Shows
Music Therapy ConversationsEp 104 Anita Connell at the Australian Music Therapy Conference 2025 - Part 1In this episode, first Luke talks to Anita, then we hear Anita's interviews with Professors Denise Grocke and Alison Short. Sandwiched between these two longer interviews there are some shorter conversations with Pip Reid, Lucy Bolger, Wendy Magee, Helen Cameron, Catherine Threlfall and Emma O'Brien. This all took place at the AMTA conference in October 2025, in Melbourne. Emeritus Professor Denise Grocke PhD, RMT, RGIMT, FAMI, L. Mus. Emeritus Professor Denise Grocke completed her music therapy qualifications at Michigan State University, USA, and holds a Masters degree in Music Therapy, and a PhD in Guided Imagery...
2025-12-171h 18Music Therapy ConversationsEp 103 Carine RiesIn episode 103, Crystal Luk-Worrall interviews Carine Ries. Crystal is a new addition to the Music Therapy Conversations team of interviewers - more interviews from her coming soon! (You can also listen to Davina's interview with Crystal, if you haven't already, as this is episode 91.) Carine completed her undergraduate degree in Music & Psychology at the University of Leeds before moving to London to complete her MA in Music Therapy at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2010. Carine has since also qualified as a Music and Imagery therapist and GIM fellow. Carine completed her 200hrs yoga teacher t...
2025-11-2647 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 102 Tim HonigIn this episode, Martin Lawes talks with Tim Honig, PhD, MT-BC This podcast conversation about Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) includes discussion about how the cultural context may affect practice, about the music's role as co-therapist, and about the use of different types of music. The ongoing development of GIM worldwide is also considered where Music and Imagery (MI) methods are becoming increasingly important in Europe. Tim Honig, PhD, MT-BC is a board-certified music therapist and a Fellow of the Association for Music and Imagery. He is Assistant Professor and Director of Music Therapy at We...
2025-10-291h 12Music Therapy ConversationsEp 101 Tina WarnockEpisode 101 is Luke's interview with Tina Warnock. This took place online in April 2025. Their conversation had a strong focus on vocal psychotherapy, including Tina's personal process of discovering this powerful therapeutic practice, and her current roles in developing training and research in this area. Tina Warnock is originally from Hertfordshire in England and has been based in Brighton, East Sussex since her undergraduate studies in Social Psychology in the late 1980s. She grew up playing the piano and in her late teens began singing and songwriting. The personal growth she experienced through singing with others and later...
2025-09-241h 04Music Therapy ConversationsEp 100 Luke Annesley and Davina VencatasamyThe 100th episode is here! Luke and Davina look back on the podcast - how it started out, where it has come to, what they have learned so far. They also go on conversational detours, considering their own perspectives on this profession, including current discussions about diversity, inclusion and race, along with the nature of music in music therapy, and how individual, as well as multi-faceted, this work is. What were the original intentions for the podcast? Who helped get it started? What's Luke's favourite episode? All will be revealed! Thanks are also given to...
2025-07-161h 22Music Therapy ConversationsEp 99 Michele ForinashDavina talks to Michele Forinash DA, MT-BC, LMHC about her experiences working with AIDS patients in hospice in the 1980s, topics around white supremacy and colonialism in music therapy, Michele's experiences as a queer music therapist, and the decolonisation of research and practice. This is a rich and inspiring interview with a music therapist with deep insights from a long and varied career to date. Michele is Professor & Director of the PhD program in the Expressive Therapies Department at Lesley University, Cambridge, MA. Michele, a white, cis, Queer woman, has been involved in music therapy since 1981. Michele's r...
2025-06-251h 14Music Therapy ConversationsEp 98 Tessa WatsonTessa Watson is a music therapist and trainer. She is Associate Professor and Programme Leader for the MA Music Therapy at University of Roehampton and works in that setting with colleagues across the Arts and Play Therapies and other HCPC registered professions. She has extensive clinical experience in mental health and learning disability work and her current music therapy work is with the children and families who use Alexander Devine Hospice. Tessa has an interest in co-production and is one of the founders of HENCoP (The Health Education Network for Co-Production). Tessa has published and spoken widely...
2025-05-281h 04Music Therapy ConversationsEp 97 Jasmine EdwardsIn episode 97, Davina Vencatasamy talks to her friend and distinguished colleague Jasmine Edwards. Jasmine Edwards, MA, LCAT, MT-BC (she/her) is a doctoral candidate and fellow within Steinhardt Music Education with a focus in music therapy at New York University. Jasmine holds a BM and MA in music therapy from Florida State University and NYU, respectively. Her clinical experiences include private practice, outpatient, school-based, community, and medical pediatric settings, and she is trained in NICU-MT, First Sounds: RBL, and Austin Vocal Psychotherapy. Jasmine has a vested interest in elevating dialogues about cultural humility within music therapy education...
2025-04-3048 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 96 Tamsin ElliottTamsin is a multi-instrumentalist and composer with roots in the traditional dance tunes of the British Isles. Her debut solo album FREY (2022) established her as a rising star on the folk scene, with The Guardian praising her "beautiful, filmic compositions for accordion, harp, whistle and voice". In this work Tamsin explores themes of limbo, pain, healing and acceptance, reflecting on the microcosm of her personal experience of chronic illness alongside wider themes of societal disconnection and environmental grief. Her forthcoming record The Meeting Tree celebrates connection, nature and the joy of sharing tunes with friends. Tamsin's critically-acclaimed colla...
2025-03-261h 13Music Therapy ConversationsEp 95 Dr Chamari WedamullaIn this episode, Davina Vencatasamy talks to Dr Chamari Wedamulla. Chamari is an independent researcher specialising in music education, with expertise in integrating music therapy approaches to enhance student mental health and well-being. Previously affiliated with the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and Birmingham City University, Chamari contributed to the Fair & Inclusive Music Midlands (FIMM) project commissioned by Arts Council England, exploring the perceptions of the Midlands music education landscape and current learning barriers faced by young people, while coordinating with a range of key stakeholders and organisations within the field. Chamari's PhD in Music Education and Music Therapy (Ki...
2025-02-2659 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 94 Jonathan TangLuke speaks to Jonathan 'Jaytee' Tang about his PhD research, which makes links between music therapy, music psychology and cultural psychology. They discuss the concepts of independent vs interdependent self-construal, and the relevance of this to musical interactions. This has some fascinating implications for music therapy practice. Jonathan (Jaytee) Tang has over nine years of international clinical experience as a music therapist, having worked in medical, special education, and mental health settings. His work with individuals and families from diverse cultural backgrounds fueled his passion for exploring the interconnections between culture, music, and well-being. Currently pursuing a...
2025-01-2957 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 93 Colin LeeColin Lee talks to Martin Lawes about his musicology-oriented approach as a Nordoff-Robbins trained music therapist, and about the newly published Oxford Handbook of Queer and Trans Music Therapy which he edited. The podcast begins and ends with music. To start with, a composition by a music therapist commissioned to begin the handbook. To conclude, an improvisation from a music therapy session where Colin explains his musical decision-making as a therapist. Colin Andrew Lee studied piano at the Nordwestdeutsche Musikakademie and subsequently earned his postgraduate diploma in music therapy from the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Centre, London, UK. Colin wa...
2024-12-181h 02Music Therapy ConversationsEp 92 Tilly Mütter at BAMT 2024Tilly Mütter has repeated her roving reporter trick from EMTC 2022. This time she talks to various conference attendees at the BAMT conference in Leicester in May 2024, providing a variety of interesting perspectives on the weekend. the theme of the conference was 'About All of Us, For All of Us, By All of Us', with the primary aims of highlighting and promoting the development of Music Therapy. There are some familiar voices here (to Music Therapy Conversations listeners) along with some new ones. In order of appearance, Tilly spoke to: Naviella Dowds, Anthony Voelcker, Kelly Fraser, Duncan Campbell, Marianne R...
2024-11-2756 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 91 Crystal Luk-WorrallIn episode 91, Davina speaks to Crystal Luk-Worrall about EMDR and music therapy. Crystal Luk-Worrall is a music therapist and EMDR therapist working with the adoption community in London through her private practice Clap and Toot, as well as working with bereaved families through her work at Shooting Star Children's Hospices. She enjoys exploring multi-modality practice and systemic practice. Crystal also supports fellow freelance therapists and newly qualified therapists through her role as BAMT's freelance network coordinator. Clap and Toot | Music Therapy
2024-10-301h 09Music Therapy ConversationsEp 90 Helen Wallace-BellIn this podcast, Martin Lawes talks to Helen Wallace-Bell about SMI and RMI which are part of the contemporary spectrum of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) and Music and Imagery (MI) methods Helen explains what these approaches are and how the recorded music used is chosen collaboratively to help the client develop their inner resources or work on issues. Helen is involved in MI training which also gets discussed. In addition, Helen talks about her work with clients who have PTSD and about online groupwork with carers. She discusses various music used in this work including Breezin...
2024-09-251h 03Music Therapy ConversationsEp 89 Emi BoothEmi talks with Davina about their recent debut at the BAMT Conference in May 2024 where they spoke about their experiences of being a deaf music therapist. Here are Emi's words of introduction: My name's Emi and my pronouns are they/them. I'm a deaf music therapist who currently works in older people's mental health in the NHS. I graduated from the University of Derby in 2022 with my master's in music therapy, where I became passionate about making music therapy more accessible to deaf people. Ever since, I've been working on publishing my independent scholarship on...
2024-08-2853 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 88 BAMT Conference 2024 Roundtable DiscussionThis is the recording of the live discussion from the BAMT conference at the Curve Theatre Leicester on 18 May 2024. The conference panel was Luke Annesley, Rachel Darnley-Smith, Tilly Mutter and Davina Vencatasamy. Surprise special guests were Wendy Magee and Joy Gravestock, who happened to be in the audience, and excerpts were included from previous episodes from Wendy and Joy, along with Denise Wong and Mercedes Pavlicevic. The episode includes discussion about the genesis of the podcast, the processes of interviewing and being interviewed, and closer examination of excerpts from episodes selected by the panellists. Thanks to everyone who attended...
2024-07-241h 28Music Therapy ConversationsEp 87 Karen GoodmanKaren D. Goodman, PhD., Professor Emerita of Music, Montclair State University, Montclair, New Jersey, USA., has been the primary figure in designing and developing both the former undergraduate and graduate music therapy programs at Montclair over forty years. Professor Goodman's research-based clinical work, at ten clinical settings, includes music therapy practice in child and adult psychiatry and developmental disabilities at New York Hospital- Cornell Medical Center, Creative Arts Rehabilitation Center-NYC and educational programs in the Greater New York area. Currently an Associate Editor for Psychology of Music, Professor Goodman has served as Editor of Music Therapy: The...
2024-06-261h 16Music Therapy ConversationsEp 86 Holly ShirraHolly Shirra is a qualified music therapist who holds her focus on helping people connect in community and express themselves creatively and authentically. With classical piano training from a young age, Holly discovered a passion for free improvisation while studying music therapy, which she completed in 2020. To help her understand further how people spontaneously create in groups, Holly founded 'Cambridge Music Improv' - a community project that gathers people from diverse backgrounds in public spaces to improvise music together. This supportive environment allows participants to tap into their creative side and find catharsis and self-expression while building...
2024-05-2959 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 85 Jessica LezaJessica Leza is a board-certified music therapist, author, and multimedia artist. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Music Composition from the University of North Texas and a Master of Arts in Music Therapy from Texas Woman's University. Leza's music therapy scholarship and advocacy centers around neurodiversity, disability justice, culture, and LGBTQ+ liberation and includes publications in The Neurodiversity Reader, Sociocultural Identities in Music Therapy, and The Oxford Handbook of Queer and Trans Music Therapy, as well as the solo-authored An Introduction to Neurodiversity and Autistic Culture for (Music) Therapists. Leza's multimedia works have been showcased in film and...
2024-04-241h 04Music Therapy ConversationsEp 84 Den VecchioLuke talks to Den Vecchio, a play therapist living and working in Bristol, UK. They discuss the principles of play therapy, why play therapy has become more available in mainstream schools in recent years, and overlaps with music therapy practice. Also - why every play therapist should have snakes, spiders and crocodiles in their collection! Den is a thoughtful practitioner and was a very entertaining and engaging podcast guest. As a music therapist, you're perhaps unlikely to have come across her, but don't let this discourage you from listening to this fascinating episode. There's lots of food...
2024-03-271h 01Music Therapy ConversationsEp 83 Evelyn MasonEvelyn Mason is an experienced music therapist and Vice-Chancellor's PhD Student at the Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) in Cambridge. Chroma Therapies and the Independent Neurorehabilitation Providers Alliance (INPA) are collaborating with ARU on this study which focuses on music therapy to address the emotional challenges of family caregivers of people with Huntington's disease. As a practising clinician, she has specialisms in brain injury rehabilitation, adoption, dementia, learning disability and hospice care. Having completed her MA Music Therapy training at ARU in 2008, she worked for the Northern Ireland Music Therapy Trust...
2024-02-2158 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 82 Elaine StreeterElaine is a BAMT registered clinical supervisor, and consultant lead visitor for the HCPC. She studied piano and composition at GSMD, and trained as a music therapist with Dr Paul Nordoff and Dr Clive Robbins in London. After running the music therapy service at the CDC, Charing Cross Hospital for several years, and completing an MA research thesis in music therapy at the University of York, Elaine was appointed Senior Lecturer at the Roehampton Institute where she developed a new post-graduate course in Music Therapy. Her music therapy practice with children, young people, and adults ran alongside her lecturing...
2024-01-2458 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 81 Professor Gitta Strehlow Prof. Dr. Gitta Strehlow is Professor of Music Therapy at the University of Music and Drama Hamburg in Germany and a Music therapist at the Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the AGAPLESION Bethesda Hospital Hamburg-Bergedorf, Germany. Her research areas include: psychodynamic music therapy, trauma, psychiatry and mentalization. She undertook special education teacher training with music as a subject, University of Hamburg and Hamburg University of Music and Drama (1986-1994), field research in Indonesia exploring gamelan music (1994-1995). She was a teacher at a special school (1997-2000) before embarking on a diploma in music therapy...
2023-12-201h 06Music Therapy ConversationsEp 80 Georgina AasgaardGeorgina Aasgaard Cellist and Music and Health Practitioner Georgina Aasgaard is a Liverpool based Cellist and Music and Health practitioner who has a passion for bringing Music from the concert platform to challenging and more intimate environments. She has 20 years of experience delivering music interventions in a broad range of health and social settings such as hospitals, mental health units, prisons, homes for the elderly as well as community centres for refugees and the homeless. Her practice includes 15-year partnerships with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, Alder Hey...
2023-11-291h 10Music Therapy ConversationsEp 79 Katie BycroftKatie Bycroft is a musician, music therapist, supervisor and advocate for access to musical experiences for all. She trained at the Guildhall in 1998, having initially studied Oriental Studies (Japanese) at Cambridge University. Music was important from very early days, and she immersed herself in flute playing from the age of 8, taught by her flautist aunt. Music has always been a way for her to connect with people from other cultures, from youth orchestra and choir trips to Europe, to joining a folk music group in Japan as well as singing the Messiah in Japanese while living there in the 1990...
2023-10-2557 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 78 Beth Pickard Beth Pickard is a Senior Lecturer, Researcher and PhD Supervisor at the University of South Wales. Her music therapy teaching and practice is heavily informed by her research in Critical Disability Studies. Beth's research explores how disability is socially constructed, interpreted and represented across disciplines and pedagogy. Beth is a passionate ally, activist and advocate of social justice and anti-oppressive practice. She is also currently a consultant for the National Music Service for Wales on developing access to musical opportunities for children and young people with additional learning needs, a researcher for Live Music Now across a range of...
2023-09-2052 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 77 Alphonso ArcherLuke spoke to music therapist Alphonso Archer about his career in music, music education, music therapy, and football coaching. This has included big personal challenges, inspiring moments and the development of innovative and creative approaches. Alphonso says: I spent over 25 years immersed in IT, Software, and Artificial Intelligence, building a career rooted in technological expertise. However, a personal diagnosis of prostate cancer and a brain arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in 2016 marked a pivotal moment, guiding me towards the world of music therapy. My transition was also profoundly influenced by my personal experiences. Growing up w...
2023-08-231h 02Music Therapy ConversationsEp 76 Hilary DaviesIn this episode, Luke talks to Hilary Davies, with a focus on music therapy and neurodiversity. Hilary Davies is a freelance music therapist currently specialising in working with autistic adults, including recently-diagnosed autistic adults and autistic adults with co-occurring conditions such as complex PTSD. She is also working towards a PhD on the topic of neurodiversity paradigm-informed music therapy practice with autistic people at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, funded by the Guildhall EDI in Music Therapy PhD Studentship. Hilary has also worked in a variety of other music therapy roles, including setting up and...
2023-07-191h 13Music Therapy ConversationsEp 75 Robert Mitchell Luke spoke to the musician Robert Mitchell about his life as a creative artist and the importance of music and other arts to society and, more broadly, for humankind. Robert Mitchell is one of the most significant voices in British jazz. Multi-faceted creator, pianist, keyboardist, composer, improviser, writer, poet and so much more. He is a relentless seeker and thinker, encompassing many art forms, musical genres and constantly pushing the envelope. In the last year he has released the extremely contrasting albums "Hold The Light/The New Resistance' DOF004 (from his unit TRUE THINK) and 'Towards The...
2023-06-211h 03Music Therapy ConversationsEp 74 Preet Kalsi Luke spoke to Preet Kalsi about her musical upbringing, and her training and subsequent work as a music therapist. The conversation also explored the relationship between psychodynamic and indigenous perspectives in her work. Gurpreet Kaur Kalsi is from Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, and of Punjabi and Kadazan (Indigenous to Sabah) heritage. She is a music therapist and GIM therapist. She works with clients of all ages with psychiatric and medical conditions in healthcare, community, education, and corporate settings. Her work navigates psychodynamic approaches with culture and Indigenous concepts towards the dynamics of life and healing within oneself, the...
2023-05-241h 05Music Therapy ConversationsEp 73 Giorgos Tsiris This episode is Luke's conversation with Giorgos Tsiris, with a focus on spirituality and music therapy. Born and raised in Athens, Greece, Giorgos moved to London in 2007 for his music therapy training. For the past 14 years, he has worked as a music therapist in diverse palliative care contexts for adults with incurable illnesses, their families and their local communities. He has developed collaborative community and intergenerational projects disrupting societal assumptions about death and dying, and his work has received national awards and informed similar arts initiatives internationally. Alongside his practice, Giorgos has a multifaceted research portfolio with...
2023-04-191h 04Music Therapy ConversationsEp 72 Dr Dwight TurnerEpisode 72 is Luke's interview with Dr Dwight Turner. They spoke in December 2022, in person, about psychotherapy and music therapy, intersectionality, music, exotification, Our Price Records, and a dream involving John Lennon and David Bowie's 'Life on Mars'. Dr Dwight Turner is Course Leader on the Humanistic Counselling and Psychotherapy Course at the University of Brighton, a PhD Supervisor at their Doctoral College, a psychotherapist and supervisor in private practice. His latest book Intersections of Privilege and Otherness in Counselling and Psychotherapy was released in February 2021 and is published by Routledge. An activist, writer and public speaker on i...
2023-03-1558 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 71 Denise WongIn episode 71, Davina Vencatasamy talks to Denise Wong. Originally from Hong Kong, Denise Wong MA BSc, is a self-employed music therapist (HCPC-Registered) based in Bristol, UK. She works with the Bath Aphasia Choir (Stroke Association), Soundwell and NEHK, a community-led group for and by HongKongers living in the UK. Denise appeared on the BAMT Racial Awareness Panel and took part in presentations and roundtables at the 2022 European Conference in Edinburgh. This interview covers intersectional experiences of racial stereotyping, sexism, ageism and ableism, including the word 'yellow' as a racial descriptor', and what it feels like...
2023-02-221h 10Music Therapy ConversationsEp 70 Inge Nygaard PedersenEpisode 70 is the fourth and final dispatch from the EMTC conference at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, June 2022 (see also episodes 63, 65 and 68). Luke had the opportunity to speak to a genuine music therapy pioneer in the person of Inge Nygaard Pedersen. Inge Nygaard Pedersen is an Associate Professor, Emerita, PhD, Aalborg University, Denmark. She is the founder of the Aalborg Music Therapy Training Program and the Head of the Music Therapy Research Clinic at Aalborg University Hospital, Psychiatry 1995-2021. Her research areas include psychodynamic music therapy and psychiatry, supervision, and experiential/resonant learning processes for music therapy students (438 p...
2023-01-181h 07Music Therapy ConversationsEp 69 Revd Jide MacaulayDavina Vencatasamy spoke to Revd Jide Macaulay about LGBTQ+, racial and intersectional issues in psychotherapy, music therapy, and society. Reverend Jide Macaulay (he/him/momma) is the Founder and CEO of House of Rainbow CIC. Openly gay British Nigerian born in London, he has been a Christian minister since 1998. He is an Anglican Priest and inspirational speaker, author, poet, pastor and preacher and an HIV Positive activist. Jide holds a degree in Law, master's degree in Theology and Post-graduate certificate in Pastoral Theology. Revd Jide Macaulay focuses his ministry on inclusion and reconciliation of sexuality, s...
2022-12-2145 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 68 Hakeem Leonard"We're doing music therapy because of people's humanity, not because of what people lack" Luke spoke to Hakeem Leonard at the EMTC conference, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, in June 2022. Hakeem Leonard is an Associate Professor of Music Therapy and the Assistant Provost for Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia (United States). In his music therapy role, he has taught a range of courses, but most enjoys his social justice in music/arts and psychology of music courses, where the nexus of his current research focus lies in developing a desire-based, lifespan...
2022-11-2242 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 67 Penny RogersDavina Vencatasamy speaks to Penny Rogers, with a focus on safeguarding issues in music therapy. Penny Rogers studied cello with Bernard Gregor-Smith (Lindsay Strong Quartet) in Manchester before going on to complete a postgraduate diploma in Music Therapy at the Guildhall. As a therapist, she found the majority of individuals referred went on to disclose histories of child abuse and so her passion for safeguarding began. Since that time Penny has completed a variety of further trainings including Masters in Cognitive Neuropsychology, Child Protection & Working with Families, and Systemic Psychotherapy. She was research fellow in MT at C...
2022-10-181h 05Music Therapy ConversationsEp 66 Victoria ClarkeVictoria Clarke is an Associate Professor in Qualitative and Critical Psychology at the University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol, UK, where she teaches about qualitative research methods and supervises student research on various postgraduate programmes. Her research interests lie in the intersecting areas of gender and sexuality, and difference and social justice. With Virginia Braun, she has developed a widely used approach to thematic analysis, now called reflexive thematic analysis (see thematicanalysis.net), and has written extensively about this, including most recently the book Thematic Analysis: A Practical Guide (SAGE, 2022). They have also co-authored an award-winning textbook...
2022-09-201h 07Music Therapy ConversationsEp 65 Tilly Mütter interviews students at #emtc2022The interviews in this episode were recorded at the conference of the European Music Therapy Confederation at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh in June 2022. Tilly Mütter is a student on the MSc Music Therapy Course at QMU. She completed her degree in music at Canterbury, where she first became aware of music therapy. After graduating, Tilly became the Music Lead at The Sunflower Federation Schools in Hertfordshire, for students with additional needs and profound multiple learning disabilities. This role inspired her to study music therapy. This episode was edited by Tilly from conversations with twenty-one m...
2022-08-171h 03Music Therapy ConversationsEp 64 Simon PurcellJazz pianist, composer and educator, Simon Purcell came to prominence during the UK jazz boom of the 1980s. After working in East London schools, as a passionate music educator and thinker, Simon has been active in the conservatoire sector since 1985, first as a senior lecturer at GSMD between 1987-2005, Head of Jazz at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Dance and Music between 2005-2017 and returning to GSMD as International Chair in Improvisation in 2018. He has contributed to the development of jazz education in the UK for many years and in 2006 was awarded Jazz Educator of the Year by the All...
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Athletes Authority ON AIRAthletes Authority ON AIR | Ep. 90 - Luke Annesley - Rehab Physiotherapist South Sydney Rabbitohs. Travelling To USA With Latrell Mitchell, Specialising In Rehab & Gaining Players Trust.Today’s episode of Athletes Authority ON AIR is episode 90 with co-hosts Lachlan Wilmot and Jordi Taylor. Today’s guest is Luke Annesley, NRL Rehab Physiotherapist at the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Senior Rehab Physio at Physio Focus. Luke has many years experience working as a physio in the NRL junior pathways through first grade as well as working with general population in his clinic roles. Most recently, Luke has spent time in the US with NRL Superstar Latrell Mitchell working with reconditioning specialist Bill Knowles. In this episode, Luke discusses the big takeaways from his t...
2022-07-0640 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 63 Karan CaseyKaran Casey Does Singing Songs Make a Difference? This episode is a recording of Karan Casey's keynote presentation at the close of the conference of the European Music Therapy Confederation in Edinburgh, 8-12 June 2022. Karan talked about songs and social justice, arts practice research, and about her own life and experiences as a performer and campaigner on social issues. She performed a number of songs as part of the presentation, and then had a conversation with Luke Annesley to explore these issues further. It was an inspiring ending to a varied and exciting conference.
2022-06-221h 12Music Therapy ConversationsLesley SchatzbergerDavina Vencatasamy talks to Lesley Schatzberger. Lesley is the founder of the charity Jessie's fund. Jessie's Fund was established as a registered charity in 1995 and helps children with serious illness, complex needs, and communication difficulties through the therapeutic use of music. Music can provide a powerful and profound way in which children can express themselves and connect with the world around them. Lesley's experience when her daughter Jessie was in a children's hospice made her aware of how many children struggle to communicate: it was clear to her how music could help these children. As a clarinettist Lesley has...
2022-05-1849 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 61 Seb ValentineSeb is a detective constable with Surrey Police, working in their public protection unit investigating serious crime against the most vulnerable in our society. His Policing career started in the Met Police where, after 2 years as a volunteer Police Officer or 'Special', he caught the Policing bug and joined 'the job' full time in 2011. He chose Hounslow as the place to get experience and spent two years as a uniform constable answering 999 calls there. He also had the pleasure of seeing the sights of London from a different perspective as a public order officer. Being an avid...
2022-04-2756 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 60 Helen MinorsIn episode 60, Davina Vencatasamy talks to Helen Minors. Helen Julia Minors is School Head of Performing Arts and Associate Professor of Music at Kingston University, London. She is also a Visiting Professor in Artistic Research at Luleå University of Technology, Sweden. She has published books: Music, Text and Translation (2013); Building Intercultural and Interdisciplinary Bridges: Where Theory Meets Research and Practice, co-edited with Pamela Burnard, Valerie Ross, Kimberly Powell, Tatjana Dragovic and Elizabeth Mackinlay (2016); Paul Dukas: Legacies of a French Musician, co-edited with Laura Watson (2019); Artistic Research in Performance Through Collaboration, co-written/co-edited with Martin Blain (2020); Music, Dance and Tra...
2022-03-161h 06Music Therapy ConversationsEp 59 Kiz BangerhKiz Bangerh (now Manley) is the founder of Hip Hop Heals. Here's how she describes herself on her website: "I lost my older sister, Promila, in a car accident in 2000. After, I suffered a delayed traumatised grief reaction. I was an English Literature graduate and keen writer but experienced a creative block that lasted ten years. During this time, I trained as a secondary English teacher, and enjoyed a fruitful career in museum and gallery education. When my father died in 2010, I was in recovery from a delayed traumatised grief reaction and a breakdown. This...
2022-02-161h 13Music Therapy ConversationsEp 58 Sandra SchembriDavina Vencatasamy spoke to Sandra Schembri, the CEO of Nordoff Robbins, UK, continuing her sequence of interviews exploring diversity, race and representation in music therapy. Sandra describes herself as follows: "Over the course of my 26+ year career so far I have had the pleasure of working with some amazing organisations including Bloomberg, The Royal Academy of Arts, Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club and The House of St Barnabas, supporting further social change in the areas of music, culture, homelessness and employment. I am a "People 1st" leader and believe very deeply that "culture eats strategy for breakfast". I...
2022-01-191h 10Music Therapy ConversationsEp 57 Nsamu MoongaNsamu is a music therapist and psychotherapist born and raised in Zambia. Nsamu earned a BA in Psychological Counselling from the University of South Africa and MMus in Music Therapy from the University of Pretoria. A therapist grounded in holistic anti-oppressive practice, Nsamu works with people exploring health and lifestyle choices, medical complications, human sexualities and gender, spiritualities and religious experiences, psychosocial support, and learning enhancement. His music therapy experience spans health, medical, and school settings, and centres human development programming, design and facilitation, community infrastructure and social development, cross-cultural living and working. Nsamu is a classically...
2021-12-151h 12Music Therapy ConversationsEp 56 Wendy MageeWendy Magee has a background in practice and scholarship concerning music interventions for brain injury rehabilitation. She moved to Philadelphia in 2011, a city with the fourth largest African American population and the highest rate of deep poverty in the US. Navigating the evident inequities for marginalized people in her new home city has offered her opportunities to learn about social justice, albeit from a position of privilege. She describes herself as being at the start of a long journey of learning how to challenge the existing systems that maintain dominant narratives and ensure social inequities, of how to practice...
2021-11-171h 12Music Therapy ConversationsEp 55 Barbara WheelerLuke talked to Barbara Wheeler about her wide ranging experience in music therapy as a researcher, clinician, educator, and author. Barbara L. Wheeler, PhD, MT-BC, holds the designation of Professor Emeritus from Montclair State University, where she taught from 1975-2000. She initiated the music therapy program at the University of Louisville in 2000, retiring in 2011. She presents and teaches in the U.S. and internationally. She has a current faculty appointment at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music, Katowice, Poland. She has been an active clinician throughout her career and worked with a variety of clientele. Barbara edited...
2021-10-131h 00Music Therapy ConversationsEp 54 Michaela de CruzIn Episode 54, Davina Wilson talks to Michaela de Cruz. Michaela qualified in 2019 and is relatively new to music therapy but is not new to music activism. Over her 20 years as a jazz and soul performer, musician and songwriter, she has championed and contributed to causes as varied as racial awareness, gender and sexual equality and animal rights. As an activist in the music therapy scene, Michaela was on the panel for the first ever BAMT racial awareness event, which was a seminal effort for music therapy in the UK. In this podcast, Michaela speaks with her panel member Davina about...
2021-09-1554 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 53 Francis MyerscoughEpisode 53 features Francis Myerscough, who was part of the panel discussion on diversity chaired by Wendy Magee at the 2021 BAMT conference. Francis Myerscough qualified as a music therapist from the University of South Wales in 2018. They work in a number of different settings, with a background in adoption support and more recently in a local children's services harmful sexual behaviour team. Other roles have included supporting LGBTQ+ young people at a local youth club, and as founder of and music therapist at Phoenix Song Project – a therapy organisation co-directed with and offering therapy for other members of trans and no...
2021-08-181h 03Music Therapy ConversationsEp 52 Dr Varvara PasialiDr. Pasiali received a BA Honors in Music Performance, from the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. Subsequently, she worked as a public school music teacher and a freelance flute performer in Cyprus. She completed her equivalency/Master's degree in Music Therapy at the University of Kansas. Upon graduation, she worked as a music therapist in private practice (Ohio, US) and at the Music School Settlement (Cleveland, Ohio). She completed her PhD in Music Education with a cognate in Music Therapy at Michigan State. Currently, she is Associate & Livingstone Professor of music therapy and Chair of the Academic Honors...
2021-07-2157 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 51 Dr Diane AustinDr. Diane Austin DA, LCAT is the Director of the Music Psychotherapy Center in New York City where she offers a two-year post-graduate certificate program in Vocal Psychotherapy. She teaches in the graduate music therapy department at New York University. Dr. Austin has maintained a private practice in music, expressive psychotherapy and supervision for over 25 years, and has lectured and taught Vocal Psychotherapy trainings internationally. Her work has been published in numerous journals and books and translated into several languages. Diane created the first distance training program in Vocal Psychotherapy in Vancouver, B.C. and had a distance training...
2021-06-161h 01Music Therapy ConversationsEp 50 Julie SuttonJulie Sutton works in a regional adult psychiatry NHS service for patients with severe, complex disturbance, and in private psychoanalytic practice. Having qualified in 1982 she retired from music therapy in June 2020. Over the decades her work covered most areas across the age range and she presented, lectured and examined nationally and internationally. Former Head of Training for NR London she also consulted for the Pavarotti Music Centre in Mostar. Her PhD looked at improvisation as a form of conversation & reflects a lifelong interest in relational musical processes. A BAMT Trustee for three terms, former Editor-in-Chief of the BJMT & EMTC...
2021-05-1958 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 49 Davina WilsonDavina qualified as a music therapist from Anglia Ruskin University in 2006 and has been working in wide variety of settings ever since. She specialised in a brief therapy model, writing her masters these in this field. She has continued to explore this model in special educational needs settings with children and adults in schools and residential settings. She has worked in acute and long term mental health in the NHS and continues to explore different and innovative ways of working. She is currently one of 5 directors at Drum and Brass, a grassroots arts organisation making headway in effecting positive chan...
2021-04-141h 10Music Therapy ConversationsEp 48 Daphne RicksonAssociate Professor Daphne Rickson, PhD, teaches music therapy at the New Zealand School of Music – Te Kōkī, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. She has practiced music therapy and undertaken research with a range of client populations but particularly with children and adolescents in schools. Her research has involved critical analysis of the concept of disability and investigation into music as an inclusive resource, including: Participatory Action Research with young people who have intellectual disability; an investigation into singing for wellbeing in a Christchurch school severely affected by earthquakes; song-writing with adolescents experiencing life-limiting illness; and music therapy with c...
2021-03-1757 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 47 Alexia QuinAlexia Quin is the director of Music as Therapy International, a charity which she founded in 1995 and which seeks to embed music into the care and education of vulnerable people worldwide. Alexia trained at Roehampton in the late 1990s and worked as a music therapist in the NHS for 15 years. In 2017 she was awarded the WFMT Advocate of Music Therapy Award and in 2018 she was a member of the Commission which examined the role of music within the care and treatment of people living with dementia. Luke talked to Alexia about the genesis of the charity, which sh...
2021-02-171h 01Music Therapy ConversationsEp 46 Ray TravassoRay Travasso is a Music Therapist and has been working in children's and adult services for 18 years. He trained at the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Centre, London and graduated with a Masters in Music Therapy in 2002. He has a background in paediatric and adult palliative care and currently works part-time as a Music therapist and Team Leader at The Treehouse, East Anglia's Children's Hospices, Ipswich, Suffolk. He is also Director and co-founder of Suffolk Music Therapy Services, an organisation that provides Music Therapy to children and adult care services across East Anglia. Suffolk Music Therapy Services del...
2021-01-1351 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 45 Alex Maguire Part 2Episode 45 is part 2 of Luke's interview with Alex Maguire, music therapist at Broadmoor high security hospital. Alex talks in some detail about his clinical work in this episode, and some of the important theories he draws on to support his work. The episode also includes Alex's interview with Shamrat Sengupta. Shamrat Sengupta is an Indian renaissance man - in addition to his role as a consultant psychiatrist, he is also a barrister and an actor/writer /performer with the group Eastern Thespians. He is the co-creator of the Bloomsbury Cultural Formulation Interview and is the Responsible Clinician...
2020-12-161h 03Music Therapy ConversationsEp 44 Alex Maguire Part 1Alex Maguire is Senior Music Therapist at Broadmoor high security hospital specialising in working with high dependency and intensive care patients. He has presented his work at numerous conferences and has contributed to the books Forensic Music Therapy (JKP 2012), 'Forensic Arts Therapies –Anthology of Practice & Research', (FA Press 2016), 'Working Across Modalities in the Arts Therapies: Creative Collaborations' (Routledge 2017) and 'Violent States and Creative States; from the Global to the Individual' (JKP 2018). The Broadmoor Hospital choir for both staff and patients, which he co-founded, has been commended in the Arts and Health Awards, and performs widely at hospital fu...
2020-11-111h 05Music Therapy ConversationsEp 43 Nate HolderNate Holder BA, MMus is a musician, author, speaker and music education consultant based in London. He is an advocate for decolonising music education and has been writing, speaking and consulting on the subject for the last five years. Nate brings his passion and skill in public speaking into leading CPD training and workshops; helping address bias and underrepresentation in music classrooms, departments, hubs and boards across the UK. His first book, 'I Wish I Didn't Quit: Music Lessons', became an Amazon bestseller and is currently available worldwide. His second book, 'Why Is My Piano Bl...
2020-10-1458 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 42 Marianne RizkallahMarianne Rizkallah is the Director and Head Music Therapist at North London Music Therapy, 'Music Therapy Outreach and Enterprise Tutor' for the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and the Vice Chair of the British Association for Music Therapy. Founded in 2018, North London Music Therapy provides music therapy for anyone, of any age, with a mental health condition such as stress, anxiety or depression. NLMT provides music therapy for individuals and groups, designs and delivers workshops for the corporate market, and provides further training and CPD for qualified and trainee music therapists. NLMT specialises in long-term work, and...
2020-09-1657 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 41 Portrait of a Music Therapy Service During Lockdown Luke interviewed eight colleagues from the team at Oxleas Music Therapy Service about their experiences of adapting practice during lockdown. This has inevitably included a wide range of experiences, some very positive, some frustrating, but all of them demonstrating the ability of music therapists to adapt and improvise in a crisis, keeping the children and young people they are working with at the centre of their practice. You can also find a shorter edit of this project (with a musical bonus) on the service website. Here are their biogs in order of appearance: Sarah Hadley i...
2020-08-121h 11Music Therapy ConversationsEp 40 Amelia OldfieldAmelia Oldfield feels incredibly lucky to have worked as a clinical music therapist in the NHS for 40 years. In the early 1980s she worked full-time with people with learning disabilities for six years, and then part-time with pre-school children and their families referred from a child development centre, as well as with primary aged children and their families in a child and family psychiatric unit. In 1994, she and her colleague, Helen Odell-Miller, jointly set up the MA music therapy training course at Anglia Ruskin University, and Amelia has taught music therapy students on this course since that...
2020-07-1558 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 39 Andrew WestAndrew West is a child and adolescent psychiatrist based in Oxford. He graduated from Cambridge University with First Class Honours in Natural Science, Part 1a in Law. He went on to study Anatomy at Leeds University and then Clinical Medicine at Oxford. He worked for several years in New Zealand, completing an internship in Psychotherapy and Counselling there. He completed Oxford Higher Training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in 1996 and has intermediate level training in Group Therapy with Children, and Family Systemic Psychotherapy. From 2001 he worked as a consultant in Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Paediatric Liaison Psychiatry...
2020-06-171h 10Music Therapy ConversationsEp 38 Jamal GlynnJamal J Glynn is a registered Music Therapist with the Health and Care Professions Council in the United Kingdom (HCPC). He holds a BA in Musical Arts from the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, and a M.A. in Music Therapy from Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, UK. He offers under the North West Regional Health Authority in Trinidad and Tobago Music Therapy to inpatients and outpatients at the St Ann's Hospital including the Forensic ward, Chaguanas Psychiatric Clinic, Barataria Mental Health and Wellness Centre, Child Guidance Clinic. His work focuses on psychoanalytically informed approaches.
2020-05-1359 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 37 Irene Lo Coco and Elizabeth Nightingale from Chiltern Music TherapyIrene Lo Coco and Elizabeth Nightingale from Chiltern Music Therapy talked to Luke about remote working in music therapy, including technical and online resources, as well as issues that may arise through these ways of working may bring up. After qualifying as a music therapist, Elizabeth gained clinical experience with adults with neurological disorders and worked with children with a range of needs including developmental delay, behavioural difficulties, and trauma. She later trained as a Neurologic Music Therapist and MATADOC assessor and continues to acquire specialist experience in brain injury and neurodisability through providing NMT and MATADOC...
2020-04-081h 01Music Therapy ConversationsEp 36 Sarah HadleyIn episode 36, Luke talks to his manager at Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, Sarah Hadley. Sarah trained at Nordoff-Robbins in 1984 where she feels privileged to this day to have experienced a structured and focused training in how to use music to tap into her clients' fundamental "music child"; namely that innate communicative musicality we all possess, which provides the platform for powerful therapeutic inter-relationship though which sustainable outcomes can be achieved. From the outset Sarah has always been intrigued by the other Music Therapy trainings which she feels create multi- dimensional perspectives and rationale to clinical practice and within her...
2020-03-111h 00Music Therapy ConversationsEp 35 Katrina McFerranDr Katrina Skewes McFerran is Professor of Music Therapy, Director of Graduate Research in Creative Arts Therapies, and Head of the new Masters of Creative Arts Therapies (Dance/Drama) at The University of Melbourne. She is a registered music therapist with the Australian association, and Commissioner for Research and Ethics of the World Federation of Music Therapy, as well as being an Editor of the open-access, online forum for music and health – Voices.no. She is also creator of the free-access MOOC – How Music Can Change Your Life – which is full of videos, podcasts and other educational resources for non-mu...
2020-02-1255 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 34 Natasha ThomasNatasha Thomas, PhD is a Board Certified Music Therapist (MT-BC) currently serving as Visiting Clinical Assistant Professor at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI). She received her undergraduate degree in music therapy from the University of North Dakota (UND), holds a masters degree in special education (also from UND, with an emphasis on visual impairment), and recently completed her PhD in expressive arts therapies from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. Natasha has served on the Midwest and Southeastern Regional Boards of the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) in various committee positions, including the Diversity & Multiculturalism Committee. She is c...
2020-01-151h 13Music Therapy ConversationsEp 33 John WilsonIn episode 33 Luke talks to an old friend of his, the conductor John Wilson. John was born in Gateshead and studied composition and conducting at the Royal College of Music, where in 2011 he was made a Fellow. Back in 1994, he formed his own orchestra, the John Wilson Orchestra, dedicated to performing music from the golden age of Hollywood and Broadway, and with whom he has appeared regularly across the UK, including at the BBC Proms annually since 2009. In March 2019, John was awarded the prestigious ISM Distinguished Musician Award for his services to music. He is now in...
2019-12-1142 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 32 David JohnAfter completing a degree in music, specialising in composition, electronic music and piano performance, David trained firstly as a Music Therapist and subsequently as a Psychotherapist. He worked in Mental Health Services in Cambridge as a Music Therapist and as a Clinical Team Lead for an Arts Therapies Service from 1985 to 2016. During the 90s David trained at the British Association of Psychotherapists and gained membership of the British Psychoanalytic Council in 2000. He joined The British Psychoanalytic Association in 2011 and subsequently became a member of the International Psychoanalytic Association and The European Psychoanalytic Federation. In his...
2019-11-131h 00Music Therapy ConversationsEp 31 Sarah Metcalfe (Playlist for Life)Sarah Metcalfe is CEO of Playlist for Life, the music and dementia charity founded by writer and broadcaster Sally Magnusson. Under her leadership Playlist for Life has established a growing UK network of community Help Points and was recently awarded £1.6million by the National Lottery to scale up playlist-use across the UK. Sarah was a Commissioner on the ILC Commission on Dementia and Music and is one of the steering group advising on BBC Music Day. She has been a speaker and advocate for the power of playlists at events including the NHS Innovation Expo, the International Palliative Care a...
2019-10-1655 minMusic Therapy ConversationsCathy WarnerIn podcast 30, Cathy Warner has a conversation with Luke about music therapy clinical supervision. Cathy is a music therapy trainer and practitioner. As both an improvising and classical musician she's a cellist and pianist and has orchestral and choral conducting experience mainly of classical repertoire. She has been the Course Leader for MA Music Therapy at the University of the West of England in Bristol for 5 years, developing the part time training Leslie Bunt established in the early 90s. As a music therapist she's particularly interested in group work and has facilitated music therapy community groups for...
2019-09-0459 minMusic Therapy ConversationsMartin LawesIn Episode 29. Luke talks to music therapist and GIM practitioner/trainer Martin Lawes. Martin qualified as a music therapist in 1999. Since then his work has been in special needs education, in adult mental health (including eating disorders, acute and forensic psychiatry) and in palliative care. He is a BAMT registered supervisor and has been visiting lecturer on several of the music therapy MA trainings. Martin is additionally qualified in Guided Imagery and Music, GIM. He is a former chair of both the Education and Training Committee, and the board of the European Association of Music...
2019-08-1457 minMusic Therapy ConversationsSimon ProcterIn episode 28, Luke talks to Simon Procter. Simon works for Nordoff Robbins, based in London, as its Director of Music Services responsible for oversight of its education, research and public affairs activities. Simon is a pianist, accompanist and improviser who trained as a music therapist with Nordoff Robbins in London from 1995 to 1997. He has since worked in a wide range of settings, most recently within adult mental health services, as well as in the training of music therapists. His commitment to the Nordoff Robbins approach stems from his own experience of music as fundamental to w...
2019-07-171h 04Music Therapy ConversationsEp 27 Sarah Gail BrandIn Episode 27, Luke talks to free improvising trombone player, educator and music therapist Sarah Gail Brand. Born in London in 1971, Sarah Gail Brand began playing the trombone in 1979 and qualified as a Music Therapist in 2001. Since qualifying, she has worked in special needs education and adult psychiatric and learning disability services in the NHS and currently runs a private music therapy practice. Sarah is a professor of Improvisation at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, where she trains music therapists on the MA Music Therapy programme and teaches in the Dept. of Jazz...
2019-06-121h 03Music Therapy ConversationsEp 26 Pauline EtkinPauline Etkin trained as a teacher at the Witwatersrand Teachers Training College in Johannesburg, Rep of South Africa. She became head of Music and early childhood didactics and was always interested in how music could help the many children that she came across who were struggling to fit in socially or educationally. Pauline has been a major influence in the development of music therapy both in the UK and internationally. She trained as a music therapist in 1982 and her first passion will always be as a music therapist having worked in this role for 25 years working for a year...
2019-05-1545 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 25 Philippa DerringtonPhilippa Derrington leads the MSc Music Therapy course and is a Senior Lecturer within the Division of Occupational Therapy and Arts Therapies at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh. She is one of the editors of the British Journal of Music Therapy, and passionate about promoting and developing the music therapy profession through research, practice and teaching. In this interview, Philippa talks about her music therapy work with adolescents at a social inclusion centre, attached to a mainstream secondary school. Although the work was primarily with young people in the centre, which became The Centre School in 2009 – a sc...
2019-04-1749 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 24 Joy GravestockJoy is a self-employed music therapist in private practice. Prior to her music therapy training, she was clinical lead for a Nottinghamshire NHS Trust, (in adoption services, CAMHS, Nottinghamshire), having worked previously within the field of adoption for many years. She was also a member of both Nottingham and Leicester County's Adoption Panels, offering both her professional and personal experiences to panel. Now as a specialist music therapist in adoption practice, Joy is an identified lead therapist for Adoption Services in the East Midlands, as well as retaining links with "CORAM" Leicestershire, and working extensively with individually referred cases...
2019-03-1358 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 23 Bob Heath and Jane LingsEpisode 23 is all about therapeutic songwriting. Luke speaks to Jane Lings and Bob Heath. Jane Lings works freelance as a music therapist, supervisor, and educator. She has extensive clinical experience in palliative and bereavement care having worked for 15 years in an adult hospice. She has worked in many different clinical areas with children and adults, most recently a successful music therapy pilot project in a women's prison. She was Senior Lecturer at UWE on the MA music therapy for 14 years and continues as associate lecturer. She is involved in lecturing and running workshops in many contexts...
2019-02-131h 07Music Therapy ConversationsEp 22 Ann SlobodaAnn Sloboda is Head of Music Therapy at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. She is a registered psychoanalyst (British Psychoanalytic Council) and music therapist (HCPC). She studied music at Oxford University, and qualified as a music therapist from GSMD in 1985. Between 1985 and 2005 she worked as a music therapist in the NHS, in adult learning disability, eating disorders, general and forensic psychiatry. She has undertaken research in music therapy with PTSD. A past chair of the Association of Professional Music Therapists, she was Head of Arts Therapies at West London Mental Health Trust for 10 years. In this...
2019-01-1654 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 21 Andy LaleIn episode 21 of Music Therapy Conversations Luke Annesley talks to Andy Lale. Andy has worked as a music therapist for twenty years. He has been employed by CNWL NHS Trust, in this capacity, since 1999. He manages a team of arts psychotherapists for South Westminster and specialises in music psychotherapy with psychotic states. His clinical work, with this client group, focuses on transference and insight. His MA dissertation on Countertransference Enactment is available in the Tavistock Library. He has taught on the MA in Music Therapy at Roehampton University and now supervises other clinicians in this compound intervention. He also co...
2018-12-0557 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 20 Joanna EdenJoanna Eden is a jazz singer and singer/songwriter based near Cambridge in the UK. She has shared stages with Jamie Cullum, the Buena Vista Social Club & The Blockheads. She mentored a young Sam Smith for nine years and released her 4th album 'Truth Tree' this October. Joanna's career is all about finding a balance between performing, creating and sharing skills and experience. In this varied and exploratory conversation we talked about music education, including some of Joanna's problematic experiences in her own musical upbringing, what it's like being a singer fronting a band, and her own song w...
2018-11-1457 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 19 Liz CoombesLiz Coombes is the course leader of the MA Music Therapy course at the University of South Wales, Newport. Since qualifying as a Music Therapist in 2000 following a BMus degree at Royal Holloway College, University of London, she has specialised in working with children and young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties as well as asylum seekers and refugees. She uses psychodynamic thinking to underpin her work and utilises her considerable experience in community music-making. She has worked on skill-sharing therapeutic music projects since 2009 in Palestine, and in the UK. She has a particular interest in how sharing these sk...
2018-10-1754 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 18 Gary AnsdellProfessor Gary Ansdell has been a music therapist for thirty years, working mostly in the area of adult mental health in the last decade, and currently in late-life care settings. He has been involved in a wide range of areas of music therapy practice, and in developing the Community Music Therapy movement. Gary has also been active in training and research, developing new Masters and PhD programmes for Nordoff Robbins, where he was Director of Education (2008-15). He has published widely in the areas of music therapy and music and health and is author/co-author of seven books on...
2018-09-1258 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 17 Julie WhelanLuke talks to Julie Whelan, the CEO of Nordoff Robbins. Julie has had extensive experience of senior roles in education, local authority services, government and the charity sector. Her most recent roles were as founding CEO of the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust and in her seven years there she established the charity, it was recognised with a charity excellence award and it supported over 200,000 young people with mentoring programmes. She joined Nordoff Robbins in 2015 and since her arrival the charity has already met its overarching goal to increase by 100% the number of people i...
2018-08-081h 00Music Therapy ConversationsEp 16 Josephine DaviesJosephine Davies is a jazz saxophonist, composer, existential psychotherapist and lecturer. She studied classical and jazz at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, and more recently trained at Regents's University and the New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling. Though she is not a music therapist, Josephine is greatly interested in how therapies of all orientations can help people to access and express their creativity in their own unique ways. She is also deeply influenced by Japanese and Buddhist philosophies that celebrate the qualities of imperfection, impermanence and unity. Marrying these with various existential ideas underpins her view o...
2018-07-1853 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 15 Daniel ThomasLuke talks to Daniel Thomas about his process of moving from being a music therapist into running an arts therapy business. This includes to interesting discussion on the nature of 'brands', as well as reflections on how we communicate the subtle nuances fo therapeutic work to other professionals. Daniel qualified as a music therapist in 2002. His past clinical work focused on children and families, especially supporting attachment, bonding and resilience. Daniel has worked in prisons, mental health settings and in special and mainstream schools with children with a range of brain injuries and other conditions He certified...
2018-06-2053 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 14 Dr Helen Odell-Miller OBELuke talks to Helen Odell-Miller about music therapy and psychoanalysis, group work in adult mental health settings, research into music therapy and dementia, and many other things. Dr Helen Odell-Miller OBE is a Professor of Music Therapy, and Director of the Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge. Helen has lectured widely, and has been a keynote speaker at many national and international conferences in Europe, Australia, Asia and the USA. She has worked with parliament and the government advising on music therapy. Most recently she was one of the Commissioners for the Mus...
2018-05-1650 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 13 Claire FlowerEpisode 13 is Luke's interview with Claire Flower. Claire trained as a music therapist at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Over the years she has worked in a wide range of settings, as well as running a supervision practice, teaching and examining. She currently works within the Music Therapy team in the Child Development Service at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London, where she is joint team lead with Juliet Wood. At present, she is completing her doctoral studies at Nordoff-Robbins. Her practice-led study is an investigation of ways of working with children and parents in a healthcare context.
2018-04-1842 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 12 Becky WhiteIn episode 12, which coincides with World Music Therapy Day, Luke Annesley talks to Becky White. Becky teaches clinical improvisation at the University of South Wales and works as an associate lecturer in music therapy at the University of the West of England. She is undertaking PhD research into learning experiences through improvisation of music and music therapy students. The study is arts based, employing qualitative phenomenological interviews combined with improvisations and transcribed with hand-drawn graphic scores. She is a member of the inter-model and inter-disciplinary improvisation research network Concurrent, based at the University of Edinburgh. During this inte...
2018-03-0152 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 11 BAMT AGM Roundtable October 2017Episode 11 is the recording of the panel discussion from the BAMT AGM in October 2017. The panel members were Joy Gravestock, Anna Maratos, Simon Procter, Alexia Quin and Ben Saul, bringing experience from freelance work, the third sector, and the NHS. The discussion, chaired by Luke Annesley in front of an audience of BAMT members, encompassed rates of pay, surviving in the 'age of austerity' and communicating constructively with commissioners and funders. The audience participated fully in the developing conversation.
2018-02-071h 10Music Therapy ConversationsEp 10 Stella Compton DickinsonIn episode 10 Luke talks to Dr Stella Compton Dickinson about working in forensic settings. Stella is a London-based music therapist, professional oboist, lecturer, UK Council for Psychotherapy registered Cognitive Analytic Therapist and accredited supervisor. She is author of The Clinician's Guide to Forensic Music Therapy (Jessica Kingsley Publishers) and she has her own private practice and twenty years' experience in the National Health Service as a clinician, Head of Arts Therapies and Clinical Research Lead. Her research was awarded the 2016 Ruskin Medal for the most impactful doctoral research. Stella's PhD thesis can be found here, and her website is he...
2018-01-1739 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 9 Dean Beadle Part 2In part 2 of Luke's conversation with Dean Beadle, Dean talks in some detail about his experiences of music therapy, going on to talk more generally about the importance of music in his life, both when he was growing up, and today, and ending with some helpful and inspiring advice for the UK music therapy profession.
2017-12-0646 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 8 Dean Beadle Part 1The release of this episode, November the 15th, coincides with European Music Therapy Day. The focus this year is on 'Hearing Your Voice'. Appropriately, this is the first interview in this series with a music therapy service user. Dean Beadle has toured the UK for a number of years sharing his experiences of life as an autistic person. He has also spoken in Denmark, Belgium, Guernsey and Ireland as well as undertaking four annual seminar tours of Australia and New Zealand. Through his humorous and insightful speeches Dean outlines his positive outlook on his diagnosis. You can se...
2017-11-1542 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 7 Anna MaratosLuke Annesley talks to Anna Maratos. Anna started her career as a music therapist in adult mental health in 1997, and gradually moved into increasingly senior management positions, culminating in her current post as Head of Arts Psychotherapies in Central and Northwest London NHS Foundation Trust. She talks about her changing strategy towards research, as well as instigating a move towards mentalisation based practice at CNWL. Anna delivered a keynote at the 2014 BAMT conference in Birmingham, in which she attempted to identify common ground between different theoretical perspectives towards music therapy. We discuss whether she still sees divisions within the...
2017-10-1157 minMusic Therapy ConversationsEp 6 Julian O'KellyLuke Annesley talks to Julian O'Kelly about his current research, as well as his doctoral studies at Aalborg University with people with severe head injuries. Julian has published widely on music therapy in palliative care and neuro-disability, and has now ventured in to mental health, co-ordinating a major NHS funded feasibility study on music therapy for chronic depression with East London NHS Foundation Trust. There's a chance coming up to hear Julian explore the challenges and opportunities for music therapy offered by neuroscience in his forthcoming open lecture at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability on Thursday 14 September 2017, 4.30-5.30pm...
2017-09-0645 min