Past Events
Great things are happening. Learn about the exciting events taking place and of the helping hands that make it happen.
Click on an event story below.
A Party in Honour of Fran Herman
Screenings of The Gift of Music: Stories of Music Therapy
MuchMusic discovers Nicky and the Music Therapy Centre
We get by with a little help from our friends.
A Party in Honour of Fran Herman
On Friday March 2nd, 2012, more than 100 guests gathered at Arta Gallery in Toronto to honour Fran Herman as she retires from her work with the Canadian Music Therapy Trust Fund. The evening was MC'd by Jennifer Buchanan and many special guests gave tributes to our guest of honour. Guests enjoyed live music, a silent auction, an exciting live auction of beautiful art guitars, and fantastic food and drink. Funds raised at the party all went toward the new Fran Herman Scholarship which will be available to music therapy students in their final year of study. The evening raised $4500 and we're still counting! The scholarship is now ready to go and we are accepting applications.
While the money raised is a wonderful way to pay tribute to Fran, we are most pleased by the beautiful tributes paid to Fran and the fantastic time everyone had at the party. Fran herself described the evening as "...a Wow of a party"! Please enjoy these photos from the evening. We will post more in our photo gallery soon.
A huge thank you to all the wonderful sponsors and donors who helped to make this evening a success! Your support means so much.
Art Guitars
Thank you to Godin Guitars for their generous donation of guitars for our Art Guitar project. Artists James Walke, Krys Bradley, Kristi Tethong, James C. Smith, Matti Sevink, Paulina Berger, and our own Fran Herman turned the guitars into gorgeous works of art. This project raised money for the Fran Herman Scholarship.
Screenings Across Canada
There have been several screenings of The Gift of Music: Stories of Music Therapy. See below for the story of the premiere screening in Toronto, October 2010. Since then, the documentary has screened in Winnipeg, Regina, and Halifax. The movie has also aired on CBC's Documentary channel. Please contact the Trust Fund if you would like to host a screening in your area and help raise money for the Trust!
MuchMusic discovers Nicky and the MT Centre
On Thursday December 9th, 2010 MuchMusic and pop-rock band Colorsound made a visit to the Music Therapy Centre in Toronto. As part of MuchMusic’s series, Discovered, the band came to learn about music therapy and to observe a session. Band members, along with their mentor Greig Nori (of Canadian rock band Treble Charger), were invited to participate with Music Therapy Centre client Nicky and her music therapist Chrissy Pearson, MTA.
After witnessing music therapy in action, they were taken aback and impressed by the impact of music therapy and asked how they could get involved and help. They initiated a connection with the Canadian Music Therapy Trust Fund and offered to hold a FlashMob fundraiser. This event happened in January, and in February they invited Nicky to attend the filming of the final showcase for Discovered. Nicky had a blast and the Trust Fund is thrilled to have made a connection with an up-and-coming band. Stay tuned for an announcement regarding the airtime for this show!
A Big Hit at Hugh's Room.
Following a wonderful promotion by Errol Nazareth on CBC’s Metro Morning highlighting the benefits of music therapy, we had a great turnout of over 100 people to the Benefit Concert on Monday, January 10th at Hugh’s Room.
Hosted by the CBC’s Mary Wiens, the evening was lively as Ron Davis and his trio, Andrew Cash and DK Ibomeka entertained us with great live music. Guests were also treated to a moving performance by some of the Centre’s clients.
Additionally, interviews with guest speakers Dr. Laurel Young and Dr. David Adler gave audience members a new understanding of music therapy. A Silent Auction with enticing items from over 25 local businesses rounded out the evening.
We are pleased to report we generated over $3000. These funds will go toward music therapy services for medically fragile children.
We get by with a little help from our friends.
From fundraising to awareness, the success of our events is aided by the help we get from our community. Find out how the local businesses in Toronto were not too busy to take time to support Music Therapy in their city.
At our Meet and Greet, friends, neighbours, clients and families gathered together at the Music Therapy Centre in Toronto and enjoyed good food courtesy of Lunch Box on Bloor St and liquid refreshments from Joe’s No Frills at the Dufferin Mall. The marketing and pictures of the event were produced by Toronto Marketing Solutions, Inc. People gathered, grabbed a bite to eat, had a drink, chatted with music therapists and neighbours and, of course, jammed for awhile; that’s what being part of the community is all about.
When it came time to support Fran Herman raising money for the Herman Children’s Fund, Loblaws stepped up to provide refreshments for her afternoons of Tea and Shells. People lingered, enjoying ice tea and juices as they were educated about shells and music therapy.
At Toronto’s public screening of Gift of Music: Stories of Music Therapy, community partners were once again available with a helping hand. Prior to the event, Wave 94.7 provided public service announcements promoting both the screening and music therapy. At the screening, they were there with swag and support. Whole Note gave us free advertising in their guide which was also available in the lobby of The Royal Theatre on College where the film was being shown.
After the screening people were hungry and thirsty and our friends did not let us down! New Sushi Island Japanese Restaurant lay on a fine spread at the Sutra Tikki Bar. For those wanting something other than sushi, Metro provided platters of cheese and fruit. To complement all the food we had Muskoka Cottage Brewery and Barefoot Wine and Bubbly provided libation. The money raised from this event went directly to our fund for autistic children.
Oh yes, we get by with a lot of help from our friends!
Music Therapy at Work
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