Wendell Hanna, Ph.D., is a musician and somatic movement educator. She is Professor Emerita of Music Education at San Francisco State University and a Certified Hanna Somatic Educator®. She is also the daughter of Thomas Hanna, the founder of Hanna Somatics.

Wendell trained as a bassoonist and served as principal bassoon with the Oregon Mozart Players, Eugene Opera, and Salem Chamber Symphony. Over time she became interested in how sound affects the body, and that interest came to shape her work in both music and movement.

She holds a B.A. from the University of South Florida (1985), an M.M. from Yale University (1987), and a Ph.D. from the University of Oregon (2000). She has developed an approach she calls “sound somatics,” which combines music and sound with somatic movement education.

Wendell continues to build on her father’s work, exploring how music and sound can be used with somatic movement to ease discomfort from chronic conditions.