Beatie Wolfe

How music can rescue and restore our humanity

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About Beatie Wolfe

Self-proclaimed “musical weirdo”, Beatie Wolfe is a visionary dedicated to pioneering new formats for music, which reunite tangibility, storytelling and ceremony. She is the co-founder of the profound research project,The Times, which looks at the power of music for people living with dementia. The Times was picked up by Stanford, the Alzheimer's Association, and led to the establishment of the charity Music For Dementia 2020. WIRED Magazine named Beatie one of "22 people changing the world". She has created a series of world-first designs that bridge the physical and digital, which include: a 3D theatre for the palm of your hand; a wearable record jacket; and most recently, an ‘anti-stream’ from the quietest room on earth and space beam via the Big Bang horn. Europe's largest art centre, Barbican, commissioned a documentary about Beatie entitled: Orange Juice for the Ears: From Space Beams to Anti-Streams which explores her music, innovations, philanthropic work and the shared intention that connects them all.

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About This Talk

Much research has shown that there is a deep connection between music and the mind. It sparks memory, invokes empathy, and allows for emotional release. Musical Visionary Beatie Wolfe suggests that it goes even a step farther. Beatie believes that music creates a profound imprint on the brain and has the ability to reach deeper than perhaps any other experience. She believes that this imprint is due in part to the storytelling, tangibility, and ceremony associated with music. When her grandmother was diagnosed with dementia, she found that music could not only feed her own soul, but could evoke feeling from those who may no longer be able to connect or communicate. By bringing music to care homes across the UK, she saw dementia patients break out of mute or catatonic states, and pioneered a far-reaching movement around music for dementia.

A lifelong musician and performer, Beatie Wolfe shares and describes the miraculous power of music. Watch her TEDMED 2020 Talk "How music can rescue and restore our humanity".


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