Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy − Research

Project 1

Major Project 1. International Research Collaboration (2003-7)
Sub-Project 1A: London-based sub-project of the International Music Therapy Collaborative Research Project (Norway, Israel, South Africa, England) (2003-7)
Sub-Project 1B: South Africa-based sub-project of the International Music Therapy Collaborative Research Project (Norway, Israel, South Africa, England) (2003-7)

Major Project 1. International Research Collaboration (2003-7)

Principal Investigator: Prof Brynjulf Stige, University of Bergen

Research Collaborators: Norway (Prof Brynjuld Stige, Dept of Music Therapy, University of Bergen), Israel (Dr Cochavit Elefant), South Africa (Prof Mercedes Pavlicevic, Dept of Music Therapy, University of Pretoria, UK (Dr Gary Ansdell, Nordoff Robbins).

Project Title: Music and Health in Late Modernity: Resource-oriented Music Therapy and Community Music Therapy [Research Council of Norway Project 158700/530]

The Norwegian Research Council awarded the collaboration substantial funding for a four-year project. This unique support for a European research project in music therapy reflects the importance with which current developments in the discipline are seen at government level.

The large-scale research collaboration between the four music therapist researchers working in four national contexts represents the first systematic international research work on Community Music Therapy through an integrated ethnographic approach. Regular working seminars on the data generated by each national sub-project has developed links between the projects, leading to innovative theory-building which is being disseminated through international publications and presentations.

Each participant of the collaboration has ‘tracked’ two Community Music Therapy projects for up to two years, leading to a portfolio of projects from the UK, South Africa, Norway and Israel. The projects are selected to represent a cross-section of client groups, social and cultural contexts. The project has enabled a intellectually rich close collaboration between four music therapy research communities, and has resulted in many educational and research outcomes to date:

Formal Meetings of the research collaboration:

May 2004 – Sandane, Norway – with one-day public presentation of ongoing research to music therapists, students & other professionals
November 2004 – London at the Nordoff-Robbins Centre – linked with an Open Seminar for UK music therapy researchers on 24 November 2004
April 2005 – Sandane, Norway – with one-day public presentation of ongoing research to music therapists, students & other professionals
October 2005 – University of Pretoria, (South Africa). Linked with an Open Seminar for South African music therapists and students.
April 2006 – working meeting of the group in Brandal, Norway
November 2006 – University of Bergen, Norway – Linked with an Open Seminar for South African music therapists and students.
May 2007 – working meeting in Brandal, Norway

This collaboration is directly linked to the following academic activity from Dr Ansdell & Prof Pavlicevic:

Presentations (by Gary Ansdell & Mercedes Pavlicevic originating from this project)

November 2004: Presentation ‘Musical Minds – A Community Music Therapy Project’ at the Day Seminar of the International Research Collaboration at the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Centre, London.
February 2005: Aspects of Partial Project 2 presented at: (i) Dept of Music Therapy, New York University (ii) Music Therapy Dept, The Center for Discovery, Harris, NY.
April 2005: ‘Community Music Therapy – Aspects & Prospects’ at Dept of Music Therapy, Universitat der Kunste, Berlin.
April 2005: ‘From Communication to Collaboration via Performance’ at the Day Seminar of the International Research Collaboration at Sogn al Fjordane College, Sandane, Norway.
June 2005: ‘Community Music Therapy and the Social Spectrum’ at Dept of Sociology, University of Exeter
July 2005: Convening (with Bryjulf Stige & Mercedes Pavlicevic) a symposium ‘Community Music Therapy: Aspects & Prospects’ at the World Congress of Music Therapy, Brisbane, Australia
July 2005: WorkSongs, PlaySongs: communication, collaboration, culture and community. Keynote Address at Music Therapy World Congress. Brisbane, Australia
May 2006: presentation on Community Music Therapy to South Bank Sinfonia, London
May 2006: presentation on Community Music Therapy to MSc training programme in music therapy, Queen Margaret University, College, Edinburgh
June 2006: presentation at International Nordoff-Robbins Symposium, Germany: “Navigating Collaborative Musicing: Perspectives from Community Music Therapy”
June 2006: presentation on Community Music Therapy to MA training programme in music therapy, Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London

Publications

Pavlicevic, M. & Ansdell, G. (submitted chapter), ‘Between Communicative Musicality & Collaborative Musicing’, in: C. Trevarthen & S. Malloch (eds) Communicative Musicality (Oxford University Press, forthcoming).

Ansdell, G. (2005) ‘Being Who You Aren’t; Doing What You Can’t: Community Music Therapy & The Paradoxes of Performance’. To VOICES: A World Forum for Music Therapy [online], Vol.5, no.3.

Ansdell, G (2005) ‘Against polarizing the individual and the social: from kernel to matrix’. VOICES [online], Moderated Discussions, January 2006.

Ansdell G (2006) ‘Community Music Therapy: Ein Neuer Alter Gedanke’. Musiktherapeutischer Umschau, Heft 2006, 27, 3.

Pavlicevic, M. (2006) Worksongs, playsongs: Communication, collaboration, culture and community. In Australian Journal of Music Therapy.

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Sub-Project 1A: topLondon-based sub-project of the International Music Therapy Collaborative Research Project (Norway, Israel, South Africa, England) (2003-7)

Title: An International Comparative Study of Community Music Therapy projects [UK sub-project]

Principal researcher: Dr Gary Ansdell

Research Team: Prof Brynjulf Stige, Dr Gary Ansdell, Dr Cochavit Elefant, Prof Mercedes Pavlicevic

Project Outline: This London-based tracked two projects in the UK: Sarah Wilson’s Musical Minds group in the East End of London (for people with enduing mental health problems), and Stuart Wood’s Scrap Metal project in Buckinghamshire (for people with brain injury).

Presentations:

Presentation at the Research Day Open Seminar at the Nordoff Robbins London Centre, November 2004
Ansdell, G. & Simon Procter (2005) – ‘The Social Spectrum of Music Therapy: Dyad, Group, Performance’. Academic Seminar, Dept of Sociology, University of Exeter.
Ansdell, G. (2005) ‘Community as Belonging; Belonging as Communication. Community Music Therapy and “communicative belonging”’. International Music Therapy Research Collaboration, Pretoria.
Ansdell, G (2006) “Navigating Collaborative Musicing”. Nordoff Robbins International Symposium, Germany.
Ansdell, G. (2006) ‘Life Performances: Researching the role and processes of performance in Community Music Therapy’. International Research Symposium, Bergen.
Ansdell, G. and Pavlicevic (2007) M. Community Music Therapy as Cultural Work: Performance and Collaborative Musicing. Keynote Paper, Arts Therapies Conference on Culture and Identity, David Yellin College, Jerusalem, Israel.

Publications:

G. Ansdell (2005) ‘Being who you aren’t: Doing what you can’t: Community Music Therapy and the Paradoxes of Performance. Voices [international online journal], November 2005.

A volume of research essays is being written as a major product from this collaboration, entitled Where Music Helps: Community Music Therapy in Action & Reflection (Ed B.Stige). From the UK sub-project the following research essays have been prepared for publication:

Ansdell, G. ‘Where Performing Helps: An Exploration into Performance Practices in Community Music Therapy’

Ansdell, G. ‘Belonging through Musicing: Cultivating communities of musical practice through Community Music Therapy’

Other Outcomes:

Many aspects of this project have informed the planning of the new training programme for Nordoff Robbins, the MA in Music Therapy (Community Music Therapy / Nordoff-Robbins).

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Sub-Project 1B: topSouth Africa-based sub-project of the International Music Therapy Collaborative Research Project (Norway, Israel, South Africa, England) (2003-7)

Title: An International Comparative Study of Community Music Therapy projects [South Africa sub-project]

Principal researcher: Prof Mercedes Pavlicevic

Research Team: Prof Brynjulf Stige, Dr Gary Ansdell, Dr Cochavit Elefant, Prof Mercedes Pavlicevic

Project Outline: This South African sub-project tracked two South African Community Music Therapy sites: The work of the Music Therapy Community Clinic in Cape Town, which works in the poorly resourced Cape Flats, notorious for gangs, drug syndicates and social violence; and Carol Lotter’s work at Youth Development Outreach, in Eersterust, East of Pretoria, with youth considered at risk with the law.
Presentations:

Pavlicevic (2007) M. Just Don’t Do It: Shifting identities in a multi-cultural world Paper, Arts Therapies Conference on Culture and Identity, David Yellin College, Jerusalem, Israel.
Pavlicevic,M. (2007) Inter-subjectivity and the social dimension: making sense of community music therapy. Universidad Ramon Lull, Barcelona, Music Therapy Day Seminar.
Pavlicevic, M. (2007) Incomplete Sentences : A Community Music Therapy research project. Universidad Ramon Lull, Barcelona, Music Therapy Day Seminar.

Publications:

Pavlicevic, M. (2006) Worksongs, playsongs: Communication, collaboration, culture and community. In Australian Journal of Music Therapy.

A volume of research essays is being written as a major product from this collaboration, entitled Where Music Helps: Community Music Therapy in Action & Reflection (Ed B.Stige). From the SA sub-project the following research essays have been prepared for publication:

Pavlicevic, M. Let the Music Talk: Collaborative Musicing as micro-social action.

Pavlicevic, M. ‘No Stealing, No Fighting’: Community Music Therapy and Social Activism.

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