Rhythm and Truth: Music to Empower

Summer Jasmine Lall is a board-certified music therapist who obtained her music therapy degree from Berklee College of Music in 2008, graduating summa cum laude. Summer is the founder of CradleSong Birthing and Rhythm and Truth Music Therapy, specializing in recovery. She developed the Resistance to Resilience online training programs to teach professionals best practices in using music therapy with modern genres. Summer is the U.S. representative for the Rhythm2Recovery therapeutic drumming program and is also a HeartMath-certified trainer. She is a Sound Birthing fellow and trained in HealthRHYTHMS, Beat the Odds, RISE/LGBTQ, Pro-ACT de-escalation, C-SEC, and Risking Connection trauma informed care. Summer has practiced music therapy in schools, shelters, daycares, foster camps, yoga studios, correctional facilities, group homes, treatment centers, hospice centers, and hospitals. Music has taken her to over 20 countries around the globe. When she is not practicing music therapy, Summer is writing, recording, or performing with her band PWR CPL, hoping to inspire positive change through music however she can.

Jon Lall is a songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and performer from Princeton, New Jersey, and is currently living in Los Angeles. Jon obtained his degree in music business from Berklee College of Music in Boston, with a principal in voice. As a teaching artist, Jon uses a wide variety of music modalities—including drumming, piano, guitar, lyric analysis, songwriting, beat-making, singing, and recording—to teach history, math, science, literature, production, and performance. Jon has brought the Rhythm & Truth programming to schools in the greater Los Angeles area in juvenile detention centers, continuation high schools, charter schools, non-public schools, and correctional facilities. Jon has also been a private vocal and guitar instructor since 2005. When school is out, Jon is either in cowriting sessions for a wide range of artists, composing music for media platforms or creating, recording, and performing with his band PWR CPL.

Joy Allen, Ph.D., MT-BC, is an accomplished clinician, researcher, and educator with extensive experience in psychological health, pain management, and trauma-informed education and supervision. She has presented on her work at several peer-reviewed conferences, including regional, national and international music therapy and music- and health-related conferences. She is the editor of Guidelines for Music Therapy: Adult Medical Care, and author of chapters on adult oncology, pain management, and medical music therapy. Allen regular consults with community and higher education leaders on music therapy programs and curriculum development. She continues to serve in numerous capacities for the American Music Therapy Association, including as the executive board chair for the New England region, as well as serving on the Research Committee, Assembly of Delegates, and the Judicial Review Board. Lastly, she has served as a reviewer for the following journals: Nordic Journal of Music Therapy; Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy; and Music and Medicine: An Interdisciplinary Journal. Allen routinely collaborates with educational, health care, and community leaders on the design and implementation of music- and health-centered programs that incorporate music experiences to make an impact on the overall quality of life. This includes identifying health-related outcomes being addressed within these programs, as well as identifying the resources to ensure sustainability outside of structured individual and group experiences, whether this would be done through the process of trained community musicians, music therapists, and advocates, or through technological advances. In addition to chair responsibilities, Allen is the founding and acting director of the Music and Health Institute.