Playing from the Heart

Jefferson Svengsouk ’05S (MBA) is a professor of emergency medicine who also plays the Native American flute

Svengsouk lives in Rochester with his wife, Lisa. Together they have three adult children, Jocelyn ’11, ’14W (MS), Madeline, and Samuel.

Jefferson Svengsouk played a silver flute in high school. He loved it and thought he’d play in college, but the orchestra’s conductor had other plans. “He thanked me for a ‘nice’ performance and told me to come back next year,” says Svengsouk. “I got the point and decided to put away my flute.”

For a while, that is.

About 20 years later, Svengsouk attended the Indigenous Music & Arts Festival at Ganondagan New York State Historic Site in Victor, just a few miles southeast of Rochester. This annual summertime event showcases Haudenosaunee and Indigenous cultures through dance, music, storytelling, a Native American arts market, and authentic craft demonstrations.

Svengsouk took it all in, especially the music. The flute captivated him. He wandered around the festival on a quest to learn more. He found a booth that sold Native American flutes and bought his first one.

Playing the Native American flute complements Svengsouk’s work as a professor of emergency medicine and a hospice and palliative medicine physician at the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Strong Memorial Hospital. Svengsouk is also the assistant director of URMC’s emergency ultrasound division, a program he founded. He’s an advisor for the Eastman Performing Arts Medicine program, too, which links URMC with the music school to make healing connections between medicine and the arts. He also earned an MBA from the Simon Business School.

In the Rochester community, Svengsouk is actively involved in the music and cultural scene. He is chair of the Hamamatsu- Rochester Sister Cities Committee, volunteers at the Seneca Art and Culture Center at Ganondagan, performs with the Cobbs Hill Consort, and is learning to play therapeutic music for patients. He also serves as chair of the National Standards Board for Therapeutic Musicians, founded the Finger Lakes Flute Circle, and is a Native American Music Awards nominee.

“Through music, I want to help those I’m playing for—patients, families, audiences at festivals and concerts, everyone— experience peace, happiness, and delight,” says Svengsouk. “The Native American flute can do all of this—it can help us feel different, better.”

For patients, music at the bedside can alleviate pain and stress and help with relaxation. Success comes in patient response, and in how their families, who are often also stressed and exhausted, react. Svengsouk frequently tells them that one of the greatest compliments they could give him is to fall asleep while he plays. “The music would have then done its work,” he says.

What might surprise people to know about the music you play?

The Native American flute is an instrument—a tool, really—that allows all people to express the music that is inherently within them. It’s a very accessible instrument, too. By design, it features a pentatonic scale, which makes it possible to play notes in any order and always produce a pleasant sound—you can’t fail.

Do you play traditional Native American songs?

No. Most contemporary Native American flute players like me perform original music. Some traditional Indigenous songs do exist in written music form, and many songs are played by Indigenous peoples in traditional settings or by Indigenous recording artists and performers. For most non-Indigenous flutists, we play from the heart, which has always been a defining aspect of this instrument.

What’s distinctive about the Native American flute?

It features two air chambers, one to receive the air and another to produce sound. It doesn’t require an embouchure as other woodwind instruments do, which means you can just simply breathe into it. It also comes in a variety of sizes, shapes, designs, and woods that yield different sounds. For instance, a soft wood like cedar emits a rich, soft sound, while harder woods such as maple or oak produce very crisp and clean tones. 

How many flutes do you own?

I’ve become a collector of sorts. I even keep a spreadsheet—that’s the science, math, and business person in me—to keep track of what I own and to note the characteristics and history of each flute. Today, I own more than 50 Native American flutes and another 50 or so world flutes. To my wife’s chagrin, my flute collection has taken over our dining room. 

What is your favorite flute?

I have many, and picking my favorite depends on my mood and the sound I want to produce. There’s one particular flute that is very special to me though. Years ago, I took a flute lesson from Hawk Henries, an Indigenous flute maker from Maine. I told him about my interests and my patients, and he handcrafted a flute for me. Its body is made from northern cedar and yew. He also carved a very beautiful small bird that sits near the mouthpiece, made from yellow birch.

What has playing taught you?

It’s reinforced that we are all part of one big human family. When we have the false belief that we are different or better or worse from each other, we become separated. But, when we care for, lift, honor, and respect each other, we can make the world a better place. The flutes I play are instruments— literally—that can connect us all. It’s a privilege for me to care for people through both medicine and music.

Learn more about Jefferson Svengsouk

Find out about the Eastman Performing Arts Medicine program