Grateful Dead's Mickey Hart Set for Mainly Mozart's Mozart & The Mind Series

Expanding on the success of its inaugural season last summer, Mainly Mozart's innovative Mozart & The Mind (MATM) series, led by Mainly Mozart Artistic Partner Tim Mullen, expands its programming to include two full-length performances and an affiliated public symposium at the University of California, San Diego this season.

This exciting, original series combines music, science and audience interaction in an exploration towards better understanding the relationship between music and the brain. Mozart & The Mind presents lectures, performances and an interactive "Music & The Brain Exposition" for music and science lovers alike, all by distinguished musicians and scientists on a variety of topics, reinforced with live music.

In describing the 2014 MATM series, Mr. Mullen, a UCSD neuroscientist and musician said, "Mozart & The Mind is back with an all-star lineup, including presentations by highly influential pioneers who have shaped our understanding of music's influence on cognitive and social development, the role of music in clinical rehabilitation, and the use of cognitive neuroscience, biofeedback and brain-computer interfaces in the experimental arts. These include Dr. Laurel Trainor (Director, McMaster Institute for Music and the Mind), Dr. Concetta Tomaino (Director, Institute for Music and Neurologic Function), and David Rosenboom (Chair and Dean of Music, California Institute of the Arts)."

New additions to MATM include two entirely unique full-length performances exploring relationships between music and the brain, leveraging innovative technology and scientific insights. On May 17, world-renowned Grateful Dead percussionist Mickey Hart will appear in concert with UCSF Neuroscience Imaging Center Director Dr. Adam Gazzaley. On May 31, David Rosenboom, a Yamaha artist and Dean of the School of Music, California Institute of Arts, and a pioneer of American experimental music and the use of neurofeedback in the arts, whose numerous collaborative performances include the late John Cage and the late John Lennon and Yoko Ono, will give a premiere performance with composer/ethnomusicologist/cognitive scientist Dr. Alexander Khalil and MATM Artistic Partner Tim Mullen. (Biographies on all attached below.)

"We are thrilled to have the legendary Mickey Hart and Dr. Adam Gazzaley with us!", stated Mr. Mullen. These two men will deliver a one-of-a-kind combination of live performance and demonstration exploring the role of rhythm in our lives and in brain function. This will include a live tour of real-time brain network activity from Mickey Hart's own brain, using state-of-the-art technology pioneered at the Institute for Neural Computation, UCSD. We are also excited to welcome another legendary figure, American experimental music pioneer and composer David Rosenboom, who is joining forces with Dr. Alex Khalil and myself to produce a new interactive performance -- driven by the collective brain activity of audience members themselves!"

Also new to the series is a full-day symposium open to both the public and researchers to be held May 18 at the UCSD Department of Music in La Jolla. The symposium, entitled "Convergence: a multidisciplinary dialogue on music," is co-sponsored by Mainly Mozart, the UC San Diego Temporal Dynamics of Learning Center, and UCSD Department of Music. Speakers will include an interdisciplinary mix of scientists, musicologists and musicians (to be announced in the near future, along with other details).

Each Mozart & The Mind event is followed by a Mainly Mozart Spotlight series chamber music concert.

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