Mental Health and Music Symposium: Making Connections
October 25, 2025 Jacksonville University Terry Concert Hall
This full-day symposium, a collaboration between the First Coast Wind Symphony and the Jacksonville University School of Nursing, explored the intersection of mental health and music. The event brought together leaders in healthcare, advocacy, and the arts to share perspectives and foster meaningful dialogue. Registration included six continuing education credits.
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Featured Speakers
Jessi Gold MD MS, psychiatrist and author of How Do You Feel?
Deanna Seymour, DPN, Jacksonville University, Keigwin School of Nursing
Gabrielle Magid, CEO and Founder of Stronger Than Stigma
Special Performance: Composer Randall Standridge conducted the First Coast Wind Symphony in a performance of music from his powerful Unbroken Project.
Symposium Schedule
- 9:00 AM - Conference Registration
- 10:00 AM - Deanna Seymour, DNP
- 11:00 AM - Gabrielle Magid
- 12:00 PM - Lunch on Campus
- 1:00 PM - Jessi Gold, MD, MS
- 2:00 PM - Panel Discussion on Mental Health Awareness and Best Practices
- 3:00 PM - Randall Standridge Pre-Concert Talk: The unBroken Project
- 4:00 PM - First Coast Wind Symphony Concert
Featured Speakers
Jessi Gold, MD, MS is the Chief Wellness Officer of the University of Tennessee System and an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. This inaugural leadership position encompasses all five University of Tennessee campuses and includes over 62,200 students and 19,0000 faculty and staff. In her clinical practice, she sees healthcare workers, trainees, and young adults in college. Dr. Gold is also a fierce mental health advocate and highly sought-after expert in the media on everything from burnout to celebrity self-disclosure. She has written widely for the popular press, including for The New York Times, The Atlantic, InStyle, Slate, and Self. Her first book, "HOW DO YOU FEEL? One Doctor's Search for Humanity in Medicine" is a national bestseller. Dr. Gold is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. and M.S in Anthropology, the Yale School of Medicine, and Stanford University Department of Psychiatry, where she served as Chief Resident.
Deanna Seymour, DPN Jacksonville University, Keigwin School of Nursing Deanna Seymour is a Doctor of Nursing Practice with a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Specialty. She is a 20-year pediatric nursing veteran currently specializing in pediatric psychiatry. Her therapeutic specialty is Dialectical Behavior Therapy. Deanna's professional goal is to provide mental health services to children and families within her community.
Gabrielle Magid CEO and Founder of Stronger Than Stigma, a “for us, by us” nonprofit social movement founded in August 2013 by Gabrielle Magid during her time at the University of Florida. Based in Jacksonville, Florida, the organization is led by millennials and deeply rooted in peer-to-peer mental health advocacy. Its mission is to dismantle the barriers and shame often associated with seeking help by building inclusive, relatable communities, both online and in person, through innovative programs like pop-up installations, comedy tours, and workshops that normalize conversations around mental health and affirm that asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness.
Composer Randall Standridge conducts the First Coast Wind Symphony in a performance of music from his powerful unBroken Project. The unBroken Project is a poignant suite of concert band and orchestral compositions created to ignite conversations about mental health and destigmatize living with mental illness. The centerpiece, unBroken, draws deeply from the composer’s personal experiences, particularly his mother’s severe struggle with depression and the unwavering support of his family; and portrays the internal turbulence of mental illness through shifting textures, dissonant color, and eventual rise to resilience. As part of the larger project, Standridge has also released additional companion pieces, each tailored for various ensemble levels and crafted as expressive tools to inspire hope or channel emotional energy at various age and skill level.
