He served as co-chair of the Advisory Board for the Shambhala Path of Social Engagement and was a member of the International Shambhala Art Council. He combines his interests in the arts, meditation, and action in the world through his consulting and facilitation, having worked with health professionals, businesses, leadership organizations, and within prisons. A Kellogg National Fellow (1985-88) and the founding Director of the Commonwealth Fellowship Program for community leaders in Appalachia (1990-96), he has been a professor of music history at the University of Kentucky since 1976.