Music Therapy Conversations

Dr 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 t...

Natasha 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...

In 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 acr...

After 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 Psychot...

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...

In 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 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...

In 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 rec...

In 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 p...

Pauline 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...

Philippa 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 tal...

Joy 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 exper...

Episode 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...

Ann 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 forens...

In 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 an...

Joanna 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 an...

Liz 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 think...

Professor 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 programm...

Luke 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...

Josephine 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...

Luke 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 familie...

Luke 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 s...

Episode 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...

In 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 bas...

Episode 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' an...