Cambridge, MA, September 12th, 2019. Celebrating the use of opera and art to address mental health stigma, with a talk by opera composer Dr. Kenneth Wells, and live concert excerpts from the opera The Center Cannot Hold, based on the memoir by Dr. Elyn Saks. Elyn Saks is the Director of the Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy and Ethics. She began having schizophrenic episodes in high school and spiraled into the depths of the illness when she was a student at Yale Law School.
* Based on Ellen’s 2007 memoir of the same name, the Center Cannot Hold opera follows Saks during a pivotal time at Yale as she ultimately faces her demons and resolves to live her life as fully as she can, whatever it takes.
* Elyn Saks, who serves as a co-librettist to the opera, will also be present at the event and will speak about the opera and her experience.
* Dr. Kenneth Wells is a Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at David Geffen School of Medicine and Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior..
* The singers accompanying Dr. Wells will include Maggie Finnegan, Ryne Cherry, and Wes Hunter.
To register visit https://globalhealth.harvard.edu/mentalhealthopera or contact GMH_Admin@hms.harvard.edu
