Positive Health Online

Peter Muir PhD is an internationally recognized pianist, educator, musicologist, and conductor, whose approach is guided by a passionate belief in the power of music to transform the well-being of individuals and communities. Dr Muir first met John Diamond MD in 1990. Diamond became Muir's mentor, intensively training him over a period of many years in his unique approach to holistic healing, especially the use of creativity for health. Dr. Muir's past positions include: Director of Dr. Diamond's Institute for Music and Health in South Salem, New York; former head of Keyboards and Director of Jazz at Westminster School, London; and adjunct lecturer in musicology at the City University, New York. Since 2008 he has been on the guest faculty of the Graduate Institute in Bethany, CT (www.learn.edu) as lecturer in using music for healing.

As a performer Dr Muir embraces an impressively broad repertoire, including jazz, blues, ragtime, and classical. The New York Times has described his playing as “potent” and Newsday has praised his “terrific” performances. As an educator Dr Muir focuses on approaches to learning and making music that maximize its therapeutic impact. He assists anyone seeking to connect their music more deeply to their lives, particularly those with disabilities, and his work has been featured in national media and in peer-reviewed journals. A noted scholar of American vernacular music, he is author of the critically acclaimed Long Lost Blues: The Rise of Blues in American Popular Culture. In addition Dr Muir has been directing choral and instrumental groups for more than 25 years in the UK and US. He is director of the Virtual Songbirds, an inclusive, online singing community which he founded during the pandemic lockdown in 2020, that is open to anyone who loves to sing. For more, see www.PeterMuir.com