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Jeanette Milford
Regional Liaison for Australia/New Zealand
Contact: australianewzealand@wfmt.info[/caption]
Hi to all from Down Under, where it is the middle of summer with temperatures reaching 46 degrees Celsius and bushfires raging in many states! Christmas is the time for summer holidays, swimming at the beach, barbecues and catching up with friends and family.
Megan Glass tells me that 2012 ended on a positive note for NZ music therapists with their biennial music therapy conference attracting increased numbers of overseas presenters and delegates. "Music and the Brain -Creating Pathways" was very well received with Dr Wendy Magee as keynote speaker.
In September 2012 the Australian Music Therapy Association also enjoyed an excellent national conference, with inspiring keynote presentations by Drs Annie Heiderscheit and Wendy Magee in Brisbane. Professor Graham Martin, a world- renowned authority on the prevention of youth suicide, also gave uplifting presentations on the key constructs that drive wellness and recovery – resilience, self-efficacy, connectedness and social support.
As WFMT Regional Liaison I have been looking for ways to strengthen professional ties between our two countries, and have gained agreement from both music therapy associations for reciprocal rights for music therapists to be eligible to attend Professional Development Seminars held alongside the national conferences in both countries. Australians were welcomed in NZ in 2012 and we hope to return the favor and further develop such opportunities and interactions this year.
Prof. Denise Grocke is well known internationally and is retiring after 33 exceptional years at the University of Melbourne, where she developed the Master's coursework music therapy degree. Denise also developed research higher degree programs, with 11 RMTs completing PhDs and 36 research Master's degrees. The course has been strengthened by research grants and collaborations with Universities internationally, particularly the Consortium of Nine Research Universities, established in 2007.
In a fittingly grand and moving celebration of Denise’s retirement, the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music hosted a free 2-day public conference with presentations led by five leading international speakers: Professor Cheryl Dileo (USA), Professor Gro Trondalen (Norway), Professor Inge Pedersen (Denmark), Professor Cathy McKinney (USA) and Professor Helen Odell-Miller (UK). Fortunately, Denise is not retiring from the workforce, nor from music therapy, but instead giving more time to GIM in Australia.
Congratulations also go to Dr. Katrina McFerran who has been promoted to Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne and will assume the head of music therapy position. Associate Professor Felicity Baker is joining the staff in Melbourne, bringing her prestigious Future Fellowship from the Australian Research Council (ARC, 2011-2015)
In other good news, congratulations went to Ruth Bright who was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from Australian Music Therapy Association and a Dublin Prize by the Academic Board of the University of Melbourne. Also to Dr Emma O’Brien who was voted no 28 in 100 “most passionate, powerful and provocative personalities of 2012” by leading Australian newspaper ‘The Age’. Emma is music therapist at Royal Melbourne Hospital and has written and recorded at least 450 songs and an opera with cancer patients.
We were shocked and saddened to hear of the sudden passing of Robin Howat, widely respected as an inspirational leader of Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Australia. He is very much missed by everyone who knew him.
I am also sorry to report that increasing financial pressures within the tertiary sector have led to the closure of the University of Technology Sydney music therapy course. UTS trained more than 180 graduates and made significant contributions to the development of music therapy in Australia. There are also plans to close the University of Queensland music therapy Masters course, which will leave only two music therapy courses in Australia. Fortunately the blended online course at Melbourne University is enabling students to study from outside Melbourne.
Please note that all are welcome to the 39th AMTA National Conference which will take place on September 14th and 15th 2013 in Melbourne under the theme “Music and Health: Evidence and Evolution”. Keynote speaker Professor Raymond MacDonald from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, is an editor of the journal “Psychology of Music” and recently published “Music, Health and Well-being”.
Jeanette Milford
Australia/New Zealand Regional Liaison
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