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Dear friends, family, and allies,
I am organizing a fundraiser for the Montreal General Hospital Foundation and I would love for you to be part of it.
What: Le Groupe MusiArt Choir & Music Therapy
When: Tuesday March 17 & Thursday March 19th 2026
Why: for urgent aftercare mental health support, to foster community, reduce hospitalizations, and promote creativity
Join me the day of the event and help me raise funds for a great cause!
To do so, visit the links below and look for my fundraiser.
From there, you will be able to register and create your own personal page, to help you fundraise.
Let the Music Play On.
An award-winning choir and other music therapy programs are the latest victims of cuts to psychiatric patient services at MUHC “In darkness there must be light. Something there to help you fight.” Members of Le Groupe MusiArt – an award-winning choir made up of psychiatric patients at the McGill University Health Centre – wrote and recorded those lyrics as a testament to their resilience.
They call the song Strength in One’s Self.
That strength is being tested as never before.
Members of the choir, founded in 1998, learned last week that the administration of the MUHC psychiatry department is shutting down the group, along with its Women’s Music Circle and much-lauded individual and group music therapy programs – victims of the latest round of cuts to psychiatric patient services ordered by the MUHC to meet budget constraints imposed by the CAQ government through Santé Québec.
“Taking away this beloved service from us is heartbreaking, disappointing and inhuman,” said Bess Vasilakopoulos, who brought the cuts to the attention of local mental health support organizations. “We will all return to isolation, and worse.”
Across Quebec, our hospitals are swamped by people in psychiatric distress, their illness often complicated by addiction, homelessness and social isolation. Music therapy is proven to foster social connection, to encourage healthy self-expression, to help cope with stress and to build community.
Cutting this program means taking away the tools and support that help to keep vulnerable patients from relapsing. These vital services depend on the fickle fate of private philanthropy when they should in actuality be covered by the province’s healthcare budget. But for now, Le Groupe MusiArt and associated programs in music therapy must rely on the generosity of public donations.
Please consider helping to keep this long-running tradition alive by giving what you can.
You can also help by purchasing our original recordings at https://legroupemusiart.bandcamp.com/
and by signing our petition, which will be presented to Santé Québec, to argue the importance of guaranteeing support from public funds.
And our next concerts are at noon on Tuesday March 17th at the Cedar entrance of the Montreal General Hospital, and at 11:00am on Thursday March 19th at the Allan Memorial Institute.
Thank you, John Jordan (579) 372-4689
Click here to visit my personal page.
http://action.fondationhgm.com/site/TR?pg=personal&px=1090575&fr_id=1060&s_tafId=1120&s_locale=en_CA&et=6fIWi7Sof7UcNSte1nu2wuIRRxFblL9qd8nAbOJ-po7mE_x80aK3ZQ
Click here to view the team page for Le Groupe MusiArt Choir & Music Therapy
http://action.fondationhgm.com/site/TR?pg=team&team_id=1290&fr_id=1060&s_tafId=1120&s_locale=en_CA&et=Vzk5F-U7VCPy8hWoAf78nuvZH5O7HLUH0jA14pJxNmv2yh0pWp64gA
I am organizing a fundraiser for the Montreal General Hospital Foundation and I would love for you to be part of it.
What: Le Groupe MusiArt Choir & Music Therapy
When: Tuesday March 17 & Thursday March 19th 2026
Why: for urgent aftercare mental health support, to foster community, reduce hospitalizations, and promote creativity
Join me the day of the event and help me raise funds for a great cause!
To do so, visit the links below and look for my fundraiser.
From there, you will be able to register and create your own personal page, to help you fundraise.
Let the Music Play On.
An award-winning choir and other music therapy programs are the latest victims of cuts to psychiatric patient services at MUHC “In darkness there must be light. Something there to help you fight.” Members of Le Groupe MusiArt – an award-winning choir made up of psychiatric patients at the McGill University Health Centre – wrote and recorded those lyrics as a testament to their resilience.
They call the song Strength in One’s Self.
That strength is being tested as never before.
Members of the choir, founded in 1998, learned last week that the administration of the MUHC psychiatry department is shutting down the group, along with its Women’s Music Circle and much-lauded individual and group music therapy programs – victims of the latest round of cuts to psychiatric patient services ordered by the MUHC to meet budget constraints imposed by the CAQ government through Santé Québec.
“Taking away this beloved service from us is heartbreaking, disappointing and inhuman,” said Bess Vasilakopoulos, who brought the cuts to the attention of local mental health support organizations. “We will all return to isolation, and worse.”
Across Quebec, our hospitals are swamped by people in psychiatric distress, their illness often complicated by addiction, homelessness and social isolation. Music therapy is proven to foster social connection, to encourage healthy self-expression, to help cope with stress and to build community.
Cutting this program means taking away the tools and support that help to keep vulnerable patients from relapsing. These vital services depend on the fickle fate of private philanthropy when they should in actuality be covered by the province’s healthcare budget. But for now, Le Groupe MusiArt and associated programs in music therapy must rely on the generosity of public donations.
Please consider helping to keep this long-running tradition alive by giving what you can.
You can also help by purchasing our original recordings at https://legroupemusiart.bandcamp.com/
and by signing our petition, which will be presented to Santé Québec, to argue the importance of guaranteeing support from public funds.
And our next concerts are at noon on Tuesday March 17th at the Cedar entrance of the Montreal General Hospital, and at 11:00am on Thursday March 19th at the Allan Memorial Institute.
Thank you, John Jordan (579) 372-4689
Click here to visit my personal page.
http://action.fondationhgm.com/site/TR?pg=personal&px=1090575&fr_id=1060&s_tafId=1120&s_locale=en_CA&et=6fIWi7Sof7UcNSte1nu2wuIRRxFblL9qd8nAbOJ-po7mE_x80aK3ZQ
Click here to view the team page for Le Groupe MusiArt Choir & Music Therapy
http://action.fondationhgm.com/site/TR?pg=team&team_id=1290&fr_id=1060&s_tafId=1120&s_locale=en_CA&et=Vzk5F-U7VCPy8hWoAf78nuvZH5O7HLUH0jA14pJxNmv2yh0pWp64gA
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