Our clinical services, research projects and on-going programs are guided by experts in the fields of medicine, music, and music therapy. These specialists are equipped with a unique range of knowledge and experience. Our team includes a staff of six dedicated music therapists working in conjunction with a wide range of interdisciplinary teams. These teams include physicians, nurses, social workers, physical therapists, and other health care professionals throughout the Mount Sinai Health System.

Music Therapy Staff

Joanne Loewy, DA, LCAT, MT-BC
Director, Music Therapist
Professor, Icahn School of Medicine
Joanne.Loewy@mountsinai.org

Joanne Loewy DA, LCAT, MT-BC is the Director of the Department of Music Therapy, and an Associate Professor at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and is a Founding Member of the International Association for Music and Medicine. The Department of Music Therapy, which she initiated in 1994, among many populations is serving musicians and their unique ailments including chronic fatigue, chemical dependency, performance anxiety and overuse, children with developmental delays, teens with emotional issues, adults with neurological disorders and all ages of patients with asthma and COPD. Dr. Loewy is the Editor in Chief of the international, peer reviewed journal 'Music and Medicine' and serves on several editorial boards-and is a Cochrane NICU and Palliative Care reviewer. She received her doctorate from NYU and has edited several books including Music Therapy in Pediatric Pain, Music Therapy in the NICU, and she co-edited Music Therapy at End of Life and Caring for the Caregiver: Music Therapy in Grief and Trauma and the new Integrative Advances in Music and Medicine: Music, the Breath and Health.

Stephan Quentzel, MD, JD, MA
The Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine
Medical Director
Stephan.Quentzel@mountsinai.org

Stephan Quentzel, MD, JD, MA is a graduate of integrated dual residencies in family medicine and psychiatry. He practices with a comprehensive view of the patient, being triple boarded in psychiatry, family medicine and holistic medicine serves him well in his roles as the Medical Director of the Department of Music Therapy and the Medical Director of Psychiatry for the Institute for Urban Family Health, in New York City. Stephan Quentzel, MD, is an assistant professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, teaching psychiatrists and psychiatry residents to collaborate with their primary care colleagues to pursue best practices in approaches to psychiatry. He graduated from the University of Illinois with the degrees of MD, JD and MA in Health Policy. He believes strongly that “all things are connected” when it comes to the pursuit of comprehensive and optimal health and wellness for those seeking care at The Department of Music Therapy.

Shantelena Mouzon
Administrative Coordinator
Shantelena.mouzon@mountsinai.org

Shantelena Mouzon is the Administrative Coordinator for The Louis Armstrong Center for Music & Medicine. She is a lyricist, performance artist and music producer actively performing in the New York City arts community. Shantelena was an honoree at the 13th annual “What a Wonderful World” gala in 2018. Prior to her role in Arts Administration, Shantelena worked for over 20 years as a Human Resources, Operations and Project Management professional in Music, Media and Entertainment.

Kristen Stewart  MA, LCAT, MT-BC
Assistant Director
Kristen.Stewart@mountsinai.org

Kristen Stewart PhD cand, MA, LCAT, MT-BC oversees the Department of Music Therapy and is a PhD candidate at Temple University. She holds two post-graduate certifications in trauma treatment, is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and has advanced training in NICU and Neurologic Music Therapy training. Her music therapy practice has evolved through medical, educational, mental health and residential treatment contexts. Publications and presentation history focus primarily on trauma, including her work as editor of the text Music Therapy & Trauma: Bringing Therapy and Clinical Practice. In 2002, she coordinated the New York City Music Therapy Relief Project, sponsored by AMTA and the Recording Academy after September 11th, 2001. Before returning to Mount Sinai Beth Israel, where she formerly originated the role of Clinical Director, she worked in the NICU at Vassar Brothers Medical Center and in the VA – Hudson Valley Healthcare System, serving veterans in the Community Living Centers, Acute Psychiatry, and Residential Treatment Programs, including substance abuse, posttraumatic stress disorder, and housing and work rehabilitation.

Tammy Takaishi, M.Ed., MA, MT-BC
NICU Music Therapist

Tammy Takaishi, M.Ed., MA, MT-BC is a Board Certified-Music Therapist with a Master of Arts in Music Therapy from Montclair State University. She has worked in a variety of settings from school-based, home health, to hospice. Ms. Takaishi also holds a Master's from the University of Missouri-Columbia where she specialized in strings education. Ms. Takaishi is an advocate for the music therapy field having served as a delegate for the SWAMTA region of AMTA for two years, and as a member of the Texas State Task Force for State Licensure for a decade prior to moving back to the East Coast. In her free time, she enjoys running and hosting her creative arts podcast, Creative Peacemeal, which focuses on authentic stories in the arts. 

Andrew Rossetti, PhD, LCAT, MT-BC
Director, Music Therapy, Oncology
Andrew.Rossetti@mountsinai.org 

Andrew Rossetti, PhD, LCAT, MT-BC directs the multi-site music therapy oncology programs. His practice extends to the infusion suite, surgery, and the neonatal intensive care unit. Andrew specializes in treating emotional trauma and its sequelae. Having developed several music therapy programs in hospitals in the US and Europe, he has lectured extensively there, in South America, and Asia. He completed his doctorate at the University of Jyvaskyla.

Christopher Pizzute, MA, MT-BC
Inpatient Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Music Therapist
Christopher.pizzute2@mountsinai.org 

Christopher Pizzute, MA, MT-BC works in inpatient oncology and radiation oncology. He received his Masters in music therapy from Montclair State University and his Bachelor’s degree in music composition/music theory. His areas of expertise extend to palliative, psychiatric, pediatric and neonatal care.

Samantha Sancho, MA, LCAT-LP, MT-BC
Music Therapist
Samantha.Sancho2@mountsinai.org

Samantha Sancho, MA, LCAT-LP, MT-BC is a music therapist and a part of the research team at The Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine at Mount Sinai Union Square. Samantha received her Master of Arts in music therapy from New York University and her Bachelor of Arts in Theater from Temple University. Clinically, she has experience in oncology with work in the infusion suite, children with developmental challenges, and outpatient work in the Music and Health Clinic.  

Preanka Singh MPH 
Research Coordinator II
Preanka.Singh@mountsinai.org

Preanka Kaur Singh, MPH earned a Master of Public Health from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, where they also completed a certificate in Public Health Research Methods through the Department of Population and Family Health. With approximately five years of experience, they have worked on a clinical research study at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, exploring the effects of environmental exposures on child health and development. Preanka is particularly interested in developing culturally appropriate therapeutic interventions to address intergenerational trauma within historically marginalized communities.

Aimee Telsey, MD
Clinical Research Consultant

Bernardo Canga, MMT
Consultant, Technology & Research

Medical Staff and Advisors

• Joanne Loewy, DA, LCAT, MT-BC, Director 
  Music Therapy Assessment 
  Music Sub-Specialty Services

• Stephan Quentzel, MD, Medical Director
  Psychiatry, Family Medicine, Integrative Medicine  

• Shantelena Mouzon, Administrative Coordinator
• Kristen Stewart, MA, LCAT, MT-BC, Assistant Director, In-Patient, Palliative Care
• Andrew Rossetti, PhD, LCAT MT-BC, Music Therapy Outreach, Chemotherapy, Radiation
• Susan Bressman, MD, Neurology
• Ruth Gabay, ACSW, Social Work
• Gabriel A. Sara, MD, Hematology - Oncology
• Nate Goldstein, MD, Palliative Medicine to the Medical Staff and Advisors
• Joyce Fogel, MD,  Geriatric Medicine
• Charles Melone, MD, Orthopaedic Surgery: Hand Specialty  
• Michael Leitman, MD, General Surgery
• Manjeet Chadha, MD, Radiation Oncology
• Stephen Scelsa, MD, Neuromuscular Division and Electromyography Neurology
• Robert Sheu, MD, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Interventional Pain Medicine and Palliative Care Specialties
• Paul Zucker, MBA, MS, PT, LAc, VP, Ambulatory Operations Mount Sinai Downtown, Union Square