2026 Quarter CEU Sessions
Once again, the LC has decided to not hold an in-person or virtual conference for 2026. Instead, we will offer quarterly CEU sessions, giving the MTAI opportunities to learn, grow, see and support each other more frequently, without much cost.
2026 Quarter 3 CEU Session: Music-and-the Brain:
Dr. Anthony Brandt will talk about creativity and share about his recent research, including several mobile brain-body imaging studies that involve improvisation, followed by a brief Q&A session. Dr. Brandt is a leading figure in contemporary classical music, celebrated for his innovative compositions, interdisciplinary projects, and contributions to music education.
Tuesday, September 22, 2026 at 8:30 pm Eastern / 7:30 pm Central / 6:30pm Mountain / 5:30 pm Pacific, 2:30 pm Hawaii.
Competency: Professional/Clinical
CEU Hours: 1.5
Registration Required
Cost: $35
– Everyone who registers will receive access to the recording even if unable to attend.
Composer Anthony Brandt is Professor of Composition and Theory at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and Artistic Director of the contemporary music ensemble Musiqa. His catalogue includes four chamber operas, as well as orchestral, chamber, vocal, theater, dance, and television scores. Recent honors include his third MacDowell fellowship (2023), and fellowships from Copland House (2024), Loghaven (2026) and the Wurlitzer Foundation (2027). “Meeting of Minds,” his pioneering collaboration with NobleMotion Dance and the University of Houston BRAIN Center, was awarded Chamber Music America’s 2025 Interdisciplinary Collaboration of the Year Award. Recordings of his music are available on the Albany, Crystal, and Navona Live labels. Dr. Brandt and neuroscientist David Eagleman have co-authored The Runaway Species: How Human Creativity Remakes the World, which has been published in fourteen
countries. Dr. Brandt has contributed chapters to the Oxford Handbook of Music and the Brain, upcoming Oxford Handbook of Music and Language and several other volumes, and published papers in the Journal of Creativity, Creativity Research Journal, Frontiers in Psychology, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, and more. He founded and directs the Shepherd School’s Music, Mind and Body Lab and is currently a co-investigator in several studies involving music, health and creativity.
anthonybrandt.net
https://runawayspecies.com
www.musiqa.org
Previous 2026 CEU Sessions:
2026 Quarter 2 CEU Session – Tension and Release:
Thursday, June 25, 2026 at 8:30pm Eastern / 7:30pm Central / 6:30 pm Mountain / 5:30 pm Pacific, 2:30 pm Hawaii.
Chenoa Egawa
Chenoa Egawa is Lummi and S’Klallam of Washington State. She is a ceremonial leader, healer and medicine carrier; singer, speaker, published author and illustrator, Senior Level Qigong Instructor (through Ling Gui – Spiritual Turtle – International Healing Qigong School); artist, and nature photographer. Chenoa is dedicated to upholding and amplifying the wisdom of her elders and ancestors, sharing teachings about our interconnectedness, our responsibilities to this sacred life, to one another, and to the Natural world. Through her Indigenous heritage, studies of Qigong and Taoist Philosophy and lived experiences, she shares a unique holistic understanding of life, imparting wisdom that brings us back into harmony with our true nature.
2026 Quarter 1 CEU Session: A Clinical Discussion
Tuesday, April 7, 2026 at 8:30 pm Eastern / 7:30 pm Central / 6:30 pm Mountain / 5:30 pm Pacific, 2:30 pm Hawaii.
Our first CEU quarterly offering of 2026 will be a clinical discussion. The clinical narrative will be read by Kyle Higaki, CM-Th, and the ensuing clinical discussion will be facilitated by Tony Pederson, CM-Th.
No registration needed for members
The clinical discussion is used as an ongoing educational and developmental opportunity for music-thanatologists to enrich and deepen their contemplative and professional practice. In a clinical discussion, a clinical narrative is read that reflects a music vigil experience. The narrative integrates the application and analysis of the prescriptive delivery of music in support of phenomenological observations. After the narrative is read, a facilitator holds the space and guides the interactions that follow.
Anyone present is welcome to contribute to the discussion, which is intended to be a rich and enlivening experience that encourages an open sharing of observations, perceptions, insights, and ideas. Participants may comment or raise questions relating to the music vigil experience. Potential discussion topics may include, but are not limited to, various aspects of the vigil and that which was observed clinically, musically, medically, thanatologically, and spiritually/emotionally.
Our hope is that all participants of the clinical discussion will gain insights and new ways of looking at patient and music-thanatologist interactions in the vigil setting.
Competency: Professional/Clinical
CEU Hours: 1.5
Kyle Higaki, CM-Th
Kyle is a certified music-thanatologist, having received his professional certification in 2016. He served as a music-thanatologist with Providence Health and Services from 2015 through 2023, most recently at St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Oregon. Kyle now resides on the Big Island of Hawaii, where he was born and raised. He is the current treasurer of Music-Thanatology Association International (MTAI), having served in this role since 2021.