Connecting the Dots

Connecting The Dots


Dawn Ellis-Mobbs, Room 217 Director of Programs & Community Partnerships introduces her experiences with our community partners 




Gertrude Létourneau - Building Meaningful Connections

“Music Care is all about building bridges with the people we serve. Music becomes an invaluable tool for connection, especially when words are no longer accessible.”

— Gertrude Letourneau


Gertrude Letourneau’s work brings this philosophy to life across care settings in Ottawa. Recently retired from Perley Health, she now continues to integrate music intentionally as a MUSIC CARE Certified Individual, reaching residents, families, and care teams across the region.


Presenting more than 150 concerts each year in senior homes, Gertrude creates moments of connection, memory, and well-being. Her work reflects how music can extend beyond a single organization and become part of a broader, community-based approach to care.


She also contributes to the growing field of arts and health through national and international presentations, including the National Organization for Arts in Health conference and Orchestras and Opera Canada. This year, she will present at both the Music and Health Research Institute Conference and the International Society for Music Education World Conference.


Her work highlights how individual practitioners, community settings, and broader networks can come together to strengthen the integration of music in care.

Advancing Music Care Education: An Academic Partnership

At Room 217, we’ve been listening.


Over the past several years, one message has come through clearly from our community of caregivers: flexibility matters. Busy lives, shift work, family responsibilities, and evolving care environments mean that professional learning must meet caregivers where they are, not the other way around.


That feedback has shaped our new academic partnership with McMaster University Continuing Education and the launch of a flexible, asynchronous delivery model for MUSIC CARE TRAINING Level 1. The message from caregivers was clear: training needed to work around real schedules. We listened, responded, and are excited to roll out this new delivery method for our most popular course. 


This partnership also brings dual recognition for learners. Participants who complete the course receive both a MUSIC CARE TRAINING Level 1 Certificate from the Room 217 Foundation and a microcredential from McMaster University Continuing Education. 


The first course offering begins Monday January 12 (LINK). Students will have 6 weeks to work through course content.


Room 217 has trained thousands of caregivers across Canada and internationally, including in the United States and the United Kingdom. MUSIC CARE TRAINING Level 1 is standardized and designed for family and professional caregivers. No prior musical experience is required. Participants gain practical tools, tips, and strategies they can begin using immediately, regardless of musical background.


This academic partnership represents the next stage of growth for Room 217’s education and training programs. By expanding access through flexible learning and post-secondary collaboration, we are supporting caregivers with meaningful, practical education that fits real life.

Beverley Connor - Community Musician and Educator

It has been just over four years since I began my journey overseeing education and community engagement with Room 217. One of my greatest joys in this role is supporting caregivers through the Level 3 MUSIC CARE TRAINING. These programs are designed for caregivers exploring music care in any setting—a perfect fit for Toronto-based educator and community musician Beverley Connor.


From our very first session, I sensed Beverley’s fearless commitment to bringing joy-filled experiences to her community. This is evident in the many creative programs she facilitates each week. She composes songs with clients using digital platforms, leads community musicking events, runs campfire sing-alongs, and even hosts book clubs where music often becomes part of the conversation.


Recently, after learning more about soundscapes, Beverley followed a local dance troupe to experience the immersive sounds and observe their impact on the environment. But one program I admire most is her porch concert for residents of an apartment building managed by St. Clare’s Multifaith Housing Society.


This event was part of a global peace initiative that builds community through the shared experience of music. Each year, musicians in more than 70 countries and 1,000 cities participate in this porch concert initiative with the goal of fostering unity through collective music making—what we call musicking in our training program. You can explore more about this inspiring movement at #playmusicontheporchday.


Beverley’s creativity, curiosity, and dedication to community engagement make her an inspiring example of music care in action. 

Caryl Subion - Music is Not Just Performance – It’s Care in Action

For the past four years I have had the privilege of working with caregivers who are completing their Level 3 MUSIC CARE TRAINING through Room 217. Working with these individuals provides an opportunity to dive a little deeper into creating a vision for using music care in their role as a caregiver, goal setting and then creating and developing a music care initiative. Through this work, I am fortunate to hear stories of how music is being used to deepen relationships, provide better quality care but also create a sense of belonging and community. 


Caryl Subion is working toward music care certification for individuals. She is a recreation therapy aide with Alberta Health Services where she works primarily with persons living with dementia. Her dedication to programming includes a weekly guitar jam where she uses music “not just as entertainment, but as a powerful tool for memory support, emotional expression, and social connection.”  Her dedication to music in her life bridges both personal and professional contexts as she runs a youth choir at her local parish. Caryl often supports intergenerational programming connecting her local youth choir through performances at Alberta Health Services. Each week I have had the pleasure to learn from and be inspired by Caryl’s work in using music in care. In her words, “music is not just performance – it’s care in action.”


“Some may not understand why I walked away from easier or more conventional paths. But like the song says, “Musika ang buhay na taglay” — music is the life I carry. It’s not just a career or talent. It’s my way of connecting, healing, and bringing meaning to others’ lives and my own.” Caryl Subion

Simcoe County District School Board - Leader in Innovative Practices

One deeply engrained musical experience of my youth was watching the local high school concert band come and perform a concert for our elementary school. I remember the thrill of recognizing theme songs from television shows and movies while learning about the instruments. For me, the experiences I had as a student in Simcoe County shaped a lifelong love and career in music.


Over the past two school years, Room 217 has partnered with the Simcoe County District School Board to pilot and beta test the MUSIC CARE CERTIFY FOR SCHOOLS program in both the elementary and secondary panels. The idea to create and develop this program for schools evolved through conversations with SCDSB Arts Consultant, Bonnie Black. In a post-COVID world, the need for programs that address student health and well-being have become a key strategic priority for most school boards, including SCDSB. Our CERTIFY program provides tools and training for teachers to be able to weave music wellness tools and strategies into lesson planning both in individual classrooms and as a school community.


In June 2025, we plan to celebrate four new MUSIC CARE Certified Schools from SCDSB. Starting in the Fall of 2025, we will welcome additional schools from SCDSB and other school boards into MUSIC CARE CERTIFY as the program officially launches. 


A key component of the MUSIC CARE CERTIFY is the completion of a music care initiative that measures the effectiveness of how music can be used as a solution for a particular need or challenge. For example, can a specific song or playlist help students arrive to class on time? Stay tuned for case studies which will outline the results of the newly certified SCDSB schools.


We are thrilled to partner with SCDSB – true leaders in innovative practices in education and look forward to learning and celebrating together. 

SoundsUnite - Creating a Compositional Tool for the Classroom

A screenshot of a music app on a cell phone.

January 2025 - “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much” - Helen Keller


Over the past year, conversations with educators who have been part of our CERTIFY FOR SCHOOLS program have highlighted the need for resources that support wellness goals for students. As a past elementary and secondary music educator, the concept of using the creative process to inspire students to compose their own music for wellness as a class project seemed like a perfect fit for our CERTIFY program!


With this goal in mind, our program team approached SoundsUnite - an organization dedicated to bring collaboration tools to all students across Canada for the purposes of creating music - to join us in bringing this vision to life. 


Together, we were able to create a how-to instructional video for educators and students that overviewed how to use the SoundsUnite platform as a compositional tool in the classroom. The instructional video was a key element in our resources for teachers – since the platform would be new to educators. Once created, we were able to trial our lesson plans and resource video at the Ontario Music Educators Conference in November 2024. Feedback from the conference was positive and several educators across Ontario are planning to use the instructional video and lesson plans in the new year. 


This project has been a great example of the power of partnerships! Together, we can do so much. 


UK Centre of Excellence in Music and Dementia - Music and Mind Program

A group of people are sitting in a circle in a church

September 2024 - Walking into the entranceway of the Gorton Monastery in Manchester, UK, I was met with a feeling of community and connection with large signs sharing the history and restoration of the building placed proudly throughout the entryway. 


Within a short distance I passed the St Francis healing gardens accompanied by the familiar sounds of instruments and voices warming up in the distance. There was an unmistakable energy in the space as musicians, music therapists, carers and adults living with dementia all congregated into the main space forming a large circle together. In the middle of the circle was a table full of small percussion instruments that anyone could use. 


Within moments, and without introduction, the program casually began, with a welcome song. The musicians of the Camerata, known as Music Champions, took their direction from Alina, who is both a flutist with the orchestra and trained music therapist. 

After the welcome song, I witnessed the magic and creative energy of musicking unfold. The musicians would interact with participants and engage in call and answer style activities all happening over consistent chord progressions played by Alina on a keyboard. The style, form and rhythm of the music would change as the mood and energy of the circle changed. It was brilliant and moving. 


Part way through, an impromptu version of Danny Boy moved me to tears, as the cellist took the lead from a participant who broke out in song, expanding particular words and phrase endings as he was lost in reflection. The musicians took their lead from the gentleman, and a general hush fell over the rest of the group to hold space and honour this moment.


In my opinion, this was imperfectly perfect music making, as part of the new UK’s Centre of Excellence in Music and Dementia and Music in Mind Program. Bravo to the Music Champions of the Manchester Camerata!