Scholarship pushes for wāhine Māori music therapists

Raukatauri Music Therapy Centre. Photo / Supplied

A new academic scholarship is now available for wahine training for the specialist career of musical therapists.

Jen Glover from the Raukatauri Music Therapy Centre, founded by Dame Hinewehi Mohi in 2004, says thousands of New Zealanders have found a way to express themselves through music therapy and this scholarship will allow more people to help them do it.

“We are hoping to get applicants for the 2023 academic year,” she says.

“We are certainly looking at academics, looking at commitment in the field in the future, and any hardship there might be there for the candidate as well.”

The scholarship is for $8000 a year and is specifically for Māori or Pasifika music therapists. It also includes an internship with the Raukatauri Trust as a pathway to employment.

The Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust has helped babies as young one as one through to a kaumatua of 103, and Glover says there’s no such thing as a “typical” session.

Dame Hinewehi Mohi. Photo / NZME

“Certainly music is the underpinning thing for all of them. We do have a big focus on improvisation. We definitely recognise engaging with another musician and instrumental improvisation and vocal improvisation.”

The trust was established in March 2004 by singer and songwriter Dame Hinewehi Mohi, whose daughter, Hineraukatauri, was born with cerebral palsy. Not only does it help individuals, but their whānau also.

“This is an amazing place also for the families to connect with other whānau who might be going through the same thing as them So, in addition to the child receiving therapy, the family gets a lot of support when they’re here with us.”