On Thursday evening, November 20, the Palace Symposium took place at the Royal Palace Amsterdam with the theme ‘Music and mind, music as medicine’. His Majesty the King and Her Majesty Queen Máxima were host and hostess.
During the event, three guest speakers spoke about music cognition, the role of perception, emotion, and memory in listening to music, and the therapeutic power of music. Music is increasingly used as medicine in addition to conventional medicine. The symposium combined the latest theoretical insights with the perspective of performing musicians.
Henkjan Honing, professor of Music Cognition at the University of Amsterdam, discussed the cognitive and biological basis of musicality, the origin of music, and what makes humans musical. Daniel Levitin, emeritus professor of psychology, neuroscience, and music at McGill University in Montreal, spoke about the relationship between music, the brain, health, productivity, and creativity. Evelyn Glennie, solo percussionist, shared her vision on the theme from the perspectives of listening, inclusion, and perseverance.
The event was chaired by two members of the Palace Committee: mezzo-soprano Tania Kross and professor of Greek literature and linguistics Ineke Sluiter.
Since 1979, usually two symposia are organized annually at the Royal Palace Amsterdam by the Stichting Koninklijk Paleis Amsterdam, with the King as host. Leading speakers from around the world offer their views on various social issues and current themes during these meetings. The lectures can be listened to again from Friday, November 21 at www.paleisamsterdam.nl/paleissymposium.
RVD, no. 313
