What happens when you take music therapy out of the studio and onto the streets of our business district?
For Peoples Music Therapy, the answer has included familiar faces returning week after week, strangers stopping to make music together, families discovering something new, and a sidewalk becoming a place to connect.
This summer, the team behind the 405 Columbia Street studio launched PMT Community Sessions, a series of free outdoor gatherings designed to make music and music therapy more accessible to our neighbourhood.
Although the PMT Community Sessions are not the same as private music therapy sessions, they offer a glimpse of something at the heart of music therapy: how music can help people express themselves, participate, connect with others, and feel included.
Music Therapy Meets Community
At PMT Community Sessions, instruments are brought outside, the music starts, and anyone passing by is welcome to join.
There is no appointment, no expectation to perform, and no right way to participate. People can sing, play an instrument, dance to music, listen, or simply hang out for a few minutes and enjoy the atmosphere. Some stay for an entire session. Others stop briefly before continuing with their day.
The idea came from something the team at Peoples Music Therapy was already seeing inside its studio: the impact that music can have on people. But there was a challenge.
While they knew what could happen inside a session, many people in the wider community might not know what music therapy is or feel comfortable walking into a therapy space without experiencing it first. So, they flipped the approach. Instead of waiting for the community to come inside, they brought the music outside.
Holding the sessions directly in front of the studio allows people to hear what's happening, become curious, and decide for themselves whether they want to engage. Outside, children, families, seniors, people working Downtown, neighbouring businesses and passersby can naturally find themselves sharing the same space, and sometimes, the same song.
Music Gives You A Reason To Stop
Downtown New Westminster’s sidewalks are usually places we use to get somewhere. We head to work, run an errand, meet someone for coffee, catch the SkyTrain, or grab lunch. And most of the time, we pass one another along the way.
The community sessions have shown how quickly music can positively interrupt that routine. A shared rhythm, familiar song, or an instrument can start an interaction between people who otherwise may never have spoken.
As Studio Coordinator & Creative Space Management, Rimaz Mohamed, puts it:
“These may seem like small moments, but they can completely change the feeling of a public space. For a little while, the sidewalk becomes somewhere people can participate, connect, and feel like they belong.”
Rimaz Mohamed (on the left) and music therapist intern Ren Zhang (on the right).
One afternoon, an older gentleman was walking on the opposite side of the street when he heard Ren, the studio’s intern, singing.
He stopped, and, for almost ten minutes, he listened from across the road before eventually crossing the street and joining the group. What initially looked like someone in a hurry became someone taking the time to jam along and enjoy the music.
On another occasion, a mother and her baby boy recognized the Peoples Music Therapy team from Fridays on Front and decided to join a community session. Since then, they have returned for almost every session, becoming familiar with faces along the way.
Seven Sessions & A Community Starting To Form
The studio hosted its first outdoor PMT Community Session on August 4, 2026. Since then, their team has hosted seven Community Sessions and is connected with approximately 30 people.
What might be even more interesting is how many came back. So far, they have seen:
12 repeat visitors
8 inquiries about the studio
4 people and families move into other Peoples Music Therapy programs and services
Beyond those encouraging numbers, the team also measures the success of the sessions through the impact they’ve seen on pedestrians' lives. They've watched people who initially observed from a distance become comfortable enough to participate at a later session. Others have returned with friends or family members. And sometimes, success is as simple as a child trying an instrument for the first time, two strangers singing together, or a family stopping long enough to share a happy moment.
“For us, success isn’t only about attracting a large crowd. It’s also about creating real connections, helping people feel welcome, and introducing them to music therapy in a comfortable and approachable way.”
The goal isn't necessarily to create the biggest crowd on Columbia Street, but to create genuine connections and give people an approachable introduction to what music and music therapy can offer.
What Happens When the Rain Arrives?
Music therapist intern Ren Zhang at one of the PMT Community Sessions held during the summer of 2026.
This is the West Coast, after all.
PMT Community Sessions don't currently have a fixed end date, but their schedule naturally depends on the weather. That doesn't mean the team wants the music to stop.
Peoples Music Therapy is now exploring partnerships with local businesses and community spaces that could help bring the concept indoors throughout the fall and winter.
Looking further ahead, the team sees possibilities for partnerships with libraries, community centres, schools, seniors' homes, shelters, healthcare organizations, and other community spaces. They're also interested in exploring programming for families, youth, seniors, neurodivergent participants, and people from different cultural communities.
Most importantly, the studio wants those future programs to be shaped alongside the people they're intending to serve.
Are you a business interested in hosting the PMT Community Sessions?
Want to Join the Music?
Follow Peoples Music Therapy on Instagram for updates on upcoming PMT Community Sessions, or stop by the studio to connect with the team and learn more about their music therapy programs and future community programming.
You don’t need an instrument, musical experience, or know the words to every song to join the community sessions. Just come curious, open to meeting new people, and let the rhythm play its magic. As the studio crew says: “Where there are people, there’s music.” And that’s what these sessions are all about!
