An advocate for musician wellness, Aline Benoit has a Masters Degree in Holistic Counseling Psychology from Lesley University, and has completed the teacher training in Mindfulness- Based Stress Reduction at the U. Mass. Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health-Care and Society. She is a Certified Music Practitioner, through the Music for Healing and Transition Program, and is currently working as a CMP with the Palliative Care Team at Mount Auburn Hospital.
Her many years as a teacher and professional performer, augmented by clinical experience in psychology, inspired her to develop her Performance Enhancement seminars, which she has presented at colleges, conservatories, festivals and workshops throughout the country. For Longy’s Mind/Body Program, she teaches an experiential course in mental skills/wellness: Achieving your Personal Best: A Mind/Body Approach to Performance Preparation.
Dedicated to the Teaching Artist Program’s mission of community engagement and social justice, Ms. Benoit teaches the project-based course Music as a Healing Art, and coordinates the students’ interactive performances at Longy’s Community Partners, a group of five area health care facilities.
Ms. Benoit received a Bachelor of Music with Honors and a Performer’s Certificate in Clarinet from the Eastman School of Music. Her first professional position was that of Principal Clarinetist of the National Symphony of Costa Rica. She has done freelance work with the Boston Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony, Emmanuel Music, Boston Classical Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Boston and the Boston Pops. Currently she is a member of the Rhode Island Philharmonic. Since 1998 she has played 2nd and E-flat clarinet with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra and has made more than thirty national and international tours with that organization.
In her teaching career, she was a member of the applied music faculty at Tufts University for thirteen years. She also taught at the U. Mass. Boston and Lowell, and at Clark University. She was on the faculty of the Community Education Division at the Eastman School of Music, as well as the New England Conservatory Preparatory School. She currently teaches in her private studio in Newton, MA.
Aline Benoit is a member of the American Federation of Musicians and the College Music Society.