Interview with Paxti del Campo San Vicente
By Barbara L. Wheeler
How did it come about that the World Congress was held in your part of Spain?
In an assembly held during the VI World Congress of Music Therapy, in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), from the 15th to the 20th of July 1990, the city of VitoriaGasteiz was presented by “the School for Music Therapy and Group Techniques” (Today Instituto Música Arte y Proceso (www.agruparte.com) as a candidate for hosting the VII World Congress. This candidacy was supported at the time of presentation by the city's mayor, Mr. José Angel Cuerda; the Director of the Institute for Educational Science, Mr. Jesus Arzamendi; and the Director of the Basque Government's Social Welfare Department, Mr. José Antonio Perez de Arróspide.
During this assembly, the 21 countries agreed unanimously to nominate Patxi del Campo San Vicente (Head of the Instituto Música Arte y Proceso) and the city of Vitoria-Gasteiz as organizer and host, respectively, of the VII World Congress.
During recent years music therapy has seen a great deal of both academic and scientific development in different countries. The United States, Germany, England, etc., are all clear examples of places where music therapy has become quite habitual within rehabilitation or pedagogical process of different teams of professional people.
The fact that the VII World Congress of Music Therapy was held in Vitoria-Gasteiz allowed Euskadi to get a little nearer to the scientific and professional reality of a subject, which within Spain has been concentrated in the developments made over 8 years in Vitoria-Gasteiz.
Since 1987 Vitoria-Gasteiz had been the venue of an annual Summer School as well as a European Seminar of Music Therapy. (This year, 2011, will be the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Summer School.) It was precisely in the framework of the “European Seminar of Music Therapy” in 1989 – in which several European countries were involved - when the “European Committee of Music Therapy” was born. Because of that, the candidature (editor’s note: candidacy) of Vitoria-Gasteiz was supported by music therapists from different countries of Europe, with the" Institute Music, Art and Process" as the organizing of the event. The VII World Congress was planned to be both an open door and a meeting place for those people taking part in the Congress, so that they can go back at the end of the Congress to their respective countries with an idea which has been created from personal contacts, the taking part in different scientific events and cultural visits to both the city and the country which received them.
Who besides you was involved in the organization and who had what role? Was a Spanish music therapy organization involved in the planning?
Just to bear it in mind, it might be said that that Conference was at the same time the “I Conference of the World Federation of Music Therapy.” It was supported by public institutions from both state and regional, as well as the “European Committee of Music Therapy.” In this way, the “VII World Conference of Music Therapy” was the first edition of the World Conference that had an International Scientific Committee. Apart from this, that Conference had the recognition of “Health Event of Interest” by the “Health Department of the Basque Country Government.” On the other hand, the “VII World Conference of Music Therapy” had the support of Her Majesty the Queen of Spain, and the collaboration of the following public state institutions: Education Department; Health Department; and Social Services Department. In addition to this, the Conference had also the collaboration of the “National Association Committee for the Art and Creativity for people with disabilities” (in Spanish ACEAC Asociación Comité Español para el Arte y la Creatividad de las Personas con Discapacidad).
How was the congress organized? Were there plenary sessions and also smaller sessions? What social activities were planned? How many people attended and from how many countries?
- Honorary President: Her Majesty the Queen of Spain
- Chairmanship: Mrs. Ruth Bright, President of the WFMT
- Coordinator: Mr. Patxi del Campo San Vicente, Head of the Instituto Música Arte y Proceso and Head of “Association for the Study and Research of the Music, Therapy and Communication – Music Therapy”
- Scientific Coordinator: Mr. Tony Wigram, President of the “British Society for Music Therapy”
- Dates: From 19th to the 23th, July 1993
- Venue: European Congress Palace, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country, Spain
The scientific areas of the VII World Congress on Music Therapy were drawn up in an attempt to include the needs and interests of music therapy professionals from different countries. The idea was to create a forum for scientific exchanges of an international level.
The VII World Congress was structured in four areas in the following way:
- Clinical music therapy
- Music therapy in people with:
- physical disabilities
- mental disabilities
- sensory disabilities
- Music therapy and mental health
- Music therapy and neurotic problems
- Music therapy and psychotic problems
- Music therapy and addictions
- Music therapy and neurological deterioration
- Music therapy in the social framework/Music therapy in general medicine
- Music therapy and terminal illnesses
- Music therapy and birth
- Music therapy and general operations
- Music therapy in people with:
- Music and Experimental Research
- Psychology and music
- Neurophysiological variables and research into music therapy
- The development of the function of music
- Acoustics and sound perception
- Music and Music Therapy
- Technical-musical aspects
- Sound research and creation.
- Musical therapeutical pedagogy
- Technical materials and innovations
- Computer software
- Culture, music and music therapy
- Musical philosophy and sociology
- Folklore and music therapy
- The aesthetics of sound perception
- Contemporary creation, musical composition, aesthetics and sensitivity
- Music and musical development:
- Musical creativity and personal development
- Using music for a complete education
- Technical-musical aspects
- The training and role of the music therapist
- Schools: Methodology, programming, objectives
- Interdisciplinary training designs
- The role of the music therapist in institutions
- A professional profile of the music therapist
- Ethical codes of the music therapist
Different forms of participation were used to make it more able for participants to obtain information and contrast opinions. Thus, the Congress was structured around the following:
- Conferences: We included in the programme a series of programmed conferences which can be heard by all the Congress participants (with no other parallel activity programmed at the same time). These were given by internationally renowned experts in the field.
- Workshops: These used a practical approach, in an attempt to jointly present and practice specific techniques.
- Invited papers: Half hour spots in which different professionals dealt with specific subjects
- Presented papers: There also existed the opportunity of presenting very brief (15 minutes) monographic subjects. All of those which complied with Congress regulations could be presented.
- Round tables: These were aimed at providing a forum for debate based on experience and research in different work areas. As well as those round tables which the Congress organizers suggest, any suggested by professionals, institutions and organisms could also be added.
- Work groups: The organization facilitated work sessions or meetings for all those Congress participants who wanted to share experiences, draw conclusions, make suggestions, etc.
- Poster sessions: This was a time when a more individual relationship between speakers and congress participants could be struck, with the exchange of spoken or written information or by using video screens.
Pre-Conference
Date: July, Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th
Lectures
- Kenneth Bruscia
Imagery in music psychotherapy: from improvisation to guided listening - Edith Lecourt
Socio-historical and theoretical points of view and their clinical applications - Jayne M. Standley
An evaluative summary of research using music in medical treatment: the documentation of clinical applications of music in medicine - Joseph Moreno
The music therapist and world traditions of music and healing
Seminars
- Isabel Frohne-Hagemann
Title: The musical construction of reality in music therapy - Rhami Oruç Guvenç
Title: Oriental music therapy - Silvia Nakkach
Title: Transpersonal singing. The healing and freeing energy of the voice
Data of interest
- Number of speakers: 285 proposals.
- Members of the Congress: 680 people attended to that event.
- Arriving from: Germany, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Cyprus, Colombia, Cuba, Denmark, Eslovenia, Spain, U.S.A., Estonia, Finland, France, Great Britain, Greece, Holland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Norway, Pakistan, Perú, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Rumanía, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Venezuela
Other events held during the Conference
- Opening Concert by Gianluigi di Franco
- Concert for voice and cello: Silvia Nakkach & Michael Knapp
- Concert by Luis Paniagua
- International Exhibition of Plastic Arts approved and subsidized by EUCREA as a Spanish Project in 1992 "EUROPA ARTS 92."
What were some of the highlights for you - in terms of the formal congress content and personally?
The VII Congress worked along the lines of previous Conferences, where it was considered vital that all those professionals who are directly or indirectly involved in music therapy and the rehabilitating processes of communication should take part. The Congress was designed based on the general objective of music therapy and multiprofessional groups.
We had the opinion that a World Congress should be where research and experiences were exchanged, which can then be used within therapeutic techniques. It should also be a place where new resources were presented. The aims of the VII World Congress of Music Therapy were the following:
- To promote scientific research, experimental development and the theory of music therapy.
- To make known different ways music therapy can take part in an interdisciplinary and multiprofessional context.
- To enable different professionals and associations related to music therapy to exchange research and ideas and contrast experiences.
- To promote discussion about the training of music therapists in European countries and in comparison with other countries around the world.
- What was the relationship of the congress to the World Federation of Music Therapy, which by that time was well-established?
From my personal point of view, one of the most important things of the conference was the fact that several countries collaborated together to go on with it (not only the host country). An example was the international scientific and organizers committees.
Design, theme and subject, members of the different committee, etc. were agreed together by the Organization of the Conference and the WFMT through the meetings held. With the goal to establish a way of communication between the community of music therapist of Spain and the international community, a National Committee for the Music Therapy was created and almost the whole associations for the Music Therapy of Spain were presented on that Committee.
Reference
Pais Vasco. VII World Congress of Music Therapy, Conference Program
