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Two local orchestras celebrate music and fight mental health stigma

The Vermont Symphony Orchestra will close out its season on May 10th with a collaborative performance with Me2, the world's only classical music organization created for people with mental illnesses and those who support them.

The VSO's music director Andrew Crust and Me2's co-founder and executive director Caroline Whiddon discuss the special performance and the ways in which they rely on music and the camaraderie of an orchestra in their own lives. And Burlington-based music therapist Pat Lambdin of Universal Sound Music Therapy tells us about supporting his patients by listening to and playing music in a non-competitive, non-judgemental space.

Note: The Vermont Symphony Orchestra is a Vermont Public business sponsor.

Broadcast live on Thursday, May 1, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.

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Mikaela Lefrak is the host and senior producer of Vermont Edition. Her stories have aired nationally on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition, Marketplace, The World and Here & Now. A seasoned local reporter, Mikaela has won two regional Edward R. Murrow awards and a Public Media Journalists Association award for her work.