MONTREAL – Already an accomplished musician who has topped the Billboard Top Blues Albums chart, Anthony Gomes is now giving back to the community.
Gomes is donating musical equipment – a PA system with a mixer and tablets – to the choir at the McGill University Health Centre psychiatry program.
“I believe that music is a healer,” Gomes said.
“We made this donation because we know it’s going to make a difference in people’s lives.”
When Gomes was 12-years-old, his mother was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
Living in Toronto, Gomes’ mother came to Montreal for treatment.
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Gomes and his father would travel every couple of weeks to visit her.
“Music helped me and our family in its own way get through the healing process of what my mum was going through,” he said.
He got his first electric guitar in Montreal and said playing it helped him during tough times.
For him, making a donation was a no-brainer.
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“It didn’t feel like an important thing to do,” Gomes said.
“It felt like a very natural and honest thing to do. It wasn’t a grand plan. It’s just something that needed to be done.”
The tablets will be used as part of a music listening station for the psychiatry program.
The PA system and mixer will help the choir when it goes on tour.
“It’s going to make life easier and sound better,” said Dany Bouchard, music therapist at the MUHC psychiatric department.
“It really helps to improve the services on this unit.”
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