Zoellner Arts Center’s Well-Being Concerts Support Wellness, Community Health Through Partnership

At Lehigh University’s Zoellner Arts Center, strong partnerships play an essential role in bringing new initiatives to life, with all partners collaborating in harmony to create a powerful expression.

One of Zoellner’s latest successful pioneering collaborations is its Well-Being Concerts in partnership with Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute, which combine music, storytelling, movement and mindfulness to reduce stress and foster resilience.

Developed in partnership with Mindful Child Initiative, the wellness-focused concerts are part of Zoellner’s new Arts & Wellness Program, which integrates music, mindfulness and creative expression into the region’s health and wellness ecosystem. This community-driven model is the first of its kind in the Lehigh Valley and is being piloted in partnership with health care providers, educators, social service organizations and artists.

Each Well-Being Concert, inspired by the namesake program from Carnegie Hall, creates an immersive, nurturing space in which audiences and performers share in the soul-nourishing benefits of music, create shared experiences and explore tools for well-being that last long after the performance.

“We believe everyone should have access to the arts, to mindful practices and to experiences that support well-being,” said Mark Wilson, executive director of Zoellner.

The hour-long events invite attendees to fully relax with no expectation to sit still or remain silent. Instead, the audience surrounds the musicians on stage, seated on comfortable chairs, cozy cushions or yoga mats. Hosts Khalid Taylor or Sara Jane Black lead the audience through mindfulness practices designed to open the senses and deepen connection to songs played by the musicians.

The first performance in the series was held on Oct. 1 in Zoellner’s Baker Hall and featured host Khalid Taylor, as well as violinist Maïthéna Girault and bassist Chris Johnson of Sphinx Virtuosi, a professional self-conducted chamber orchestra. Girault and Johnson treated the audience to a range of songs, from classical pieces like “Ave Maria” to upbeat hits like “Sweet Caroline,” sharing personal stories about their memories associated with each. An additional private performance was held that day for residents at the Hispanic Center Lehigh Valley, an organization that Zoellner has partnered with for many years, Wilson said.

After both concerts, attendees had the opportunity to share their reflections and connect with others through the experience.

“One of the ways we are using our power for good is bringing the community together because that’s our superpower,” said Wilson. “People love arts and you can bring people from different cultural, geographical or demographic backgrounds to love some sort of art form.”

Partnership in Rhythm

The idea for bringing Well-Being Concerts to Lehigh can be traced back to Zoellner’s focus on fostering community following the COVID-19 pandemic, Wilson said.

“In 2021, we started talking with the Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) about the importance of bringing the community back together through the arts,” he said.

This led to Zoellner’s partnership with LVHN, which began in 2022 with the launch of the Lehigh Valley Reilly Children's Hospital Family Series. The shows, which range from musicals to plays to concerts, encourage families to visit Zoellner and enjoy the arts.

The team also spoke with behavioral scientist and consultant Tasha Golden, whose “Arts on Prescription: A Field Guide for US Communities” helped inspire Zoellner’s approach to wellness and the arts. “Arts on Prescription” offers a roadmap for communities to develop programs that formally integrate arts, culture and nature resources into local health and social care systems, according to the University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine. The programs allow health care providers and social service agencies to “prescribe” arts activities to support their patients’ or clients’ health, well-being and quality of life.

Influenced by Golden’s approach, Zoellner enhanced the Lehigh Valley Reilly Children's Hospital Family Series by adding pre-show conversations with LVHN doctors and offering fresh, healthy foods to families before the shows. They also focused on innovating with the implementation of the Well-Being Concerts.

After participating in a Well-Being Concert at Carnegie Hall as part of a conference, Wilson said he was inspired to bring the concerts to Zoellner and worked with Carnegie Hall to establish a partnership. As part of the partnership, the Zoellner team has the opportunity to attend Carnegie Hall trainings and share their insights from hosting the concerts.

Generous support from alumni like W. Beall Fowler ’59 P’85 P’89 GP’16, Barbara and Harvey L. York ’67 P’94 P’98 and Marcie and Glenn M. Yarnis ’80 was essential in helping the Well-Being Concerts take shape, Wilson said.

“It was these alumni who said, ‘This is great for both Lehigh students and also for the community,’” Wilson said.

Wilson said partnerships like the Well-Being Concerts are essential to Zoellner’s work and its efforts to support the community.

“I love partnerships,” Wilson said. “Zoellner Arts Center is part of Lehigh University, and Lehigh is our backbone. So whenever we are able to be a backbone for other nonprofits, that is an opportunity for us to really help the community. And so that is one of the things that we just pride ourselves in.”

Future in Focus

Looking ahead, Wilson said Zoellner hopes to open doors for others within the community to create or host similar programs and help further the goal of bettering community health.

“If you think about the words ‘collective impact,’ that means you need to have more people to help solve a problem,” Wilson said.

With support from Zoellner, the Lehigh Valley Arts and Cultural Alliance (LVACA) hosted the webinar “Beyond Inspiration: Building Arts + Wellness Opportunities in the Lehigh Valley” with Tasha Golden on Oct. 2 to provide community members with a deeper understanding of the arts’ health impacts, as well as actionable strategies to strengthen their work, build meaningful partnerships and advance both individual and community well-being.

Additionally, Wilson said he is exploring bringing these types of concerts to other spaces across campus for students. He is interested in training students to curate their own versions of the concerts, combining mindfulness and music together.

“If this can help student outcomes by giving them a tool to be successful, we want to be able to do that,” Wilson said. “We also understand that people in our community need this tool, so that’s what we want to do more of—try to help both the community and the campus.”

Wilson said he hopes the community will continue to attend Well-Being Concerts at Zoellner and other organizations who establish their own versions of the concerts.

“We want people to continue to come back and that will help us grow,” Wilson said. “The hope is if other organizations are doing it, too, that means people have lots of options and it will spread.”

Learn more about Zoellner Arts Center’s upcoming Well-Being Concerts here.