Patty Zancanaro – Registered Music Therapist and Natural Voice Practitioner
In 1997 Patty found herself enrolled at the University of Technology Sydney, studying for a Post Graduate Diploma in Music Therapy. The course included psychology, physiology of diseases, different styles of therapy, counselling, and of course music skills, with a strong focus on improvisation and how to encourage others to participate in music making. In 2000, with the course completed, Patty was registered with the Australian Music Therapy Association as a Registered Music Therapist. Patty’s music therapy work has been mainly with adults with disability, with mental health clients and with children with behavioural and emotional needs. The interest in voice work specifically followed later (see footnote below).
And then! the current development!
In May 2017, Patty participated in a 7 day Natural Voices Training in Oxfordshire with Frankie Armstrong, the godmother of the Natural Voices Network.
On return to Australia, Patty initiated “Natural Voices Northbridge” and rented space at Northbridge Bowling Club for weekly Natural Voice Workshops. Patty’s underlying aim is to cultivate people’s love of singing with others and to free people from the notion that singing is only for the talented few. It’s virtually risk free. We don’t need to ask permission to sing – it’s a natural process. If you can speak, you can sing. Simple as that! In October, 2019, Patty went to the Netherlands to do a week long training with Musicians WIthout Borders. The learning included a great model for working with people with trauma, developed by psychologists in Australia a few years ago. 2020 has been a time to clear out the cobwebs and work on the first book, "Procrastination, the Dark Playground and Me". Due out shortly. (*loose translation, "this may or may not ever happen"). Watch this space. Or search for Auntie Mary's Publishing House (just don't do it yet, putting the info up is still on the pending list.)
* Choir involvement (abbreviated highlights) From mid 2015 to mid 2018 Patty facilitated a Mental Health Choir (“Soup and Sing”) at part of the Kirribilli Neighbourhood Centre's C R E A T E program for mental health consumers living in the community. In 2010, Patty joined the Sydney Street Choir as a musical volunteer. The choir rehearses regularly and has lots of gigs. Look for us on YouTube and Facebook, there are lots of clips of us doing out thing. We went to Tasmania in January 2019, singing at Cygnet Folk Festival, MONA and live on ABC radio. To celebrate our 20th birthday we have appeared on TV a couple of times, including Sunrise and another TV program (brain fog, can't remember which one). Anyone interested in joining the choir should contact the Choir Director James Paul on 0410 409 906. You might also like to check the Choir's calendar on the Sydney Street Choir website. A tour to Brisbane is planned for late 2022. As well as singing with Sydney Street Choir, Patty sings as an alto with Unaccompanied Baggage (directed by Stuart Davis) (rehearsing in Naremburn) and occasionally with Christina Mimmocchi' s Mooncatchers group in Newtown.