In a Broader Way

By Brynjulf Stige and Cheryl Dileo

In the Editorial for the previous issue of this journal, we informed readers about the development of Voices as a research journal. This is an expansion of our agenda, not a change of focus. Voices is still an inclusive forum for communication and we invite authors to continue to develop situated texts that invite dialogue and critical reflection in a range of genres. We are moving forward in a broader way, not shifting direction.

Procedures have been established for peer-reviews and we have started to receive the first research articles for review. This is an exciting development, and we are proud in this issue to be able to present two of the articles that have been reviewed so far. The two articles relate to a prominent issue in contemporary music therapy: how can music be a health resource for the elderly? Through the use of ethnography and participant observation, Mariko Hara has studied how musicking can expand the care network for people with dementia and their caregivers. Barbara Reuer and associates have examined the feasibility of conducting a music therapy study of the effects of music interventions with hospice patients with dementia and agitation. Both studies invite further research and reflection on collaborative and contextualized music initiatives in the service of health, care, and wellbeing. The story presented by Maya Benattar – "I'm Here With You" – also focuses on music therapy with people who have dementia. Benattar writes:

I've learned a lot about the power of connecting on a simple, yet profound level. When I was a new therapist I was eager to always "do" and found it hard to just "be". This is a story about Elizabeth, a nursing home resident and one of my first individual clients. My experiences of working with Elizabeth helped me learn how to be fully present, connect in a space of deep intimacy, and develop my personal identity as a therapist.

This story and Benattar's personal reflections supplement the research studies of this issue, and remind us about the value of the many different text genres that we include in our journal. The inclusion of research articles does not suggest that stories, reports, perspectives on practices, essays or other genres are less important than they used to be, perhaps even the contrary. There are many roads to knowledge and many forms of knowledge and thus also a need for many genres of writing. We therefore encourage our readers and authors to continue to submit texts using a wide range of styles and genres.

In our interview series, Michael Rohrbacher presents an interview with Dr. Donald E. Michel, an influential figure in American music therapy who passed away on December 19, 2010. The interview was conducted in June, 2009, and is presented as a retrospective on the life of Michel, with themes such as music, clinical practice, service, teaching, and music & medicine.

In the series on world congresses in music therapy, Barbara Wheeler and associates have come to the VIII World Congress of Music Therapy in Hamburg in 1996. As always in this series, this contribution is rich in personal and professional reflections on the development of the discipline. In the introduction to the interview series on the Hamburg World Congress, Barbara Wheeler pays respect to Tony Wigram who recently passed away after a difficult illness:

I am reminded by his presence in both the interview as a past WFMT president and in so many of the pictures—always in a fun-loving and supportive role—of the enormous impact of Tony's vision, enthusiasm, and spirit on music therapy worldwide. His influence will be felt for a long time, if not forever, as music therapy continues to develop around the world.

We have all felt his impact, and in the next issue of Voices, we will pay tribute to Tony Wigram and his colossal contribution to the field.