LIVE IN-PERSON
PROVIDING COMFORT & HOPE THROUGH MUSIC
Music has an extraordinary power to heal and provide solace to those who are suffering. Its therapeutic effects extend beyond mere entertainment, reaching deep into the realms of emotional and physical well-being. Whether it's the soothing melody of a gentle lullaby or the energetic rhythm of an uplifting anthem, music has the ability to touch our souls, offering comfort, hope, and a sense of belonging.
"Take a walk with me as we extend the bridge of hope and community through songs and personal stories. Stories that helped to extend my late mother Agatha's life after a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s."
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Jully Black is a true Canadian Icon. Named as one of ‘The 25 Greatest Canadian Singers
Ever’, (CBC Music) she has been dubbed ‘Canada’s Queen of R&B Soul’ by fans and industry leaders alike. As a platinum selling recording artist, her music career has yielded multiple singles reaching the Top 10 pop, R&B and dance music charts.
She has taken home Juno and Gemini Awards, earned innumerable industry accolades and was hand selected to sing for the Queen of England.
With her powerhouse vocals, hilarious personality and love of people, Jully Black truly is everyone, and unlike anyone. Her passion for philanthropy has taken her from the shantytowns of Bangladesh to the villages of South Africa and all across Canada.
As a woman of faith, she champions important causes and uses her career as a platform to celebrate and inspire the greatness that lies within each of us.
MUSIC & NEUROSCIENCE:
CLINICAL APPLICATIONS IN NEUROREHABILITATION
Have you ever wondered why music has such a profound impact on you?
This presentation will highlight cutting-edge research in the neuroscience of music and how these research findings can be applied in neurorehabilitation to aid individuals with neurologic disease and injury in the recovery of movement, language, and cognition.
It will showcase the robust evidence supporting the emerging field of neurologic music therapy. The presentation will consist of lecture, case examples, interactive demonstrations, and video examples.
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Brian Harris is the Co-Founder and CEO of MedRhythms; a digital therapeutics company focused on the intersection music, neuroscience and technology. Brian is a board-certified music therapist and one of 350 Neurologic Music Therapist Fellows in the world.
Brian started his career at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston, where he created their first Neurologic Music Therapy program, specializing in neurorehabilitation and built this program to be the most comprehensive NMT program in the U.S. He has been an invited speaker at venues throughout the world including Harvard Medical School, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Neurology Foundation of India.
Brian is an author on multiple publications related to music and rehabilitation and listed as an inventor on multiple patents. His work has been featured in Forbes, CNBC, The Huffington Post, and Rolling Stone.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT THROUGH MUSIC & WELLNESS
Glenn shares his journey of discovering the healing power of music, through opening his heart to the world and saying yes to the unknown and pushing the envelope in music creation and community building. He has consistently taken on bigger and greater challenges, defying critics and defeating the odds with an energy for engagement and a wide, to create musical and artistic experiences that ignite the senses, inspire the imagination and defy convention.
Hope is our greatest gift and Glenn shares this through his integration of music, meditation and community building.
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Glenn Marais is a singer/songwriter/character educator who uses his music for healing and hope. He is a motivational speaker, performer and recording artist, with a passion for social justice advocation. Glenn’s personal and professional mantra, “Give to Live”, encompasses that ideology in his wide-ranging work in the nonprofit sector as Remote Programs Lead with Thrive Youth Development Canada, working for over 18 years in fly-in Indigenous communities, formerly with ArtsCan Circle as their Programs Manager, working in seven northern Indigenous Communities, recently completed a contract as the Artistic Outreach Coordinator for the Aurora Cultural Centre focusing on diversity and inclusion, and with his own company Music in Mind, specializing in music based education, wellness and healing, self-esteem building, equity and anti-bullying. Glenn is also a facilitator and contract educator for The University of Toronto Scarborough Campus, teaching Intro to Community Music and Music, Health and Wellness.
Glenn has a Master of Arts Degree at Wilfrid Laurier, Mindfulness and Meditation Certificate at McMaster, Reiki Level II Certification and current enrollment at Trent in the PHD program for Indigenous Studies. He has been nominated for a Juno award, received the Donald Cousens Community Impact Award for 2021 and the Queen’s Jubilee award in 2023, and numerous other accolades in his work empowering and educating our young people to become the voice of change that we need to see in our world.
"THE POWER OF MUSIC
BRINGING COMFORT & HOPE"
Amy-Lynn Howson is a folksy singer-songwriter and a registered nurse, based in Ottawa, ON. She has been pouring her experience of life’s ups and downs into song since childhood, and a variety of opportunities over the years have shaped her as an artist and given her the courage to find her voice.
Fast forward to April 2021, and this nurse-by-day was compelled to bring her guitar to work at the ICU and sing for patients and staff in the midst of COVID-19. She was dubbed "Ottawa's Singing Nurse" when a video shared by a colleague went viral. It was an unexpected moment for Amy-Lynn, yet it confirmed the power of music in bringing comfort, hope, and connection - the very heart of why she does what she does.
Currently she is working in IRAQ with an outreach organization "Love Them All".
Through it all, Amy-Lynn holds onto what she has learned along her journey: these songs are about more than music, they are her way of letting others know that they are not alone.
Dr. FRASER RUBENS &
Dr. CAROL WIEBE
Concert Docs is an organization of doctors who also happen to be excellent musicians.
They offer pro bono concerts for good causes in the Ottawa area. Their primary focus is seniors' residences and long-term care homes, but they also perform at fundraisers for charitable or non-profit organizations, and at private functions in exchange for a donation to
Radical Connections.
Dr. Rubens is a Cardiac Surgeon at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. Originally from Kingston, Dr. Rubens has made Ottawa his home since 1985 and has had an accomplished career as an academic surgeon since 1995. In 2006 he was made a Full Professor in the Department of Surgery and served as the Residency Program Director for the Division for 12 years. He is well recognized as a surgical educator having been awarded the Program Director of the Year for all specialty programs in Canada by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in 2015. Dr. Rubens has pioneered techniques in teaching of communication and empathy in young surgeons and has established education programs that will benefit trainees for many years to come. As a researcher, Dr. Rubens is author of over 200 peer-reviewed publications and has served as the principal investigator in numerous clinical trials in his specialty, serving on two editorial boards and as a consultant to industry in the area of medical devices. Dr. Rubens has brought innovative surgical therapies to Ottawa and has served as the Director of the Pulmonary Endarterectomy Program since its inception in 1995.
Dr. Rubens has an established and active career as an oratorio and concert soloist for choirs throughout Ontario and Quebec. In 2007 he released the album “Bel Canto Dottori” with Jean Desmarais (piano) and in 2009 “Songs of Travel – Music of Vaughan Williams, Finzi and Corigliano” with Matthew Larkin (piano) and David Thies-Thomson (viola). His greatest thanks is for the patience of his lovely wife Carole and his children who have put up with his two meandering careers.
Dr. Wiebe is a family physician with a specialty in Care of the Elderly. She has worked in Ottawa since 2000, with the exception of a work-year in South Africa from 2004-05. Dr. Wiebe’s work has focused on geriatric rehabilitation and long-term care, and she currently brings that expertise to the NWT.
Dr. Wiebe has been active in medical education and physician leadership. In the 1990s in Manitoba, she was the provincial mentor for the Canadian HIV/AIDS Mentorship Program. She was Vice-President of Medical Affairs at Bruyère from 2016-2020. In 2021, after completing an MBA, she started the non-profit Radical Connections, humanizing healthcare with all kinds of artists.
Prior to studying medicine, Dr. Wiebe did a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Performance (piano, flute) and still enjoys hosting house concerts and performing, primarily as part of Concert Docs. Family, including her two sons, continues to be her greatest joy.
XENIA CONCERTS
If you could turn the sounds of your life into music, what would
it sound like?
sound.colLAB was a two-year artistic co-creation project in which seven first-time composers, all of whom identify as neurodivergent or having a disability, worked with a team of nine professional musicians to write original works of music for string quartet and electronics.
Attendees will learn how Xenia Concerts and NaAC built a structured but adaptable framework for artistic creation that allowed participants to write sophisticated pieces of music without relying on formal musical training. Learn how to apply the principles of Inclusive Design in the context of musical collaboration, so that barriers to participation are reduced and neurodiverse individuals can explore their creative voices through composition.
Rory McLeod is a musician, entrepreneur, and concert designer who takes joy in creating authentic human connections through shared musical experiences.
As Executive and Artistic Director of Xenia Concerts, he works with stakeholders in the disability and neurodiversity community, presenting partners, and performing artists to co-create concert experiences that are inclusive for people who face social and systemic barriers to inclusion.
Determined to broaden the circle of inclusion in the performing arts, Rory is pursuing his Master’s in Inclusive Design at OCAD University. Rory is also the founder and Co-director of Pocket Concerts, an organization that presents intimate concert experiences in alternative venues all over the Greater Toronto Area. Rory believes that music is a catalyst to emotional connection: he brings an enthusiastic spirit of collaboration to his performances in chamber music festivals across North America and with the Canadian Opera Company and National Ballet Orchestras.