In Wednesday’s (3/24) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Andrew Druckenbrod writes, “Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra violist Penny Anderson Brill is accustomed to getting applause for her work on stage. When the Mid-Atlantic Conference of the American Music Therapy Association convenes this week at the Radisson in Green Tree for its annual conference, it will honor the violist for her work as an advocate for music therapy and the PSO for its partnership with Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. Mrs. Brill hopes that the PSO collaboration with Children’s, formalized when the hospital moved to its new building in Lawrenceville in 2009, will inspire more music therapists to work with professional musicians. … Mrs. Brill also teamed with local music therapists to perform at Pittsburgh hospitals and helped establish a connection between the PSO and Children’s Hospital by playing for memorial ceremonies for families who lost children. Children’s Hospital now has two staff music therapists: Deborah Benkovitz and Nicole Steele. That commitment to music and wellness led the PSO to strengthen its relationship with the hospital last year by establishing a pool of its musicians who play regularly chamber music throughout the building.”
Posted March 24, 2010
