Keynote Address and Opening Session

Françoise Lombard is a musician and a teacher of both eurhythmics and “the art of listening,” also called ostéophonie, a method created by François Louche. Having gained the diplôme supérieur of the Jaques-Dalcroze Institute and graduated from the Geneva Conservatory (piano, harmony), she began to train teachers of eurhythmics at the Conservatory of Bienne, Switzerland (1976–1982). Since 1981, she has been regularly invited as a guest teacher at the Geneva Dalcroze International Congress, held every 4 years. In 1987, she undertook a four-year training in ostéophonie and started teaching in Europe and Quebec.

At the same time, Françoise Lombard regularly led private osteophonie workshops for doctors, physical therapists, and psychotherapists in Switzerland and Canada. Since 2016, she has been a member of the Dalcroze Canada professional training team and has guest taught at various Dalcroze centers in North America and Europe (Italy, France, Switzerland, Poland, and the UK). She incorporates basic elements of osteophonie into her eurhythmics teaching, such as listening to the sensation of one’s voice vibrating in the body and developing sensitive listening to music and human relationships.

Françoise Lombard lives in Montreal and divides her professional life between eurhythmics, osteophonie, and composition.

Françoise Lombard is the creator of the Music and Movement Audio Library, which is a catalog of her own musical improvisations focused on various elements that make up the language of music. This educational material is aimed at anyone who teaches music, regardless of their training. It was designed with the aim of promoting the learning of music and the overall development of children and adults by associating body movement with music.

The audio library is also aimed at professional students in Dalcroze eurhythmics and anyone interested in the development of spontaneous musical creation. All the pieces can stimulate their imagination and accompany them on the path of improvisation. Being able to serve as examples to be explored in their own approach, these improvisations constitute a didactic resource for future rhythmics teachers.