My work and passion are centered around the transformative power of music, storytelling, and Creative Health. I collaborate dynamically with Carnegie Hall, Live Music Now, and Breathe Arts Health Research. In these roles, I am not just a practitioner, but also a professional musician, project manager, and researcher (MASc Creative Health). This unique blend of roles and skills enables me to lead projects, train musicians, co-create songs with vulnerable families, and effectively communicate the benefits of this work through research. Complementing this is a lived experience of 20+ years of performing, touring, and recording albums available on all streaming platforms.
Recent projects:
1. “ Tones of Home” An online songwriting group for London parents of autistic children or those awaiting diagnosis. This work was the core of my master’s thesis at UCL for MASc Creative Health.
2. Songwriting with parents/caregivers in Guy’s St. Thomas and Evelina Hospital in London. This work collaborates with Breathe Arts Health Research and focuses on parents of infants (Neonatal Unit) or children (Evelina) in long-term care. This nine-month pilot is now in the evaluation phase. Please reach out for songs/samples of work.
3. Songwriting and music-making with individuals living together in St. George’s community housing in London and experiencing long-term acute mental illness. This pilot project aims to be scaled and is being done in collaboration with Live Music Now.
4. Songwriting for Staff well-being in Guy’s, St. Thomas, and Evelina hospitals. This project, co-designed with Breathe Arts Health Research, works alongside NHS staff well-being training to build teamwork, camaraderie, trust, joy, and creativity. Recent trainings have included 60 dietitians, 30+ Neonatal staff with families of patients for World Prematurity Day, and 8 Cardiologists.
Making music.
Performing with Martha Reeves at the Apollo Theater
My life in music has been dedicated to recording albums, touring, performing original music, and using songwriting to connect with diverse populations and people. With my band, Todd Henkin and the Great Unknown, we shared bills with notable acts like Dr. Dog, Tune-Yards, Dawes, and Carolina Chocolate Drops. We have continued to put out soulful records that are recorded as live as possible to capture a great performance. As a teaching artist, I began using songwriting in ESL classes in Nashville, with international community leaders in Vanderbilt University, and children throughout the country as I toured and recorded an album of our co-written songs (Other Voices Other Rooms) sponsored by ASCAP publishing. Performing “Decomposers and Producers” (co-written with 9 yr old girls in Spanish Harlem) in the Apollo Theater with Motown superstar Martha Reeves and a children’s choir before a star-studded crowd of supporters, I realized the power of a new vision for songwriting that connects songwriters to their communities as an invaluable resource.