MPR News Presents

'Aspen Ideas Now': The importance of music and the arts on our brains and health

Renée Fleming and Francis Collins
NIH Director Francis Collins and Renée Fleming, who is Artistic Advisor at Large for the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., sing a duet.
Shelby Knowles | NPR File

We know music and the arts affect our brains and our physical and mental health.

From the “Aspen Ideas Now” series, renowned singer Renee Fleming and National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins speak about how music and the arts affect us.

Then, playwright Anna Deavere Smith and opera director Yuval Sharon speak about the role of the arts in these troubled times.