This is the second instalment of Anita Connell's recorded interviews from the Australian Music Therapy Conference, following on from episode 104.

Dr Grace Thompson is a registered music therapist and Associate Professor in Music Therapy at the University of Melbourne. Grace has lived experience of disability, and has worked with disabled children, young people and their families for over 20 years within the early childhood and special education sectors. As part of her PhD research, Grace developed and evaluated a collaborative approach to music therapy practice with families guided by ecological theories and family-centred philosophy. Her research continues to explore the ways music therapists can foster relationships and social connection through participating in engaging and accessible music making. Grace is past president of the Australian Music Therapy Association, author of "Goal Processes in Music Therapy Practice", and co-editor of the book "Music Therapy with Families: Therapeutic Approaches and Theoretical Perspectives". She is currently Editor of the Nordic Journal of Music Therapy. The song "Make Your Own Kind of Music" (performed by Cass Elliot, written by Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil) captures the sentiment of Grace's music therapy practice and research.

Brodie Henry (she/they) is a d/Deaf Registered Music Therapist working in Special Education for many years. She embeds Key Word Sign in her clinical practice and is often called on for her skills in Auslan to support students. Brodie embeds advocacy and principles of disability justice in her daily work to ensure children are appropriately supported in their emotional, developmental, and therapeutic needs in order to thrive.

Zoë Kalenderidis (she/her) is a disabled and Hard of Hearing Registered Music Therapist based in Narrm/Melbourne. Her work centres on promoting wellbeing and equitable access to music-making. She holds a Bachelor of Contemporary Music (Voice) from Southern Cross University and a Master of Music Therapy from the University of Melbourne. Since the inception of the Melbourne Youth Orchestra's Adaptive Music Bridging Program, Zoë has served as musical director of the Foundation Groups, supporting disabled children who experience significant barriers to music education. The program fosters accessible ensemble playing using adaptive or standard instruments tailored to each child's interests and needs. Zoë is interested in d/Deaf and disabled aesthetics in music, exploring how musical experiences and creative expression are shaped by diverse modes of listening, embodiment, and sensory perception. She seeks to challenge conventional notions of music-making while celebrating and valuing the artistry of disabled musicians. She is also a published author and co-author, with research that amplifies the visibility and contributions of disabled musicians and Registered Music Therapists.

Rob Devlin is a Registered Music Therapist with over 18 years' experience and is also a Director of Sound Expression. He was previously Senior Music Therapist and Head of Business Development for Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Australia. He completed his Masters in Creative Music Therapy through Western Sydney University. He values the use of interactive, improvisational music therapy, as embodied by the Nordoff-Robbins philosophy and approach to clinical music therapy.

Rob has extensive experience as a music therapist with many clinical populations, including children and adults with a wide range of disabilities, neuro-divergent children, adolescents and adults with mental health diagnoses, rehabilitation work with clients who have had strokes, acquired brain injuries and spinal cord injuries. He also has extensive experience providing music therapy in aged care settings including clients with dementia. Before coming to music therapy, Rob had many years' experience in the corporate world in various senior sales and marketing roles. He left that world behind to focus on his passion, which is using music to help others live a more fulfilled and rewarding life.

Tamar Hadar, PhD, is co-head of the Music Therapy Program at the School of Creative Arts Therapies, University of Haifa, where she leads the program together with Dr. Maayan Salomon-Gimmon. She completed her M.A. and PhD in Music Therapy at Bar-Ilan University. Her doctoral research - supervised by Prof. Dorit Amir - compared clinical improvisation and jazz improvisation. Tamar's first postdoctoral fellowship was at NYU under the mentorship of Prof. Kenneth Aigen, where her work centered on analyzing Nordoff and Robbins's clinical improvisations and developing a theory of time around them. Her second postdoctoral fellowship, under Dr. Tal-Chen Rabinowitch, focused on applying a sociological theory, tight-loose (T-L) in music therapy, alongside a musicological, multicultural perspective.

Tamar is a music therapist, supervisor, and lecturer, working with children and families in an early intervention unit and in private practice. She specializes in child - parent interventions, particularly in the context of trauma and displacement. Her research focuses on clinical improvisation (theory and assessment), music therapy in trauma & displacement, child-parent music therapy, and culturally sensitive music therapy. She also originated a time-model for analyzing clinical improvisations.

References

Benjamin, J. (2004). Beyond doer and done to: Recognition and the intersubjective third. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 73(1), 5-46.

Hadar, T. (2025). Moments of thirdness in music therapy: A qualitative meta-analysis embedded in Jessica Benjamin's intersubjectivity. Approaches: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Music Therapy, 17(3).

Hadar, T., & Aigen, K. (2025). A Theory of Time in Music Therapy: A Model for Analyzing Nordoff–Robbins Clinical Improvisation. Journal of Music Therapy, 62(2), thaf014.

Hadar, T., & Rabinowitch, T. C. (2025). Tight or Loose? Reframing Musical Relationships Between Client and Therapist in Music Therapy. Music Therapy Perspectives, 43(2), miaf018.

Hadar, T. (2024). Parenting in the Face of Trauma: Music Therapy to Support Parent–Child Dyads Affected by War and Displacement. Children, 11(10), 1269.

Roginsky, E., Hadar, T., Midhat-Najami, N., Saada, B., Khoury, R., & Hebi, M. (2025). Breathing war, dreaming connection: Dialogue as an ethical foundation for collaborative work of Palestinian and Jewish music therapists in Israel. Approaches: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Music Therapy, 17(1).

Hadar, T., & Amir, D. (2018). Discovering the flute's voice: On the relation of flutist music therapists to their primary instrument. Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 27(5), 381-398.

Episode 105 is another interview from Crystal Luk-Worrall. In this episode, Crystal talks to music therapist Hugh Anderson.

Hugh is a freelance Music Therapist and currently runs his own private practice, Thame Music Therapy, in South Oxfordshire. He trained at The Guildhall from 2014-2016 and has had a wide range of experiences working in mainstream and specialist schools and nurseries, as well as in different charity and community settings. The latter included eight years at the charity Resources for Autism in north London, where he was Head of Therapies from 2020-2023. Before training as a Music Therapist, Hugh worked for the charity Kids Company for six years, was a peripatetic piano teacher and was a songwriter and performer within a number of different bands.

Two years ago, Hugh discovered a different kind of improvisation in the form of improvised theatre and comedy, aka Improv. He is exploring the overlaps between Improv and Music Therapy and is currently collaborating with Dramatherapist Tim Goldman to set up an adult community group which combines music, movement, drama and free play to support mental health and group connection.

Hugh is a mentor on the BAMT NQMT mentoring scheme, a clinical supervisor and an active member of the BAMT Freelance and BAMT Oxfordshire network groups.

Improv Blog: https://thamemusictherapy.co.uk/improv-theatre-freeze-tag-discovery-and-saying-yes/

Working with parents in MT Blog: https://thamemusictherapy.co.uk/being-a-parent-of-a-child-in-music-therapy/