How music fosters collective healing | Marte Siebenhar | TEDxOvertown

Quick Overview

Marte Siebenhar argues that music, particularly in collaborative settings like orchestras, fosters collective healing by teaching participants deep listening, empathy, and how to support each other through shared experiences of joy, grief, and trauma, ultimately creating a form of shared, evolving melody.

Key Points: Siebenhar began playing the oboe at age 11 and was subbing with the New York Philharmonic by age 23, having lived in Overtown, which also has a rich past. The classical music world, which she inhabited, often upholds a white, male, European worldview that can feel exclusive and elitist. Her experience playing Dido and Aeneas after 9/11, where the soprano Kirsten Flagstad's recording mirrored the collective grief and betrayal felt, highlighted music's healing power. Collective healing in music occurs when the entire ensemble shows up to play, listen, and bear witness to each other's experiences, rather than just focusing on individual performance. Music teaches the deep work of listening to respond and understand, not just to reply, which is crucial for navigating collective trauma and grief. The process of creating music together, even when circumstances are imperfect, involves an evolving melody that facilitates shared healing. She now works as a business healer, coaching and applying energy healing to help clients process trauma and move beyond what holds them back.

Context: Marte Siebenhar, a former classical musician who played the oboe professionally, including subbing for the New York Philharmonic, shares her realization that music—especially group performance—is a powerful tool for collective healing. She contrasts the often exclusive nature of the classical music world with the profound, shared experience of creating music together, drawing on personal experiences like performing after 9/11 to illustrate how music can hold and process collective grief and trauma.

Detailed Analysis

Marte Siebenhar, a former oboist who began playing at age 11 and later subbed for the New York Philharmonic by age 23, argues that music facilitates collective healing. She discusses her past in the classical music world, which she views as often upholding an exclusive, white, male, European worldview. A pivotal moment in her realization was performing Henry Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas shortly after 9/11 at Trinity Church on Wall Street; the grief mirrored in the soprano's lament (sung by Kirsten Flagstad on a recording shown on screen) resonated deeply with the audience and performers. Siebenhar emphasizes that this healing is collective, not individual, occurring when the entire ensemble shows up ready to listen, witness each other's stories of grief, betrayal, and trauma, and hold space for that experience. This process is described as an 'evolving melody' and involves 'deep work'—listening to understand rather than just to respond. She concludes that this shared vulnerability and creation is transformative, contrasting it with the limitations of merely talking about trauma. Siebenhar now applies these principles as a business healer, coaching clients to process past experiences and move forward.