Sara Sherman

As a musician, educator, and arts leader based in New York City, it’s been a joy to reimagine how people of all ages encounter live music as the founder and director of Mozart for Munchkins. For nearly a decade, my work has lived at the intersection of performance, education, and well-being—asking not just what music does, but how and why it moves us, regulates us, and brings us into connection with one another.

Through Mozart for Munchkins and our nonprofit arm, the Little Mozart Foundation, I’ve led hundreds of interactive concerts, assemblies, residencies, and community programs for children, families, and multigenerational audiences. These experiences take place in schools, libraries, community centers, shelters, and cultural institutions across NYC and beyond, and are designed to be participatory, welcoming, and responsive—inviting listeners to move, sing, reflect, and engage with music in real time.

Much of this work serves Title I schools, Head Start programs, migrant families, and neurodivergent learners, where music often functions as a powerful nonverbal bridge—supporting communication, emotional expression, focus, and belonging. Across ages and settings, I’m especially interested in how shared musical experiences create moments of regulation and connection, whether in a classroom, a concert hall, or a public space.

Alongside performance, my work includes collaboration with educators, teaching artists, and cultural partners to translate these musical practices into classrooms and learning environments. I’ve partnered with organizations including the United Federation of Teachers, MindUP (The Goldie Hawn Foundation), Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Chamber Orchestra, MoMA, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and Hudson Yards—exploring how music can support learning, community-building, and well-being at scale.

I’m also the co-author of Resonant Minds, a book that explores the neuroscience of music, memory, and mindful action in everyday life. My writing and speaking blend research, field-based observation, and lived experience—as a performer, educator, and parent—to examine music as an accessible human technology for self-regulation, creativity, and connection.

My interest in neuroarts research grows directly out of practice: observing how children respond to rhythm before they have words, how families synchronize through shared listening, and how repeated musical cues shape memory, emotion, and behavior over time. I’m excited to be part of a community that bridges research and lived experience, deepening our collective understanding of how music works—across bodies, brains, and lives.