Daniel Hyams is a native of London, England. Daniel’s education background includes research in social sciences, and he has been involved in the development of programs and research specializing in youth issues. Daniel completed his PhD in Social Sciences at Lesley University, Cambridge MA, USA. His dissertation, ‘Music Therapy as an International Practice: Clients and Therapists Perspectives,’ was later published in paperback with Scholars Press. Daniel piloted a project funded by the UK National Health Service for families with children with special needs. This project was included in a special compendium commissioned by the United Nations involving the collection of global music based projects that promote social inclusion: 2011 UN Compendium ‘Music As A Global Resource,’ and was an invited delegate to the UN General Assembly in New York, as part of an international meeting pertaining to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the World Programme for Action for Youth (WPAY).
Daniel’s social enterprise, Fermata Inc., provides fee-paying services for music therapy. It uses a portion of the profits towards providing free services for community agencies and private clients for music therapy for people with special needs. Fermata Inc.’s youngest client is 6 months old, and the eldest is 102. Daniel and his team work with many client groups, seeing over 700 people each week. Depending on the client, they provide life and social skills for young people with special needs using music to promote health and wellbeing. In long-term care, they use music for recreational and spiritual care towards end of life care, combat loneliness and isolation. For adults with addiction, they use music towards community building with the goal towards rehabilitation.