A transformative initiative dedicated to enhancing lives through music launches at the Victoria Conservatory of Music in eponymous timing with an artist’s dream come true.
The conservatory’s new Centre for Music Therapy and Wellness offers a broader range of services and programs, expanding access to essential music therapy services through the addition of Adaptive Learning, and providing innovative Music Wellness activities that promote healthy and active living for adults of all ages, across the community.
“The positive impacts of music on people’s health and wellbeing are well documented,” conservatory CEO Nathan Medd said in a news release.
“Research last year revealed that the Victoria Conservatory of Music is home to, by far, Canada’s most impactful and largest not-for-profit music therapy service. At the same time, our faculty has developed rich expertise in adaptive music education, for those who require custom support to help play. Together, this highly creative team is removing barriers and making music accessible to all Canadians through the Centre for Music Therapy and Wellness.”
Led by Johanne Brodeur, a leading expert in the field, the centre will build on decades of specialized practice at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, where personalized therapeutic interventions have been developed that meet the needs of children as young as infants to the elderly.
With a suite of music wellness group activities developed and tested over the past seven years and Adaptive Learning, the new Centre offers groundbreaking approaches to support health and well-being for all ages.
The Conservatory’s Music Therapy program has played a significant role in enabling Ari Kinarthy to realize his dream of composing music. One such composition is highlighted in the documentary Ari’s Theme, directed by Nathan Drill and Jeff Lee Petry, which highlights the transformative power of music therapy through Kinarthy’s remarkable journey.
The Victoria Conservatory’s Alix Goolden Performance Hall hosts a special screening on Feb. 16, as part of the Victoria Film Festival. It will feature a live performance of Kinarthy’s original score, created in collaboration with his music therapist, Allan Slade.
An anonymous donor has stepped forward to help realize Ari’s dream of hearing his film score performed live in his hometown. Donations to the Conservatory will be matched dollar-for-dollar until Feb. 16, with a goal to raise $20,000. Funds will support the film's live scoring by an eight-member ensemble and the Centre of Music Therapy and Wellness.
The centre will be funded in part by a newly established Music Therapy Fund endowed at The Victoria Foundation vcm.bc.ca/centre-for-music-therapy/support
