FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
21 May 2019
Make Music Matter Expands into Canada
Make Music Matter announces plans to expand into Fox Lake Cree Nation
Toronto, Canada – Make Music Matter has partnered with Fox Lake Cree Nation to bring its innovative Healing in Harmony music therapy program to Indigenous communities in Canada.
Make Music Matter was founded by Canadian music producer Darcy Ataman who, in partnership with Nobel Laureate Dr. Denis Mukwege, created the Healing in Harmony music therapy program that helps to reduce trauma in survivors of sexual violence and other vulnerable populations. Working in tandem with a trained psychologist and local music producer, participants write, record, and produce songs about their experiences and emotions. The process has proven to have a significant reduction in the PTSD, anxiety, and depression of each participant. To date the program has been operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Guinea, and Turkey.
After years of successfully implementing in the humanitarian and development sector overseas, Make Music Matter hopes to scale Healing in Harmony for all Canadians in need.
“We are happy to work with Make Music Matter to bring their Healing in Harmony music therapy program to Northern Manitoba and Fox Lake Cree Nation to heal our Indigenous communities from generational trauma. The music created from the participants will help turn victims into advocates and open new levels of conversation in the wider community,” said Robert Wavey, CEO of Fox Lake Cree Nation.
“We are thrilled to bring our Healing in Harmony model and program back home to Canada where it can serve our Indigenous populations in healing from traumatic past experiences and ultimately reclaim their future. We are honored and humbled our inaugural site in Canada will be in partnership with Fox Lake Cree Nation in my home province of Manitoba,” said Make Music Matter Founder and CEO Darcy Ataman.
In order to assure that all artists will retain the rights to their own music, Make Music Matter has created a new publishing model with its publishing company, A4A (Artists for Artists).
Long time Make Music Matter supporter Ian D’Sa from Billy Talent said, “What Make Music Matter has achieved for songwriters living in extreme poverty is groundbreaking. Now artists that do not have legal identification, bank accounts, or addresses by typical western standards can be recognized for their contributions and get paid for it. This opens up micro-financing opportunities for millions of unrecognized musicians worldwide.”
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