
CANTABRAINERS CHOIR
The choir was co-founded in 2012 by Therapy Professionals Ltd and our director Kimberley Wade.In 2019 the Cantabrainers Therapeutic Choir Charitable Trust took over management of the Choir.The Choir is a Therapeutic Choir for neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s Disease, Stroke and Multiple Sclerosis. It is lead by our Registered Music Therapist (Kimberley Wade) and a Registered Speech Language Therapist (Angela Reimer).
Cantabrainers Choir differs from other community choirs in that you don’t have to be a ‘singer’ - it’s about learning to use the voice effectively, in a fun way; it suits a wide range of abilities; the pace is slower; the repertoire is chosen to target specific difficulties; it’s not as challenging; and practice is in the morning when people are fresh.
While the music therapist leads and accompanies the choir, the speech-language therapist focuses on clients who require individual support during the session. Together, their combined skills provide the members with not only obvious clinical improvements, but also the framework for strong social interactions between all, leading to increased confidence, enjoyment and energy.
The close collaboration between the music therapist and speech-language therapist both before and during the sessions, using a variety of elements of music and speech (rhythm, pace, pitch and volume), enables those who have difficulty with vocal expression and communication caused by neurological conditions to “find their voice”.
For more information about Cantabrainers, or to get in touch, feel free to contact the Community Project Coordinator at Cantabrainers Choir, Charlotte for more info or visit https://www.cantabrainerschoir.nz
Charlotte Crone
charlotte@therapychoirs.org.nz
02040584425
FEEDBACK WE’VE RECEIVED
“It’s been very good, I can get my breathing better from singing and I can go louder if I want and I can go longer. I can sing, I don’t need to gulp to get air in now.”
“We want a voice, a physical one, a mental one, in a sense you feel you can communicate, you have some control of your voice – having a voice in every sense of the word.”