Columnist Jamesetta M. Walker had a recent experience with live music in the halls of her hospital that left her singing the praises of therapeutic music in a recent piece for Hampton Roads newspaper The Virginia-Pilot.

Chuck and Lisa Surack of Sweetwater Sound pledged a $150,000 Endowment to support music programs. A portion of the endowment will be used immediately to upgrade musical equipment used by 300clients.

A violin originally belonging to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was recently brought overseas to Boston for a Boston Early Music Festival performance at the New England Conservatory, allowing many to hear the composer’s early music in the very instrument he had performed on.

Verne Q. Powell Flutes, Inc. recently unveiled a website for its new Silver Eagle model alto and tenor saxophones.

This June, public spaces throughout Chicago will be transformed into makeshift music venues as performers of all genres take to the streets for the third annual Make Music Chicago festival. The free event will take place in over 25 locations throughout the city on June 21.

A violin that’s found itself in the middle of a seven-year-long authenticity debate has recently been validated, thanks to common hospital technology.

The alt-weekly L.A. Weekly published a moving story on young cellist Jacob Esquivel and his transformative with the social change organization Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles.

Carl Fischer Music has joined forces with Yamaha, D’Addario and VH1 Save the Music to launch the Music For Your Schools Contest, designed to benefit school bands and orchestras in need.

To optimize the playing experience and improve the sound, Yamaha now offers Cryogenic Resonance Restoration, a proprietary method of deep-freezing brass and metal woodwind instruments that reduces residual strain in the metal.

The US-based International Songwriting Competition (ISC) recently announced its 2012 winners.