Христианская певица и музыкотерапевт Даниэль Савард делится историей веры и творческого пути

Between her work as a Christian singer and music therapist, Danielle Savard loves helping others use music as a way to heal and grow closer to God. Savard started playing music as a young child and quickly fell in love with it. "I started playing flute when I was five and that's where I fell in love with music." Mission work ignites passion for praise and worship After spending 15 years competing and performing classical music, Savard discovered her love for praise and worship music. "It wasn't until I did a year of missionary work with an organization called Net Canada, where we travelled coast to coast across the country, putting on youth retreats for youth across Canada, where I fell in love with praise and worship music in a new way, because I was part of our team, which was equipped with a worship band, and I sang backup vocals." She says that wanting to sing for God unlocked a newfound confidence in her. "I really didn't have confidence in singing until that year, when I really wanted to be able to sing for God in a new way. That was really placed on my heart." Savard would go on to enroll in university for music when she returned home. "After two years of general music studies, God very much opened the door for me to go into music therapy. So I entered that faculty and discovered how it was a way to serve people in a career with music in a very practical way." RELATED STORIES: Seeing God at work She has seen how God has moved in both her music and music therapy career. "I've been sought out specifically because I am a therapist of faith. We have to abide by the practice of not diving into our own faith background. So it's more about the practice of music therapy, but I see it as God just placing me in the right situations at the right time with the right people. I know that everything happens for a reason. So I see Him at work in the clinical field, by seeing people heal and seeing how music can touch places that conventional therapy can't always reach." Savard says she works with a wide variety of clients. "I work mainly with a variety of young people, young adults, children with autism. Music therapy can reach them in ways that are very unique. Seeing progress in their quality of life and social skills and seeing them achieve their goals has been incredibly rewarding. I believe God is the divine physician. He's the divine healer and when we use our gifts to serve Him, it's beautiful to see the impact it can have on others." Helping others has been very rewarding for Savard. She says it emphasizes something a music therapy supervisor told her. "They said, 'Danielle, at any point, we can be on the receiving end, like we can be in the opposite chair receiving help and therapy and being in a low place ourselves.' "It's very humbling to be in the helping profession, but knowing that I myself am human and need help. We all go through those different times in life where it can be challenging. It's the valley of tears. I find it humbling that God uses me even in my own brokenness to help other people heal and have the best quality of life that is possible for them." Going from Classical to Christian music As Savard continues with her own music, she says making the switch from Classical to Christian was a slow progression. "I had been songwriting since I was eight years old. I was writing flute scores and melodies and little songs. I actually had started before I was even singing, in my early teens, I had been writing music with faith lyrics, thinking it would be for someone else one day because I didn't think I had a voice. I actually had a terrible lisp." Savard says singing lessons corrected her lisp. "It was a really fascinating experience. I had been writing songs that are about God and my faith, but now I might be able to sing them. So there was a shift there. I certainly dove more into my songwriting. I see my songwriting and my faith life as being very parallel; the deeper I went into exploring my relationship with Jesus and committing to a personal prayer life every day and just being more involved in church community, the more I saw my own songwriting starting to deepen and flourish." See Savard perform live On Sept. 5, Savard is excited to be a part of Fun With Family Day. "It is just a phenomenal day that's full of Christian music and fun for all ages. I'm excited to be part of something local and to collaborate with such a great team with Concerts on Request." Along with Savard, Manitobans will get to see Jason Gray and Josh Wilson. "It's going to be a very prayerful, hopeful night that will inspire a lot of people. I know the organizer has some surprises for the audience that evening. So it's going to be a lot of fun and I encourage everyone to come to Portage for it." Savard says Fun With Family Day is for everyone, especially those looking for hope. "If you're in a place right now where you might be struggling with hope or feeling like there's a lot of darkness, and you want to be re-encouraged and reminded of Christ's light in the darkness and His power through his people and being able to touch your heart through music. I highly encourage you to come because you will leave uplifted."