Presenters

Caroline Anderson 
Bluebell Wood Children´s Hospice
UK

Caroline Anderson did her Music Therapy MA (2009) and PhD (2020) at Anglia Ruskin University. She works at Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice in South Yorkshire. She is on the Advisory Panel for Music as Therapy International, having volunteered with them in Rwanda and Sheffield. 

Agnes Burghardt-Distl  
Zentrum für Entwicklungsförderung Dresdnerstraße
Austria

Agnes Burghardt-Distl is a certified music therapist and psychologist, currently working within a multiprofessional team in a clinical outpatient center and in private practice in Vienna. She is specialized inmusic therapy with children, adolescents and families and gives lectures on the subject of autism-spectrum-disorders.

Mark Ettenberger
SONO- Centro de Musicoterapia
Colombia

Mark Ettenberger, PhD, MA, MT, is an Ethno-Music therapist trained in Austria with a PhD in Music Therapy from Anglia Ruskin University. He currently lives and works in Bogotá, Colombia, where he is the director of SONO – Centro de Musicoterapia and coordinates the music therapy services at several hospitals in the country.

Giulia Fedrigo
Albero dei Linguaggi
Italy

Giulia Fedrigo, is a music therapist and speech and language therapist working in the field of speech and language impairments and feeding disorders. She works with children and their families in her private practice combining SLT’s techniques and music in her approach.

Claire Flower 
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foudation Trust
UK

Claire is Consultant Music Therapist in Children’s Therapies at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London.  She has a particular interest in practice and research with families, and is Chair of the Scientific Committee for #emtc2022.  When not being a music therapist, she is most likely to be found walking the hills. 

Alexandra Georgaki
Mapledown School, Anglia Ruskin University
UK

Alexandra qualified as a music therapist in 2005 and she has worked as a music therapist in schools, hospital, and community settings with people with learning difficulties and with people with acquired brain injuries. Alexandra has a keen interest in family involvement. Alongside clinical work, Alexandra is a PhD candidate.

Tali Gottfried 
Herzog Academic College 
Israel

Lilly Haller
Student at KBZO (Special Education School) Weingarten
Germany

Born in 2007 with dyskinetic cerebral palsy and severely physically disabled, but no cognitive impairment. She has been a patient at ZiNK since 2015, receiving continuous family music therapy at home for the past four years. Lilly had learned reading by herself, but had completely no possibility of verbal communication until 2020 she started to express herself through assisted writing. She then joined the KBZO Weingarten special education school in January 2022. Her goals are to finish secondary school and start a career as a writer.

Eugenia Hernandez-Ruiz 
Arizona State University
USA / Mexico

Eugenia Hernandez-Ruiz is Assistant Professor in Music Therapy at Arizona State University. Her research and clinical interests include work with young autistic children and their families, parent coaching of music interventions, music therapy with survivors of domestic violence, music therapy student development, and music neuroscience.

Amy Howden 
University of Melbourne
Australia

Amy Howden is an RMT and a graduate researcher with the University of Melbourne. Her clinical and research interests are centred on authentic parent-infant experiences with music across hospital and community contexts. Her current PhD research explores the experiences of parents whose baby has had an admission to a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and who have participated in home-based music therapy and lullaby writing which is reflective of their relationship with their baby and of their parenting experiences.

Petra Kern 
Music Therapy Consulting
USA

Dr. Petra Kern is a consultant, educator, researcher, and advocate for inclusion. A former scholar at FPG’s Child Development Institute and President of WFMT, she currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of imagine. She offers support to organizations, childcare providers, and families to embed effective music-mediated interventions for children’s development and learning.

Rita Kern 
Zentrum für Entwicklungsförderung Dresdnerstraße
Austria

Rita Kern is a special education teacher as well as a psychotherapist specializing in systemic family therapy and mainly works with children, families but also with adults. She works in a multi-professional team at an outpatient clinic in Vienna. In her own private practice, she cooperates closely with various professions such as psychiatrists, teachers and other therapists.

Stine Lindahl Jacobsen 
Aalborg University
Denmark

Stine Lindahl Jacobsen, Ph.D, Associate Professor, Head of Art, Health and Technology Study Board, Head of Music Therapy Knowledge Group, Aalborg University. Co-founder of Arts, Health & Humanities Research at Aalborg University, Assessment of Parent-Child Interaction (APCI) developer, researcher & trainer. Clinical & research areas mainly include arts and health, families at risk, child protection, effect studies and assessment.

Pornpan Kaenampornpan
Khon Kaen University
Thailand

Pornpan Kaenampornpan is a lecturer at the Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Khon Kaen University – Thailand. She finished her Master Degree in music therapy from New Zealand School of Music and completed her PhD in music therapy at Anglia Ruskin University, England. Her clinical experience includes elderly, patients with dementia and children with special needs and their families.

Charlotte Miller 
CEO of Intergenerational Music Making, CIC
Clinical Early Intervention Specialist Music Therapist, UK

Charlotte Miller is the Director and Founder of IMM, Intergenerational Music Making. Charlotte trained at Trinity College of Music and at Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy Centre and continued to focus her work on musicianship, child development, aspects of psychology and pathology, early intervention and health promotion. She has worked as a Music Therapist within a variety of settings including schools, care homes and NHS hospitals across the UK in delivering a variety of Music/Health/Education and intergenerational related services. In 2021 Charlotte launched in partnership with Care England, Together with Music, a national intergenerational programme bringing all schools throughout the UK together with their local care homes through musical connectivity.

Claire Molyneux
Anglia Ruskin University
UK

Claire Molyneux, MA (Music Therapy), BA (Hons), PGCertHealSc (Clinical Supervision), NZ RMTh, HCPC (UK), FHEA. Claire is Course Leader for the MA Music Therapy and MA Dramatherapy at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU). Claire's PhD research is exploring the impact of music therapy groups for people living with dementia and their companions.  

Zeevik Elisha Neuman 
Lev-Hsharon Mental Health Center
Israel

Galit Calderon-Noy
Bar Ilan University
Israel

Galit Calderon-Noy is a certified music therapist from Bar Ilan University in Israel, a lecturer and researcher. She has worked with children and parents for nearly 20 years, through the Israeli Ministry of Education, municipal Institutions and NGOs, and in her own private clinic. She also works as the neonatal music therapist of the Laniado Hospital (Netanya). Galit developed the ‘CoPE with Music’ model for post NICU discharged dyads.

Amelia Oldfield 
Anglia Ruskin University,
UK

Amelia Oldfield worked as a clinical music therapist with children and their families for 40 years in a child development centre and a child and family psychiatric unit. She has researched, written and lectured extensively in this area. In September 2019, she officially ‘retired’ but continues music therapy supervision, research consultancy and teaching both in her role as Emeritus Professor at Anglia Ruskin University and for other Universities, organisations, or individuals in the UK and abroad. 

Eva Phan Quoc 
Music Therapy Research Centre Vienna (WZMF)
University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna
Austria

Eva Phan Quoc is a certified music therapist, senior scientist and lecturer at the Music Therapy Research Centre Vienna (WZMF) and the Department of Music Therapy at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna. Her main clinical and research areas are family settings and attachment-based music therapy in early childhood.

Andreas Sprinz 
Interdisciplinary Neuropaediatrics Centre, Kempten
(ZiNK - Zentrum für interdisziplinäre Neuropädiatrie Kempten)
Germany

Following a civil service in East Africa and medical studies from 1988-1995, Dr. med. Andreas Sprinz had (neuro-)pediatric  fellowships at the UKM Münster, St. Gallen and Unna (1995-2001].  In 2003 he was a founding member of Walstedde children's health center in Drensteinfurt. 2015 founding of ZiNK with a main focus on children with severe multiple disabilities. Member of numerous national & international scientific societies, including EPNS and AACPDM. Since 2007 he is a board member of GNP.

Brigitte Meier-Sprinz
Interdisciplinary Neuropaediatrics Centre, Kempten
(ZiNK - Zentrum für interdisziplinäre Neuropädiatrie Kempten)
Private Practise for Music Therapy & Music Pedagogy, Allgäu
Germany

Brigitte Meier-Sprinz studied music pedagogy in The Hague, specializing on the recorder and the lute. Teaching at music schools and universities from 1990 to 2015 she is the author of various educational works and finished her master’s degree in music therapy in 2018. Her clinical work includes psychiatry and neuropediatrics and resulted in research projects with seriously disabled children and adolescents. Working in private practise since 2019, certified by DMTG, APCI certificate in 2020.

Thomas Stegemann
University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna
Music Therapy Research Centre Vienna (WZMF)
Austria

Univ.-Prof. Dr. med. Dr. sc. mus. Thomas Stegemann is a child and adolescent psychiatrist, a licensed music therapist, and a family therapist. Since 2011 he has served as Professor of Music Therapy and Head of the Department of Music Therapy and the Music Therapy Research Centre Vienna (WZMF) at the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Austria. He is an internationally publishing author and lecturer. He was a member of the Local Organizing Committee and co-head of the Scientific Committee of the European Music Therapy Conference 2016 in Vienna, Austria. His main research areas are: Music therapy for children, adolescents, and families; music(therapy) and neurobiology; ethics in music therapy.

Rachel Swanick
Chroma and University of South Wales 
UK

Rachel Swanick, is a senior therapist at Chroma, where she undertakes specialist assessments, training and development and line manages therapists. She specializes in attachment and trauma work with children and families of all ages. Rachel is a trained APCI assessor and trainer, having also co-authored the APCI training manual. When working with families, Rachel works developmentally and psychologically to support them as a whole. Rachel has published several papers, reflective music therapy blogs, and is currently studying for PhD by Portfolio at the University of South Wales.

Daniel Thomas
Chroma
UK

Daniel qualified as a music therapist in 2002 and is now the Managing Director of Chroma, the UK’s leading provider of the creative arts therapies with over 500 clients last year, leading a team of 33 employees and just over 100 therapists. Daniel has worked with families and children, in prisons, mental health settings and in special and mainstream schools. He certified in the APCI assessment in 2014, and as a Neurologic Music Therapist in 2017. In 2022 Daniel is attempting to qualify for the Great Britain Triathlon team in his age group.

Grace Thompson 
University of Melbourne
Australia

Dr Grace Thompson is a music therapist and Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne. Grace has worked with children, young people and families for over 20 years within the early childhood intervention and special education sectors. Grace is co-editor of the book “Music Therapy with Families: Therapeutic Approaches and Theoretical Perspectives”.

Kirsi Tuomi 
Myllytalo / University of Jyväskyla 
Finland

Kirsi Tuomi PhD(c) is a music therapist, Theraplay therapist ® , Attachment focused family therapist in DDP and a licensed supervisor. Kirsi has worked with foster and adoptive families focusing on attachment issues over twenty years. She regularly gives lectures and supervises music therapy students. Kirsi has been presenting in numerous national and international conferences all over the world. She is finalizing her PhD studies in the University of Jyväskylä focusing on family centered music therapy and has published in numerous journals and books. She was one founder of Music Therapy with Families -network and is a member of its core group.

Alexandra Ullsten 
Centre for Clinical Research Karlstad & Örebro University 
Sweden

Alexandra Ullsten, PhD, Post doc, Music Therapist. In 2010, Alexandra pioneered the implementation of neonatal music therapy in Swedish healthcare at the Central Hospital in Karlstad. Her research interests are in neonatal pain management and family-centred music therapy. She is the principal investigator of the Swedish interdisciplinary multi-centre research project SWEpap.

Fernanda Valentin 
Federal University of Goiás
Brazil

Music Therapist. Professor of the Music Therapy Program at Federal University of Goiás. PhD in Clinical Psychology and Culture (University of Brasília). Master in Music (Federal University of Goiás).
Specialist in Couples and Family Therapy (Pontifical Catholic University of Goiás).

Rut Walius
Department of Child Protection, Municipality of Botkyrka
Sweden

Rut Wallius works as a family oriented music therapist specializing in violence in families at risk. Since 2021 she is also a PhD student at Aalborg University, doing research about the reunification process between children in care and their families.

Katrin Zohner
Zentrum für Entwicklungsförderung Dresdnerstraße 
Austria

Mag.a Katrin Zohner, B.Sc. is a former IT consultant turned occupational therapist. She currently works with children and their families in a multiprofessional team at an outpatient center in Vienna.
In her free time she is often found hiking and greatly enjoys being a first-time aunt. 

Bill Thompson (UK)

Max Thompson (UK)