Music Commission News

MusicHelps is proud to announce that in collaboration with Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust and The Kate Edger Educational Charitable Trust, applications will open for a special award to support the growth of music therapy practitioners in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The MusicHelps Music Therapy Award applications are open to all wāhine identifying students who have been accepted into the Master of Music Therapy programme at Victoria University. The recipient of the award will receive an $8,000 scholarship for one year of study, and if they are in their second year of study, the Award will include a supported student placement with the Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust. Applications will open on August 1st 2023 via the The Kate Edger Educational Charitable Trust website.
Jen Glover, the Director of the Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust which is the country’s largest employer of Registered Music Therapists, has voiced concerns about the small numbers of New Zealanders training to be music therapists. To help with this ongoing challenge, the Gattung Foundation agreed to fund a scholarship for a woman who was keen to undertake the Masters of Music Therapy degree at Victoria University of Wellington. They were then joined by a second Raukatauri supporter.

Glover, and the Raukatauri Board, including co-founder Dame Hinewehi Mohi, are particularly excited to have MusicHelps join this growing list of funders given its strong connection to the music industry and ability to reach professional musicians who may be looking for another career pathway. In addition to the financial award, scholarship recipients are provided with a clinical placement and a pathway to employment with Raukatauri, a great source of stability for musicians who are often used to having to make their own way in the industry.

“Music therapy goes to the very heart of what we do at MusicHelps,” says Chair of MusicHelps, Anthony Healey. “The need for talented music therapists and the demand for music therapy is unprecedented, so to support and partner with the Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust and The Kate Edger Educational Charitable Trust like this is massive.”
Applications for the award are open for full-time wāhine identifying students studying a Master of Music Therapy programme. The recipient of the award will receive an $8,000 scholarship for one year of study, and if they are in their second year of study, a supported student placement with the Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust. Applications will open on August 1st 2023 via the The Kate Edger Educational Charitable Trust website.

MusicHelps is proud to have made this announcement ahead of New Zealand Music T Shirt Day, a fundraising event during NZ Music Month. This year’s event will raise much needed funds for grants to those who use music to help and heal as well as support the music community with whatever challenge they might face into the future.

About MusicHelps
Founded by music industry people, MusicHelps supports projects in the community that use the power of music to help people in need. This includes music projects all over Aotearoa that help disabled people, people with serious health conditions and people that are at risk and vulnerable. The charity also provides professional tailored counselling, crisis support and emergency financial assistance to New Zealand music workers experiencing illness, distress and hardship.
www.musichelps.org.nz

About Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust
The Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust was established in March 2004 by singer Dame Hinewehi Mohi, who named it after her daughter, Hineraukatauri who has severe cerebral palsy. Hineraukatauri and thousands of other New Zealanders, have found a way to express themselves through music therapy. RMTT services are delivered via a clinical practice rooted in the humanistic model of music therapy which recognizes each individual client’s uniqueness and worth. Their mission is to work with any person in need, to enrich and develop their lives through music.
www.rmtc.org.nz

About The Kate Edger Educational Charitable Trust
The Kate Edger Educational Charitable Trust’s mission is to fund the empowerment of women through education, mainly through the provision of financial awards and other assistance. The Trust’s main purpose is to help others achieve in furthering their education and is named in recognition of Kate Milligan Edger, the first woman to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in New Zealand, and the second in the British Empire. More than 110 awards are usually funded, totalling over $600,000 for tertiary study each year. www.kateedgertrust.org.nz