VOICES is the opportunity to reach out to music therapists from all over the world. The section "Country of the month" makes us travel and know more about the state of music therapy in many countries. In some country where music therapists are isolated, they have much work to develop music therapy awareness. Meanwhile, as I witnessed at the 7th European Music Therapy Conference in the Netherlands in August 2007, music therapists have benefit greatly from workshops, conferences and rich experience sharings. We learn what is happening elsewhere in music therapy. We usually come back from Congresses highly energized.
Back to Canada, particularly in Quebec, an old dream surfaced again, one of creating a francophone music therapy association. In North America, Quebec with its six millions of francophone is a kind of "French continental island" surrounded by 300 millions anglophone from Canada and the United States. Francophone music therapists live mostly in the province of Quebec in Canada, Europe, the Caraibians and in Africa. The diversity of our approaches represents a cultural mosaic that we have to preserve and encourage.
The dream to gather francophone music therapists came from my experience in training professionals in the Caribians French islands, Martinique and Guadeloupe where music is part of everyday life. Then people from North Africa such as Morroco writing to me inquiring about training in French in Quebec. A trip to Burkina Faso was also an opportunity to see how music is used from ancestral practices. France is probably the country we are the most in touch with, but still timidly. Every year, students from France, Switzerland and Belgium come in Quebec to train in French in music therapy. There is an unique chance to weave a web that allows us to cross oversees from both sides when these students go back to their country. They become precious collegues.
The 34th Canadian Music Therapy Association (CAMT) Conference that will be held in Quebec city in May 2008 is a chance to invite all francophones and francophiles music therapists from here and abroad to meet. This will be a great opportunity to think about the creation of a francophone music therapy association where we can share resources.
Meanwhile, I hope this idea will make his way and serve to further develop music therapy in francophone countries.
For more information regarding the 2008 CAMT Conference: congres2008@musicotherapieaqm.com
Vaillancourt (2007). Calling for a Francophone Music Therapy Association. Voices Resources. Retrieved January 15, 2015, from http://testvoices.uib.no/community/?q=colvaillancourt081007