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Music-in-Medicine

The Music-in-Medicine Initiative harnesses music to improve the health and wellness of patients, caregivers and health care providers at UT MD Anderson and beyond.

The initiative hosts a concert series featuring world-class performances by artistic partners from around the globe. Patients, providers, caregivers, families, volunteers and visitors are invited to attend. Many of these concerts feature live data capturing to assess the neurophysiological impact of immersive live concerts on brain dynamics, stress biomarkers and wellness outcomes in patients, providers and caregivers.

Concerts are free and there are no tickets. Seating is first-come, first-serve.

View the concert schedule or get directions to concerts location.

"Rhapsody in Blue"

Mei Rui, DMA, performs Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” with live EEG data collection during the Music-in-Medicine inaugural Concert in The Park.

Upcoming concerts

Thursday | September 10, 2026 | 12 p.m. | Mays Clinic, West Lobby
“Inside A Composer’s Mind": the Art and Science of Creativity
Timo Andres, Piano and Composition

Wednesday | November 18, 2026 | Mays Clinic, West Lobby
"Your Brain on Brahms": Brahms Piano Quintet with the Schumann Quartet
Schumann Quartet | Mei Rui, DMA, Piano

Tuesday | December 10th, 2026 | Mays Clinic, West Lobby
“Sing Your Heart Out”—A Special Holiday Concert featuring Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera | Butler Studio

Thursday | January 21, 2027 | Mays Clinic, West Lobby
"Portrait of An Artist"—The Magic of Roman Rabinovich
Roman Rabinovich, Piano

Thursday | February 18, 2027 | Mays Clinic, West Lobby
“To My Distant Beloved”—Romantic Works by Beethoven, Schumann, and Rachmaninoff
Mei Rui, DMA, Piano

Tuesday | March 23, 2027 | Mays Clinic, West Lobby
"Imagination and Impressionism”—featuring Formosa Quartet
Formosa Quartet | Mei Rui, DMA, Piano

Thursday | April 22, 2027 | Mays Clinic, West Lobby
Acclaimed Artists from Da Camera Houston

May 2027, Date TBD | Mays Clinic, West Lobby
Houston Symphony Artists
Yoonshin Song, Houston Symphony Concertmaster and Principal Players

Past concerts

Tuesday | June 9, 2026 | Mays Clinic, West Lobby

Music-in-Medicine: "The Spirit of Resilience"
Kinetic Ensemble and Mei Rui, DMA

Tuesday | May 5, 2026 | 12 p.m. | Mays Clinic, West Lobby

Music-in-Medicine Neurofeedback Collaboration
ROCO | Anthony Brandt, composer | Mei Rui, Principal Investigator and Piano

Wednesday | April 22, 2026 | 12 p.m. | Mays Clinic, West Lobby
Passion and Nostalgia: A Special Earth Day Concert featuring Mihai Marica
Mihai Marica, Cello | Mei Rui, Piano

Tuesday | March 17, 2026 | 12 p.m. | Mays Clinic, West Lobby
Marwan Ghonima, Bass | Gavin Moolchan, Drums | Tasiah Rodgers, Voice | Brooke Wyat, Piano
Acclaimed Artists from Da Camera of Houston's Young Artist Program will showcase a curated collection of gemstones from the jazz repertoire. Selections will be announced from the stage.

Thursday | February 19, 2026 | 12 p.m. | Mays Clinic, second floor, West Lobby
Grammy-winning Violinist Robin Scott | Rochester Philharmonic Principal Cellist Ahrim Kim

Tuesday | January 27, 2026 | 12 p.m. | Mays Clinic, second floor, West Lobby
Kinetic Ensemble: Schubert Trout Quintet

Wednesday | December 17, 2025 | 12 p.m. | Mays Clinic, Second Floor, West Lobby
Virtuosity and Brain Power—A Collaboration with Moores School of Music at University of Houston

Thursday | December 4, 2025 | 4 p.m. | Mays Clinic, second floor, West Lobby
Ecstasy and Fantasy: A Special Holiday Concert featuring TMCO | Mei Rui, Soloist

Wednesday | June 4, 2025 | 12 p.m. | Mays Clinic, Second Floor, West Lobby
Music-in-Medicine: The Art of Musical Healing
A Special Survivorship Week Piano Recital featuring internationally acclaimed artist Chelsea de Souza, who will be sharing a special program highlighting the powerful healing impact of classical music on cancer patients, caregivers, and providers through an an immersive and emotionally evocative narrative.

Tuesday | June 3, 2025 | 12 p.m. | Mays West Lobby
The Art of Human Connection—A Special Survivorship Week Concert featuring Houston Symphony Artists and live Brain-Computer Interface Mapping
Dr. Mei Rui, Director of Music-in-Medicine, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery and internationally acclaimed concert pianist, will be joined by Boson Mo, Violin, and Jeremy Kreutz, Cello from the Houston Symphony in a chamber music concert honoring UT MD Anderson cancer survivors and caregivers.

Monday | June 2, 2025 | 11 a.m. | Virtual Event
Just Breath: Catherine Gregory, Flute and Breast Cancer Survivor

Friday | May 2, 2025 | 12 p.m. | Zayad Building, second floor
Thursday | May 8, 2025 | 12 p.m. | Mays Clinic, second floor, West Lobby
Da Camera Artists and Dr. Mei Rui
Schumann Piano Quintet and Ravel String Quartet

Wednesday | March 26, 2025 | 12 p.m. | Mays Clinic, Second Floor, West Lobby
Grace and Fire—Featuring David Kaplan, Professor of Piano at UCLA

Thursday | February 27, 2025 | 12 p.m. | Mays Clinic
Yoonshin Song, Violin | Mei Rui, Piano
Works by Beethoven, De Falla and Shostakovich.

Friday | February 14, 2025 | 12 p.m. | Mays Clinic, second floor, west lobby
Houston Grand Opera
A special Valentine’s concert featuring acclaimed artists from the Houston Grand Opera.

Wednesday | February 12, 2025 | 12 p.m. | Mays Clinic, second floor, west lobby
Escher Quartet and Mei Rui, Piano

Friday | February 7, 2025 | 12 p.m. | Zayed Building, second floor conference foyer
Houston Grand Opera
A special Valentine’s concert featuring acclaimed artists from the Houston Grand Opera.

Monday | October 14, 2024 | 12 p.m. | The Park (Main Building, second floor)
Monarch Chamber Players

Tuesday | April 30, 2024 | 12 p.m.
Love, Brahms
Sonata for Cello and Piano in F Major, Op. 99 | Sonata for Violin and Piano in D Minor, L. 108 | Piano Trio in C Minor, Op. 101
Featuring internationally renowned artists Jaewon Wee, Richard Belcher, and Mei Rui.

Wednesday | April 3, 2024 | 12 p.m.
Mendelssohn Piano Trio in C Minor, Op. 66; and Beethoven Piano Trio in Eb Major, Op. No.1.
Featuring the award-winning Trio Menil, Grand Prize and Odyssey Chamber Music Series Award winner at the 2023 Plowman Chamber Music Competition. Jonathan Mak, Piano; Jeongwon Claire An, Violin; David Dietz, Cello

Thursday | March 21, 2024 | 5 p.m.
The Art of Musical Healing: A Piano Recital
Emanuel Ax, Piano

Wednesday | February 14, 2024 | 12 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Be My Valentine
Ravishingly romantic chamber works by Antonín Dvořák, Camille Saint-Saëns, and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Featuring New Zealand cellist Richard Belcher, violinist Eva Burmeister, River Oaks Chamber Orchestra Artistic Director Alecia Lawyer and pianist Mei Rui.

Wednesday | January 31, 2024 | 12 p.m.
The Mozart Effect
Featuring award-winning Da Camera violinists Astrid Nakamura and Yu-Ming Ma, violist Weilan Li, and cellist Kristiana Ignatjeva; joined by Neurosurgery faculty and concert pianist Dr. Mei Rui. Chamber works by Mozart, Bologne, and Schubert.

Friday | December 1, 2023 | 12 p.m.
Immortal Beloved
Piano works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert and Sergei Rachmaninoff.
Featuring Mei Rui, DMA, piano.

Thursday | November 2, 2023 | 5 p.m.
100 Years of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue”
Featuring the TMC Orchestra, UT MD Anderson Neurosurgery faculty and internationally award-winning concert pianist Mei Rui, DMA, soloist.

Friday | October 20, 2023 | 12 p.m.
Shepherd School of Music: Brahms Trio
Featuring Sophia Mathews, Violin; Emma Potter, Horn, and Mei Rui, piano.

Friday | October 20, 2023 | 12 p.m.
Da Camera Artist: A Piano Recital
Works by Robert Schumann, Ludwig van Beethoven and J.S. Bach.
Featuring Jonathan Mack, piano.

About the Music-in-Medicine initiative

Music is a safe, low-cost and effective way to improve wellness. Listening to relaxing classical music for just 30 minutes can significantly reduce blood pressure, heart rate, and the levels of stress hormones and inflammatory molecules detected in the blood. The right kind of music played in the operating room can enhance surgeon performance and improve patient outcomes.

The Music-in-Medicine Initiative harnesses music to improve the health and wellness of patients, caregivers and health care providers at UT MD Anderson and beyond. The initiative's specific goals include:

Reducing stress and anxiety before during, and after surgery
Alleviating pain, confusion, fatigue and fear during awake procedures
Enhancing the performance of providers in the operating room, including the surgeon
Improving sleep and promoting recovery after surgery
Mitigating burnout and enhancing wellness in providers
Optimizing the acoustic environment of care for patients, providers and caregivers.

The initiative conducts these efforts through multiple programs, including:

Innovative clinical trials exploring the applications and benefits of music in cancer patients, caregivers and providers. Learn about our current clinical trial for neurosurgery patients or learn more about our research efforts.
Concerts in The Park, a monthly live performance series featuring world-class performing artists from around the globe, showcasing a state-of-the art Steinway Spirio D model concert grand piano.
Musicare, a one-on-one bedside concert series for patients and providers.
Pop-up concerts throughout UT MD Anderson, such as on the skybridge and within surgical waiting areas.

Contact us

Mei Rui, DMA, Assistant Professor
Neurosurgery department
Director, Music-in-Medicine Initiative
mrui@mdanderson.org

Eddie Gonzalez
Senior Administrative Assistant
832-883-5176
EEGonzalez1@mdanderson.org

What is music medicine?

You don’t have to be a music lover to benefit from music’s healing impact. Studies have found that just 30 minutes of listening to relaxing classical music can decrease levels of stress hormones in the blood.

Science demonstrates the power of music’s healing properties. The field is called music medicine. Music medicine researchers study how certain music-based interventions impact stress, pain, sleep and mood in patients. They also assess how different musical stimuli affect surgeon performance and provider wellness.

We spoke with Mei Rui, DMA, assistant professor of Neurosurgery and director of Music-in-Medicine at MD Anderson, to learn more about the emerging field of music medicine and Concerts in The Park, a new concert series at MD Anderson featuring world-class musicians and ensembles. An award-winning concert pianist, Rui spearheads clinical trials using live music intervention to enhance patient outcomes, wellness and surgeon performance in the operating room.

What is music medicine?

Music is a powerful modulator of the human stress response. Music is safe, cost-effective and non-narcotic. Research suggests classical music reduces stress, pain and anxiety in clinical settings with no known side effects.

Our multidisciplinary study team includes neurosurgeons, oncologists, acute-care providers, ICU nurses, neuropsychologists, anesthesiologists, neuroimaging specialists, data scientists, award-winning composers and world-class musicians. Using state-of-the-art technologies including fMRI, EEG, and proteomic analyses, we analyze cells, blood, brainwaves, vitals and more to measure the impact of music on health outcomes.

Different types of music target different pathways in the brain. Listening to a mix of both familiar and unfamiliar music can help the brain recover from a stroke or surgery by stimulating oxygen and blood flow to critical brain regions.

These benefits extend to health care providers, too. We have found that listening to prescribed music enhances blood flow to brain regions associated with emotional regulation and empathy. Surgeons perform certain tasks even more accurately and efficiently when exposed to classical music.

What types of patients benefit from music medicine?

Music can help everyone! Studies have shown that intubated and even fully sedated patients under general anesthesia respond positively to prescribed music. The patient does not need to be conscious or aware. Simply being in the same room while the music plays lowers levels of stress biomarkers and improves hemodynamic stabilities.

Music can also help healthcare providers who work long shifts and have irregular sleep schedules. Listening to relaxing music can promote sleep mindfulness and potentially reduce risks for burnout.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, I founded an initiative at the hospital where I was working to comfort isolated patients and burnt-out providers. I reached out to musical collaborators including cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pianist Emanuel Ax, and musicians from the Houston Symphony and the Juilliard String Quartet. Over 400 live bedside concerts were performed for isolated patients and burnt-out providers.

What is prescribed music?

“Prescribed music” refers to musical compositions that target a patient’s neurophysiological mechanisms and mood states. We define prescribed music based on certain compositional elements of relaxation. Instead of focusing on genre (pop, jazz, rock and roll), prescription music should be selected based on compositional elements like timbre, tempo, instrumentation, dynamic range, accentuation and articulation.

Prescribed music is emotionally nonintrusive. Music that contains the compositional elements of relaxation yields more consistent and effective results regardless of a person’s age, gender, profession, preference, or prior musical training.

Most people prefer certain genres of music, artists or songs. But if patients or providers choose music simply based on what they like, the results can be undesirable. Like any other kind of medicine, music can have side effects. For example, some music can be emotionally triggering, especially vocal music or pieces with overly activating rhythms. Such pieces can be too stimulating for unstable ICU or intraoperative patients, and they can compromise surgeons’ abilities to perform fine motor tasks.

How do you decide what music to prescribe?

It depends on the desired outcome. For example, we might want to promote sleep and stress reduction in ICU or postoperative patients. In that case, we would choose soothing pieces such as a Chopin Nocturne or Schumann’s Traumerei played at a low volume.

We have had success with music that contains a perfect balance of novelty and familiarity. Examples include Bach Goldberg Variations and slow movements of Mozart's piano sonatas. Delicate and beautiful themes reemerge multiple times throughout such pieces, invoking a sense of familiarity. However, these composers weave in subtle variations each time the theme returns, which helps your brain stay entrained and in a meditative state.

Prescription music is not the typical “elevator” music that numbs, bores and makes us tune out. Hearing the same melody on repeat can quickly turn from a pleasant experience to an excruciating one. Instead, prescription music simultaneously enlightens and calms the mind.

How is music medicine being used at MD Anderson?

My goal is to use evidence-based music programming to optimize the acoustic environment of care at MD Anderson. Having performed over 600 concerts for audiences around the world, I am passionate about using music as a universal language to connect with patients, caregivers and providers. We’re holding our inaugural Concert in The Park on Thursday, Nov. 2 at 5 p.m. I will perform George Gershwin’s iconic “Rhapsody in Blue” on the piano with the TMC Orchestra.

During the performance, attendees will witness a live experiment with real-time EEG data collection and projection by my collaborator from the University of Houston, Dr. Jose Conteras-Vidal. Neurosurgery chair Frederick Lang, M.D., and I will both wear 32-channel EEG caps. Attendees will be able to visualize how a soloist’s and a non-musician audience member’s brains respond to performing and listening to the dynamic sections in the concerto on large screens.

I am immensely grateful for the donation of a Steinway Spirio D concert grand piano, which has been supporting Concerts in The Park. It also plays pre-recorded, simulated live music from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. every day in The Park. We have already held pop-up concerts in The Park, on the Skybridge, and in other high-flow public and waiting areas at MD Anderson. It has been deeply rewarding and meaningful for me to play for patients and staff.

Several free concerts have been scheduled for the fall season and beyond. We are also scheduling more pop-up concerts, so check for updates. I also look forward to bringing live bedside concerts directly into the patient rooms.

See a schedule of upcoming concerts at MD Anderson.