How classical music can save your life—or at least be a meaningful part of it

At the height of her career, WQXR’s creative director, Clemency Burton-Hill, suffered a traumatic brain injury. She credits music with bringing her back to life.

As New Yorkers retreated to their homes to stop the spread of COVID-19 in March 2020, Clemency Burton-Hill, then 38, was waking up from a 17-day coma. The creative director of New York Public Radio’s classical music station WQXR had suffered a traumatic brain injury while at work that left her unable to speak, walk, or even listen to the station whose content she had been programming and overseeing for more than three years. After she emerged, Burton-Hill, who grew up in London playing classical violin, lost her ability to practice and process music, both cognitively and emotionally. Eventually, she learned how to appreciate music again and credits it with helping her heal. The experience, she says, only strengthened her belief in her ultimate goal: to bring classical music to as many people as possible and expand its listenership beyond its traditionally older and whiter audience. Here, she talks about understanding and creating programming for her audience, and what she’s learned from her injury.

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