Lunch With Lisa Wong

Joyful creativity in music, medicine, and education.

June 23, 2026, 1:00 pm Eastern time

We'll meet via Zoom. Bring your questions and a sandwich!

Lisa Wong has long been interested in music, education, and healing. In fact, when she arrived at Harvard, she entertained the idea of becoming a music teacher or a music therapist. Instead, Lisa graduated with a degree in East Asian Studies after writing her thesis about cultural sensitivity in Chinatown community health centers—but still with a love of helping children, health, and music. Lisa went on to receive her M.D. from NYU School of Medicine, then returned to Boston for her pediatric residency at Mass General.

As a violinist and violist, Lisa soon found her musical home in the newly-formed Longwood Symphony Orchestra in 1985, named after the Longwood Medical Area. She became the orchestra’s president in 1991 and served for the next 21 years. During this time, she co-designed the LSO’s signature "Healing Art of Music Program," which empowers community nonprofit organizations to engage in music to raise awareness and funds through collaborative concerts. She was delighted to integrate her knowledge of community health into her work!

Continuing her music, health and education focus, Lisa now serves on several boards, including Conservatory Lab Charter School, A Far Cry ensemble, Concert Theater Works, and the Boston Public School Arts Expansion initiative. Nationally, she contributed to the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) committee on arts and humanities in STEMM education and serves on the Neuroarts Blueprint scientific committee. During the Covid pandemic, she helped create Boston Hope Music, offering virtual music performances to patients and healthcare workers. She currently teaches two interdisciplinary mind-brain behavior courses on creativity, arts, music, health, and education at Harvard College and co-leads a museum-based medical education fellowship through Harvard Macy institute.

Lisa met violinist Lynn Chang (‘75) when she auditioned unsuccessfully for Music 180 as a freshman. But things worked out, and they have been happily married for 44 years,with two musical children (violists) and two grandchildren (cellists!). She lives in Newton and is the author of Scales to Scalpels: Doctors Who Practice the Healing Arts of Music and Medicine.

CA79's Lunch With series allows us to learn more about a classmate we might know a little—or not at all.

Questions about our programs? Write to us at classacthr79@gmail.com.