Magdalena Baczewska and Jordan Stern
While being a universal experience, sleep remains a poorly understood biological necessity whose mechanisms, disruptions, and cultural meanings have occupied scientists, philosophers, and artists for centuries. In this episode, recorded live at Reid Hall during the Nuit de l’imagination, concert pianist and harpsichordist Magdalena Stern‑Baczewska and sleep physician Jordan Stern trace the intersection of music and medicine through their decade‑long collaboration.
Stern outlines the scale of undiagnosed sleep apnea, the limits of pharmaceutical treatment for insomnia, and what neuroscience has and has not resolved about dreaming. Stern‑Baczewska, senior lecturer in music at Columbia University, director of its music performance program, and 2025 – 2026 Fellow of the Institute for Ideas and Imagination, explains how she approached the interpretive challenge of creating music intended not to engage but to release, drawing from her earliest memories of hearing her mother practice during childhood naps. The conversation closes with a live lullaby concert performed at Reid Hall, recorded as part of the evening’s program.
Atelier is produced by the Columbia Global Paris Center, a Columbia University initiative housed at Reid Hall.
Magdalena Stern-Baczewska is a Polish-American concert pianist, harpsichordist, and educator. Since 2014, she has served as the Director of the Music Performance Program and Senior Lecturer in Music at Columbia University. She has performed as a soloist with major orchestras such as the San Francisco Symphony and Philadelphia Orchestra and has appeared in concerts with notable artists like Joshua Bell and Tan Dun. Baczewska’s discography spans Baroque, Romantic, and contemporary music, including collaborations with DJs and Hip-hop and EDM artists. Together with the Bluesleep medical team, which specializes in treating sleep disorders, she has produced the best-selling Music for Dreams album series. As a Yamaha artist, she has pioneered the use of Yamaha Disklavier technology in both teaching and recording. A passionate advocate for equal access to the joy of music, she engages in outreach and community initiatives as a teaching artist for Tonebase, Lecturer in Residence for the Grand Piano Series, and Grandmentor for the Musical Mentors Collaborative.
MD, is the Founder and Medical Director of the BLUESLEEP™ and a specialist in sleep medicine. A board certified Ear Nose and Throat surgeon fellowship trained in Head and Neck Surgery, he has over 20 years clinical experience. He has been recognized as one of America’s Top Doctors by the NY Times Magazine every year since 2008. He is an associate adjunct surgeon in the Department of Otolaryngology of the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary.
