CAIT

Jon Parr Vijinski

Jon Parr Vijinski is a Toronto-based graduate student in psychology. He is also a composer, arranger and producer. His styles range from Baroque and neo-Romantic compositions to music for film, and popular music. He is a member of SOCAN.

Jon has developed two main intellectual pursuits, that, he suggests, are deeply interconnected- music and psychology. Within the domain of music Jon co-presented in 2002 a small film with Caroline Le Navenec RN, PhD, of the University of Calgary at the Canadian Association of Gerontology conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He has released three CDs/audio cassettes: "The Musical Pharmacy", "Pastoral", and "Jon Parr Vijinski". He has also had his music featured on CBC radio. Jon's interest in music as a mode of healing, has led him to participate in various national and international conferences, including the Canadian Music Therapy Association's May 1996 Conference, presenting a paper with Dr. Le Navenec entitled: "What are the Salient Factors in Music that Move People Emotionally"?

Jon's interest in the emotive-cognitive aspects of music has led him to the study of psychology. He is currently completing a master's thesis on the relationships between anxiety and music with the hope of competing a PhD. Emerging from his interest in music's use for the study of health psychology, psychopathology and cognitive neuroscience, Jon has developed a specific interest in anxiety.

Recent conferences that he has presented at:
2002 Play and Creative Therapies for Healing and Growth - Kitchener/Waterloo, Canada "Evidence Based Caring Practices: Just What Is The Evidence?" - Presenter

2001 International Conference on Gerontology - Vancouver, Canada - "A Video Soundscape: Using Music And Nature Scenes To Facilitate Well-Being" - Presenter

1999 4th Conference on Effectiveness and Quality of Health Promotion - Helsinki, Finland; Tallinn, Estonia - "The Musical Pharmacy" - Presenter

1998 Canadian Association of Gerontology - Halifax, Canada - "The Musical Pharmacy" - Presenter

Publications/Scholarly Works

2005 Vijinski, J. P., Pirner, D. & C. Le Navenec (2005). How music moves people: An analysis of the emotional responses of university students to a “musical pharmacy using Hevner’s mood wheel. In C. Le Navenec & L. Bridges (Eds.) Creating connections between.

Jon is also working on a number of classical works, including a tone poem. He can be reached at: jonparr@sympatico.ca

A Musical Pharmacy/Pharmacie Musical
An Ode to the Nightingales

As project director of a multimedia production for nurses and other health professionals on the use of music in health promotion and health care, I am pleased that Jon has agreed to compose, arrange and produce the music for it. The timely release of this recording (just prior to the Nurses June '97 meeting in Vancouver), will be welcomed by the nurses from all over the world because of the glorious, exquisite, and beautiful nature of these music narratives that Jon has created and produced. Carole-Lynne Le Navenec, RN, PhD	As someone who has researched the history of nursing, I would like to commend Jon for this splendid recording that both nurses and those in their care can use to promote health and healing. Indeed, if the Lady with the Lamp, Florence Nightingale -- the founder of modern nursing, was alive today, she would be pleased with this recording given that back in 1959, she stated: "The effect of music upon the sick has been scarcely at all noticed ... wind instruments, including the human voice, and string instruments, capable of continuous sound, have generally a beneficial effect" (Nightingale, 1969: Notes on Nursing). Diana Mansell, PhD History in Nursing
In my work as a music therapist, I often say that Music Speaks When Words Cannot. I am certain that Jon's music on this tape, and the ones that are forthcoming, will help people in this way. Jennifer Buchanan, MTA	The sounds produced in Jon's recordings are very health sounds. Gaile Hayes, A.R.C.T. MTA
To order Jon's music, click here.