When music meets the mind

Carolina Performing Arts and UNC Health professionals teamed up on interdisciplinary collaborations that sparked creativity and innovation.

Published on
April 01, 2025
A violinist plays in an auditorium while a person wears a cap with multiple sensors during a brain mapping performance.

Carolina Performing Arts teamed up with the UNC Carolina Center for Neurostimulation, the UNC School of Medicine Planning Office, and DooR to DooR, a music program within UNC Health's Volunteer Services and Patient Experience, to explore the brain’s response to live music in Natural Rhythms: The Brain, the Beat and the Beauty of Neurological Electricity.

As violinist and CPA curator-in-residence Johnny Gandelsman played, Dr. Flavio Frohlich, director of Carolina Center for Neurostimulation explained what the audience was seeing in real time: EEG readings of electrical activity in the brain demonstrating how the brain synchronizes with sound — revealing the deep connection between art and science.

CPA believes research and discovery don’t just belong in the lab — they thrive in the arts. Through interdisciplinary collaborations, they’re exploring how creativity can spark new ideas, foster innovation and deepen our understanding of the world around us. Make a gift to support Carolina.