{"id":47458,"date":"2025-08-29T01:47:39","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T08:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=47458"},"modified":"2025-08-27T13:54:05","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T20:54:05","slug":"musics-healing-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2025\/08\/29\/musics-healing-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Music\u2019s healing power"},"content":{"rendered":"

The annual Music Heals gala raises funds and awareness of the therapeutic use of music. This year\u2019s event takes place Oct. 23 at the Commodore Ballroom. (photo from David Barnett)<\/i><\/p>\n

Vancouver\u2019s business and entertainment communities are combining their philanthropic forces at the Commodore Ballroom Oct. 23 for a gala to support Music Heals, the charitable foundation that raises awareness and funds for the therapeutic use of music in physical and mental health processes.<\/p>\n

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David Barnett founded Music Heals in 2012. (photo from David Barnett)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

David Barnett, who founded Music Heals in 2012 and currently serves as board president, said tickets will be available after Labour Day and are expected to sell out quickly. Still, the event, which is already fully booked from an artist standpoint, always has room for sponsorship opportunities, according to Barnett.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a great group at Music Heals,\u201d he said. \u201cWe bring in all types of artists from all over, including Grammy Award winners, and produce a fun variety show. We don\u2019t reveal any of the artists. We keep everything a surprise.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a super-fun event to produce and it brings the downtown business community and the music industry together for one night to celebrate the power of music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since its beginning, Music Heals has distributed more than $5 million to help vulnerable Canadians gain access to music therapy. That translates to more than 65,000 funded music therapy hours in 85 different facilities, from children\u2019s hospitals to senior centres to burn units, to hospices and rehabilitation centres. The funds have gone towards helping at-risk youth, cancer patients, those needing bereavement support and many others.<\/p>\n

The 2024 gala raised more than $450,000, with sponsors such as RBC, BMO, ZLC Financial, Colliers International and Westbridge Capital, among numerous other organizations. DJ All Good, bbno$, CeeLo Green, Jack Thomas, Bif Naked and the Delta Police Pipe Band were some of the performers that appeared.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cWe always try to bring in something eclectic. The event itself is a little bit rowdy, and we try to keep the volume up,\u201d says Music Heals founder and board president David Barnett about the organization\u2019s annual gala. (photo from David Barnett)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As for the upcoming event, Barnett, who calls Music Heals one of his \u201cpassion projects,\u201d said, \u201cWe always try to bring in something eclectic. The event itself is a little bit rowdy, and we try to keep the volume up.\u00a0 <\/span>We feature a story that is happening in the community and have a video of how we spent the money in the previous year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an opportunity for us to build a community of friends, business associates and music industry people to have some fun and raise some money for a very cool kind of cause to support facilities that use music as medicine in their healing for mental and physical health.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2025, Music Heals gave more than $520,000 to 45 music therapy programs that included Ronald McDonald House BC and Yukon, Canuck Place Children\u2019s Hospice, BC Cancer Foundation and the Pacific Autism Family Centre.<\/p>\n

Countless studies have been conducted on the healing power of music. The overwhelming conclusion is that listening to or playing music has a beneficial effect on overall human health and can mitigate various physical and mental ailments. Music, various research has shown, can lower stress, lift moods, bolster energy and lower pain levels.<\/p>\n

Music therapy can benefit people in all age groups, from children with developmental disabilities to older adults with Alzheimer\u2019s. For young people, music can help improve their cognitive and social development, allowing for better communication and emotional expression. For adults, music therapy can be a means of managing stress, anxiety and depression while boosting self-esteem.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For seniors, music therapy can have positive implications for recollection and cognitive function. The Louis Brier Home and Hospital, for example, offers one-on-one individualized and small-to-large group music therapy programs that are supported by Music Heals. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Among the types of music used at the Brier are beat boxing, drum circles and movement to music, as well as the singing of the Brier Choir. Louis Brier states on its website that music therapy for individuals in long-term care can maintain memory recall and reminiscing, fine motor coordination and range of motion, and increase creative expression.<\/p>\n

On the power of music, the late Rock and Roll Hall of Fame musician David Crosby said in an interview done with Music Heals in 2017, \u201cMusic is a lifting force in the universe. Just as war drags the human race down and draws out the worst in people, music is a lifting force. It brings out the best in us; it lifts us up. Any time you can do music, it lifts the human race.\u201d<\/p>\n

In March, around the time of International Women\u2019s Day, Music Heals hosts Let Her Sing, an annual event meant to provide women with access to music therapy programs in support of their physical and mental health. This year\u2019s event raised $120,000.<\/p>\n

Philanthropic causes, whether through Music Heals or other charitable ventures, have played an important role for Barnett throughout his life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up in a family that gives back to the community and giving back was a large part of my upbringing,\u201d said Barnett, whose business ventures have included music venues in the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I was getting older and found myself having kids and trying to get out of the music industry and nightclub space,\u201d he said, \u201cwe were looking for an opportunity to get back and give back, and fell into the music therapy world.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information, visit musicheals.ca<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sam Margolis <\/b>has written for the <\/i>Globe and Mail, the <\/i>National Post, UPI and MSNBC.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The annual Music Heals gala raises funds and awareness of the therapeutic use of music. This year\u2019s event takes place Oct. 23 at the Commodore Ballroom. (photo from David Barnett) Vancouver\u2019s business and entertainment communities are combining their philanthropic forces at the Commodore Ballroom Oct. 23 for a gala to support Music Heals, the charitable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47459,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[24276,3128,24279,2864,24278,9855,24277],"class_list":["post-47458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-david-barnett","tag-fundraising","tag-galas","tag-health","tag-music-heals","tag-music-therapy","tag-philnathropy"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}