang, University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine, and Urban Voices Project
Support your voice, your body, and your creative expression
LA Opera Connects' Opera for Life and Wellness video series features tools to help you feel more grounded, and to connect more fully to yourself and to the world around you.
You can use these tools as part of your everyday life: whether you're making a presentation at work, teaching, singing, or simply wanting to feel more at ease in your own voice and body. View the playlist here and follow along with Connects teaching artists Ashley Faatoalia, Charlie Kim, Michele Patzakis, and Stacie Aamon Yeldell. Find more Arts and Health content on the LA Opera Connects YouTube channel.
Interested in quick reads or audio resources?
Written Resources: An Introduction to Arts and Health Initiatives
- Advancing Mental Health & Wellbeing in LA County - UCLA Prevention Center of Excellence
- Healing-Centered Arts practices for Building Communities of Wellness - Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture
- How Do We Realize the Potential of the Arts to Support Health and Wellbeing in the United States? - Jameel Arts and Health Lab
- Key Research Insights Infographic - University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine
- Mindfulness for Families with Art at LACMA - Los Angeles County Museum of Art
- Research Brief #1 - One Nation/One Project + Arts for Every Body
- "Why Medicine Needs the Arts" - Education Healthcare Public Services
Behind the Curtain: A Music and Wellness series
Additional Opportunities to Connect
Gather with others to discuss the latest advances in Arts and Health.
Field Guides, Research, and Other Articles
- Arts on Prescription: A Field Guide for US Communities - Mass Cultural Council; University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine; Tasha L. Golden, PhD
- Creative Wellbeing Curriculum Guide - LA County Arts Education Collective
- Introduction Guide to Arts and Health, Research and Data - California for the Arts
- Research - Music Mends Minds: Restoring the Rhythm of Life
Thank you to the following Arts and Health partners, and others who have contributed to the resources on this page.
Individuals:
- Nita Baxani, EdD, Musician, Researcher; Early Childhood Music Department Chair, Colburn School
- Renée Fleming, Special Projects Advisor, LA Opera; Goodwill Ambassador for Arts and Health, World Health Organization
- Ping Ho, MA, MPH; Founder & Director, Arts and Healing Initiative
- Jill Sonke, PhD Director of Research Initiatives, University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine
- Indre Viskontas, MM, PhD; Scientific Advisory Board Chair, NeuroArts BluePrint; Associate Professor, University of San Francisco
- Stacie Aamon Yeldell, MA, MT-BC, AVPT; Best-selling Author, Speaker, Music Therapist; Founder, Amöntra
Organizations:
- Able ARTS Work
- Arts & Healing Initiative
- Californians for the Arts
- Dancing Through Parkinson's (Invertigo Dance Theatre)
- The Ebell of Los Angeles
- Education Through Music-Los Angeles
- Get Lit: Words Ignite.
- Lineage Performing Arts Center
- Los Angeles County Office of Education
- National Endowment for the Arts
- National Organization for the Arts in Health
- Piece by Piece
- Rancho Foundation and Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center
- The Actors' Gang
- University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine
- Urban Voices Project
Our team is continuously adding to this webpage. Check back soon for more arts and health resources.
To get in touch with questions, connect with us at Connects@laopera.org or call us at 213.972.3157.
LA Opera Connects is generously supported by
The Emanuel Treitel Senior Citizen Fund
The Green Foundation
The Music Man Foundation
LA County Department of Arts and Culture as part of Creative Recovery LA, an initiative funded by the American Rescue Plan