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Cutting music programs doesn’t just remove a fun class, it removes a kind of brain training kids can’t easily replace elsewhere. We sit down with Dr. Marija Pranjić, a neuroscientist, music therapist, and pianist, to unpack what music education actually does for neurodevelopment and why access matters so much for equity, learning, and long-term health.

We talk about how the “music center in the brain” idea has fallen apart as brain imaging advanced, and what replaced it: a distributed network view where music recruits perception, movement, memory, attention, and reward systems. That overlap helps explain why active music-making can support speech and language foundations, motor coordination, careful listening, and self-regulation, especially during early childhood development. We also dig into the digital era problem: when kids spend more time on screens and less time in rich sensory environments, music can be a practical form of sensory enrichment that strengthens feedback and adaptation skills.

From there, the conversation turns personal and concrete: performance anxiety, confidence, and why a good teacher can turn discomfort into growth rather than shame. We also treat musician health seriously, looking at repetition, overuse, stigma around injury, and why musicians may benefit from training plans that look more like athlete management. Finally, we explore music therapy and clinical neuroscience, including why familiar songs can “unlock” memory in dementia and how rhythm can organize movement in Parkinson’s disease through rhythmic entrainment.

If you care about music education, neuroscience, or practical tools for healthy learning and performance, this one delivers. Subscribe, share the episode with a teacher or parent, and leave a review with your take: what role did music play in your life?

All episodes are also available in video form on our YouTube and Spotify Channels. All episodes are hosted by Elizabeth (Lizzie) Bowman.

Don’t forget to subscribe, share the love, and leave us a review to show your support—it means a lot to us!

Don't hesitate to reach out to us with guest ideas, information you'd like covered, or any ideas you might have—the hope is for this to be a continuous resource and dialogue with our listeners.

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When an opera singer contemplates turning down a Metropolitan Opera debut (for financial reasons), it raises immediate questions about the realities facing working artists today. In this episode, host Elizabeth Bowman sits down with bass Andrew Potter to unpack his recent retirement from staged opera at 43 (OperaWire). Potter shares his perspective on the industry's economic model, sparking a broader conversation about performance fees, rising overhead, and how shifting regional opportunities are impacting freelancers across the field.

Together, they examine the real-world economics facing freelancers today: flat fees alongside escalating costs for housing, travel, coaching, and health insurance, as well as the unglamorous realities of early-career work and the financial impact of sudden contract cancellations. The conversation delves into industry norms, post-pandemic casting pressures, and how current structures affect transparency and artist stability.

Looking toward the future, Potter discusses how he’s applying a problem-solving mindset to both climate tech—through his venture Intelligent Harvest—and the performing arts. They explore potential paths forward for the industry, including housing support, updated sponsorship models, and bringing artists into administrative conversations as true partners.

All episodes are also available in video form on our YouTube and Spotify Channels. All episodes are hosted by Elizabeth (Lizzie) Bowman.

Don’t forget to subscribe, share the love, and leave us a review to show your support—it means a lot to us!

Don't hesitate to reach out to us with guest ideas, information you'd like covered, or any ideas you might have—the hope is for this to be a continuous resource and dialogue with our listeners.

Visit TheSceneRoom.com for more information.

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, Lizzie Bowman is joined by Pulitzer Prize-winning librettist Royce Vavrek (Angel’s Bone with composer Du Yun, Adoration with composer Mary Kouyoumdjian, Lincoln in the Bardo with composer Missy Mazzoli) who grew up on a farm in Alberta, Canada, and is exploding in the international opera scene. We discuss how a childhood of country radio and the rural landscape of Northern Canada shaped his "serpentine" path through film school and eventually into the world of contemporary storytelling.

Serendipitous Release: While this conversation was recorded in December 2025, a few audio technical hurdles (now fixed!) kept it in the vault until now. As it turns out, the timing is perfect. In the interview, we discuss the complexities of the project Indians on Vacation, and this week, on May 9, 2026, that project, in a new form, takes center stage. Against the Grain Theatre (where Royce is Artistic Director) will present "Stories Don’t Die" at the Terminal Theatre in Toronto. This intimate encounter interweaves excerpts from the opera with personal reflections on belonging and identity, featuring a newly commissioned sung land acknowledgement by Ian Cusson and Yvette Nolan.

Also in this conversation:

• The "Energy Ping-Pong": Royce explains why he loves an audience that "talks back"—from $11 tickets at Opera Philly to the electric, "imperfect" magic of live performance.
• Pure Canadiana: A deep dive into our shared love for the Canadian singer-songwriters who define our playlists, including Sarah Slean, Kathleen Edwards, and The Rankin Family.
• Writing for Muses: The joy of creating roles for specific voices like Lauren Worsham, Anne Sophie von Otter, and Thomas Hampson.

All episodes are also available in video form on our YouTube and Spotify Channels. All episodes are hosted by Elizabeth (Lizzie) Bowman.

Don’t forget to subscribe, share the love, and leave us a review to show your support—it means a lot to us!

Don't hesitate to reach out to us with guest ideas, information you'd like covered, or any ideas you might have—the hope is for this to be a continuous resource and dialogue with our listeners.

Visit TheSceneRoom.com for more information.