Australian harpist Michael Johnson was recognized in the King’s Birthday Honours List along with 1,191 other respected Australians. He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the general division for his service to music as both a performer and a teacher. For four decades, Johnson has worked as a harp teacher and composer and as founder and director of Lyrebird Music. He is also resident harpist and composer at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne. Johnson says the OAM came as a “big surprise” and he was honored to receive the award alongside other respected Australians.
While Johnson started out as a rock musician in the 1970s and 80s, he began exploring the beneficial psychological impacts of music when he discovered the harp. He says harp music “really lent itself to a mindfulness practice,” which became the focus of his career. Since 1991, Johnson has worked with patients nearing the end of their lives as well as those wanting to use music as a tool for mindfulness at the Gawler Foundation, an Australian not-for-profit cancer support organization and meditation retreat.
Johnson investigated the therapeutic properties of music while studying health science at Swinburne University. He describes music’s ability to “almost anesthetize the fear of inner voices” and recenter individuals during a response to past traumatic events. “Music does remarkable things,” Johnson says. “Adding music to mindfulness increases the effect of reducing cortisol and adrenaline and helps you release neuroreceptors and hormones such as serotonin, melatonin, oxytocin and dopamine.”
After these findings, Johnson implemented music-based meditation practices for people suffering complex mental illnesses, as well as those dealing with mental health issues due to early onset dementia, at Delmont Psychiatric Hospital. He also added a meditative music program to his performances at the Royal Botanic Gardens in 2019, where listeners are guided through a meditation followed by a gentle concert to alleviate stress.
For more information, visit Johnson’s website.
