Lydia Violet Harutoonian has studied dedicatedly with deep ecology elder and Buddhist scholar Joanna Macy for the past decade, learning how we can metabolize our pain for the world into energy for resilience, action, and community. She is the founder and director of The Music As Medicine Project, an organization dedicated to creating accessible programming that combines live music, music education, Macy’s work, and social justice work as tools for cultivating resilient cultures in our communities.

Lydia Violet is also an accomplished Iranian-American multi-instrumentalist, and in her solo project she weaves together Southern blues, American roots, and Iranian folk music traditions. With her live band she combines fiddle, banjo, and luscious 3-part harmonies to offer a soul-folk revival experience, participating in a new wave of protest music. ♬ http://www.lydiafiddle.com ♬. In the past year she has also had the pleasure of collaborating with incredible artists such as Climbing PoeTree, Rising Appalachia, and Lyla June.