Suzanne Vega to Receive Phoebe Jacobs Award from Louis Armstrong Center

The Wonderful World: Friends of Music Therapy, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that benefits Mount Sinai's Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine (LACMM), will honor Suzanne Vega, one of the foremost singer-songwriters of her generation, with the 2026 Phoebe Jacobs Award. The Center will present the award at its Wonderful World Gala on October 13 at the Angel Orensanz Center in New York City.

The Phoebe Jacobs Award is named for Phoebe Jacobs (1918–2012), Louis Armstrong's longtime publicist, co-founder of the Jazz Foundation of America, and PR representative for jazz legends including Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Peggy Lee, Della Reese, and Benny Goodman. Jacobs worked closely with Armstrong during the last decade of his life and was a fierce advocate for jazz and music education. Among her many contributions to his legacy, she helped organize both the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation and the music therapy program and active steering board that evolved into today's LACMM.

Suzanne Vega rose to prominence in the 1980s, emerging as a leading figure of the decade's folk revival when her clear, resonant voice became a radio fixture with hits like 'Luka' and 'Tom's Diner.' Over a career spanning more than four decades, she has released ten studio albums, most recently 2025's Flying with Angels. Bearing the stamp of a master storyteller who 'observes the world with a clinically poetic eye' (The New York Times), Vega's songs have tended to focus on city life, ordinary people, and real-world subjects.

'Suzanne Vega's gentle, serene, and savvy style has evolved through decades, with tunes ranging from catchy patter to themes encapsulating social need,' says Dr. Joanne Loewy, director of the LACMM. 'Her songs have given language to experiences that might otherwise go unspoken, which is precisely the spirit of the Phoebe Jacobs Award which honors artists whose work embodies music's unique ability to heal, connect, and tell the truth. We're thrilled to celebrate her at this year's Wonderful World Gala.'

Past recipients of the award include Rosanne Cash and John Leventhal, Paul Shaffer, Samara Joy, David Sanborn, Bonnie Raitt, Norah Jones, David Amram, Vanessa Williams, Eddie Palmieri, Wayne Shorter, Jackson Browne, Dionne Warwick, Jon Batiste, Pete Seeger, Jon Hendricks, Levon Helm, Dave Brubeck, among others.

The Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, was established in 1994 to provide an innovative model of patient care integrating music and medicine. For the past 32 years, it has made music therapy available to patients of all ages and diagnoses, plus their families, in settings throughout the Mount Sinai Health System. The Center is considered a leader in the field of music therapy, providing direct patient care, conducting ground-breaking research and offering a rich training ground for professional education. Its work has been widely covered in outlets including The New York Times, PBS NewsHour, and CBS News.

The legendary musician Louis Armstrong was a patient at the hospital at which LACMM was founded (formerly Beth Israel, now Mt. Sinai), where his beloved doctor Gary Zucker took him through many years of treatment to help him maintain his good health. Originally founded as The Louis & Lucille Armstrong Music Therapy Program, continued philanthropic support from Louis and his wife Lucille made music therapy services possible, with a focus on music therapy and pediatric pain. From those wonderful beginnings, the program has expanded to serve many New Yorkers, developing a worldwide reputation.

LACMM's development of an integrative approach to the application of music and music therapy in medical settings has served an impressive, wide swath of the population, including: neonates, adults with COPD and/or stroke victims, cancer patients (regardless of stage or type), children with emotional needs such as ADHD, depression, and PDD, children with autism and intellectual disabilities, children and teens with asthma, musicians and performing artists who have performance-related physical ailments and emotional issues. The LACMM music therapists conduct daily sessions with patients of all ages who are receiving care throughout the Mt. Sinai Health System in departments ranging from intensive care, maternity, and pediatric emergency to oncology, pain management and palliative care.

Each October, LACMM celebrates Armstrong's legacy at its signature fundraiser, the Wonderful World Gala (this year on October 13, 2026), which brings together the music, medical, and philanthropic communities in his honor. The Gala honors 1) a patient who has been helped by music therapy, 2) a medical professional who has been instrumental in the dissemination of music therapy, and 3) a celebrated artist whose music embodies music's unique ability to heal and connect. This year marks the launch of a fourth honor, the Sheila Jordan Trailblazer Award, which will be presented annually to trailblazers in the music and recording industries — people whose vision and leadership have helped shape and advance the business.

Past Wonderful World Gala music honorees include Rosanne Cash and John Leventhal, Paul Shaffer, Samara Joy, David Sanborn, Bonnie Raitt, Norah Jones, David Amram, Vanessa Williams, Eddie Palmieri, Wayne Shorter, Jackson Browne, Dionne Warwick, Jon Batiste, Pete Seeger, Jon Hendricks, Levon Helm, Dave Brubeck, and more.