The Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine

What The Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine does

The Louis Armstrong Department of Music Therapy (also operating as the Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine) is a non-profit clinical department within Mount Sinai Health System, established in 1994 with funding from the Louis Armstrong Foundation and headquartered at 281 1st Avenue, New York, NY. The department delivers music therapy services to patients across the Mount Sinai hospital network, with daily sessions in the ICU, maternity unit, NICU, respiratory step-down, oncology, pain medicine and palliative care, and family medicine departments, plus outpatient services through the Peter Kruger Clinic, Mount Sinai Union Square, and partner schools. Specialized programs include Music for AIR (pulmonary rehabilitation), Music for CAIR (cardiac rehabilitation), and the Asthma Initiative Program (AIP) for children and teens.

The core technology is clinical music therapy — certified music therapists employ techniques including clinical improvisation, music meditation, pain management, sedation, end-of-life, and breathing modalities. The department operates with a small core staff of 1–10, supplemented by graduate interns and an advanced fellowship program that selects clinicians from universities worldwide, including NYU, Molloy College, University of Barcelona, and ART-EZ (Netherlands). Research is conducted in collaboration with the Loewy Lab at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Revenue is sustained through healthcare reimbursement as an embedded Mount Sinai service and through grants from approximately twelve funders including the Louis Armstrong Foundation, Grammy Foundation, NIH, and National Endowment for the Arts. There is no publicly disclosed commercial pricing and no external sales motion; services are accessed exclusively through departmental referrals within the Mount Sinai network.

Name

The Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine

Legal name

The Louis Armstrong Department of Music Therapy at Mount Sinai

Website

https://musicandmedicine.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine is a non-profit clinical department within Mount Sinai Health System, delivering music therapy across ICU, NICU, maternity, oncology, pain medicine, and outpatient settings since 1994, funded by foundation grants and federal research awards.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Clinical Music Therapy Services

NAICS

Offices of Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapists, and Audiologists (62134)

SIC

Services-Specialty Outpatient Facilities, Nec (8093), Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Music Therapy (Educational/Developmental Programs) (EDAMANAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Outpatient Rehabilitation & Physical/Occupational/Speech Therapy Centers (HLAFABAB)

Keywords

• Clinical music therapy
• Music medicine programs
• Therapeutic music interventions
• Rehabilitation support services
• Clinical music research

Headquarters

HQ city

New York, NY

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Healthcare Services Revenue: Music therapy services provided as part of Mount Sinai Health System's comprehensive medical care, funded through healthcare reimbursement and institutional budget
2. Grant Funding: Programs funded through grants from Louis Armstrong Foundation, Wonderful World Friends of Music Therapy Inc, Gary Dial Fund, NYFE, Charles Lawrence Keith and Clara Miller Foundation, Grammy Foundation, Heather on Earth Music Foundation, Remo Foundation, Helen Sawaya Fund, National Endowment For The Arts, and NIH

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

The Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine provides clinical music therapy sessions to patients across Mount Sinai departments, including intensive care, maternity, NICU, respiratory step-down, family medicine, oncology, pain medicine, palliative care, and hospice. It also operates specialized outpatient programs for pulmonary rehabilitation, cardiac rehabilitation, and pediatric asthma, supported by clinical research and professional training.

Product overview

The Louis Armstrong Department of Music Therapy is a clinical music therapy department within Mount Sinai Health System offering a comprehensive portfolio of music-based therapeutic services. The core offering consists of daily music therapy sessions across hospital departments (ICU, NICU, maternity, oncology, pain medicine, and palliative care). Specialized outpatient programs include Music for AIR and Music for CAIR (pulmonary and cardiac rehabilitation programs) and the Asthma Initiative Program for children and teens. The department also provides graduate-level internships, advanced fellowships, and international summer training programs. Research is conducted collaboratively with medical staff. Since 1994, programs have been funded through the Louis Armstrong Foundation and additional supporters including NIH and National Endowment for the Arts.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Music for AIR (Advances in Respiration): Mind-body technique program for adults in pulmonary rehabilitation
• Music for CAIR (Cardiac Advances in Rehabilitation)
• Asthma Initiative Program (AIP)

Products and services

• Music Therapy Services Clinical music therapy sessions conducted by music therapists for patients in Mount Sinai's ICU, maternity unit, NICU, respiratory step-down unit, Peter Kruger Clinic, family medicine, oncology, pain medicine, palliative care, and hospice.
• Music for AIR (Advances in Respiration) Mind-body music program for adults in pulmonary rehabilitation that uses music-based interventions to support respiratory health.
• Music for CAIR (Cardiac Advances in Rehabilitation) Mind-body music program for adults in cardiac rehabilitation that uses music-based approaches to support recovery.
• Asthma Initiative Program (AIP) Program for children and teens with asthma that uses music visualization and playing woodwind instruments such as recorders and flutes.

Named customers2 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles7 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• New York UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAffiliated educational institution providing academic support and student training
• Molloy CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAffiliated educational institution for academic collaboration and student programs
• University of BarcelonacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational affiliated educational institution for academic collaboration
• ART-EZ, NetherlandscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational affiliated educational institution for academic collaboration
• International Association for Music and Medicine (IAMM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProfessional association membership providing industry leadership and research collaboration opportunities
• American Music Therapy Association (AMTA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProfessional association membership providing industry standards, research collaboration, and professional development
• Loewy LabcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai for music and medicine research

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Mayo Clinic — Integrative Medicine: Major academic medical center offering music therapy and other integrative therapies within its holistic care model. Overlaps in patient populations and referral-based delivery but is part of a far larger system.
• Cleveland Clinic Arts & Medicine Institute: Large academic medical system with an integrative arts-and-medicine program delivering music therapy across inpatient and outpatient settings. Comparable in clinical scope but embedded in a much broader health enterprise.
• Shirley Ryan AbilityLab: Rehabilitation hospital incorporating music and other creative arts therapies into its therapy mix. Comparable in using adjunct creative therapies for neurologic/functional recovery but with a broader rehab mandate.
• Johns Hopkins — Center for Music and Medicine: Academic medical center with an active music and medicine research and clinical program. Comparable in combining research, clinical service, and training within a leading hospital system.
• Children's Hospital of Philadelphia — Creative Arts Therapy: Pediatric academic medical center with a creative arts therapy program serving inpatient and outpatient children. Comparable in pediatric music therapy offerings (e.g., asthma, NICU-adjacent care) but within a much larger pediatric system.

Others

• American Music Therapy Association (AMTA): National professional association for music therapy that sets standards, disseminates research, and supports practitioners. Listed as a partner here; comparable as the field-defining ecosystem body but does not deliver clinical services.
• International Association for Music & Medicine (IAMM): International professional society for music and medicine. Already a strategic partner of the Center; comparable as the convening global body for research and clinical collaboration in this niche.

Direct peers

• Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy: University-affiliated music therapy clinical and training center (NYU Steinhardt) offering patient services, graduate training, and research — highly comparable in combining clinical care with education.
• Institute for Music and Neurologic Function (IMNF): Long-standing clinical music therapy organization also focused on neurologic and medically complex patient populations. Operates as a direct peer in the music-and-medicine specialty, with overlapping protocols and grant-based funding.

Emerging players

• Berklee Music Therapy Institute: Academic music therapy program within Berklee focused on clinical training and research. Comparable in training-the-next-generation of music therapists and producing clinical research, but is education-led rather than hospital-embedded.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MountSinaiNYC
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/MountSinaiNY
• Facebookfacebook.com/mountsinainyc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-louis-armstrong-center-for-music-and-medicine
• Instagraminstagram.com/mountsinainyc
• Pinterestpinterest.com/MountSinaiNYC
• TikToktiktok.com/@mountsinainyc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine