Tony Wigram's Role in the European Music Therapy Confederation (EMTC)

By Monika Nöcker-Ribaupierre & Gro Trondalen

Professor Dr. Tony Wigram was the heart of and a very important impetus for the development of music therapy in Europe as well as the creation of the European Music Therapy Committee (EMTC). From the initial traces of the EMTC, he was a core figure, and the first President of the EMTC, a position he held until 1998.

The EMTC was formed in July 1989 through the efforts of Tony Wigram (United Kingdom/Denmark), Gianluigi de Franco (Italy), Helen Odell-Miller (United Kingdom) and Patxi del Campo (Spain). Its main aim was to create a network of music therapists that would link the different countries of Europe. This network also served as a means for exchanging and discussing information related to academic training, research and clinical practice in music therapy and developing professional identity in Music Therapy.

During its first years, the EMTC grew rapidly. As then, today's European Music Therapy Confederation's members are professional music therapy associations working actively to promote the development of professional practice in Europe, and to foster exchange and collaboration among its member countries. Since its beginning, one of the goals has been to promote regular meetings and to organize European conferences every three years. These conferences have been focused on clinical, professional and research topics and have been held in Cambridge, UK (1989), Vittoria-Gasteiz, Spain (1992); Aalborg, Denmark (1995); Leuven, Belgium (1998); Naples, Italy (2001); Jyväskyla, Finland (2004); Eindhoven, Netherlands (2007) and Cadiz, Spain (2010). The next conference will be held in Oslo/Norway in 2013.

The EMTC has also created smaller working groups focused on specific topics, such as supervision, ethics, research, and the development of a European registration procedure.

In May 2004, the EMTC achieved official assembly status at the European Union (EU) level in Brussels, as a non-profit, international, professional organization according to Belgian Law. This new EMTC has a Constitution, Bylaws and a Code of Ethics. It is managed by an administrative infrastructure consisting of a Core Board (President and 2 Vice-Presidents: General Secretary and Treasurer), and a Board (3 regional country coordinators). Each member country has a single representative; this representative is elected by the national EMTC member associations within each country. The country representative is responsible to his national associations. Today, membership includes music therapy associations from all 25 EU countries, from EU candidate countries in Eastern and Central Europe and also from countries outside EU with special national agreements with the EU.

While the theoretical bases, methods and concepts of music therapy training are different within each country, the overall purpose of the EMTC is still to nurture mutual respect, understanding and exchange. Consistency of a high professional level of practice is vital, in a way that maintains an individuality of approach, philosophy and specialization. This is essential for the further development of the profession around the world. Moreover, a priority of the EMTC has been to create standards, including an ethical code for music therapists, standards for training courses, supervision and self-experience, and requirements for a European Music Therapy Register.

At this moment there are 60 official training courses throughout Europe on BA and MA levels, as this accredited standard is required by the EC, following the Bologna Treaty. An ongoing priority is the establishment of the European Music Therapy Register (EMTR), a development that is linked to the standards of university-level qualifications. The EMTR will ultimately support the various national efforts towards achieving official government recognition of music therapy.

Tony Wigram was the heart of and a key figure in the development of music therapy in Europe. As the EMTC's first coordinator and first president, his contribution to the creation and development of EMTC has been tremendous. He organized and structured all the meetings until his WFMT presidency began in 1996; including the election of the new president in 1998 at the Leuven-conference. Tony wrote all the organizing emails in between and the minutes from the meetings. In 1994, for the pre-conference in Capri, he formulated EMTC's first working paper which contained the first constitution: the purpose of the new confederation, the responsibilities for membership and the tasks of the three regional coordinators. Tony also formulated the goals for the sub-committes on education and training, on research and on registration and ethics, and he stated that "the official language of the EMTC will be English." With this paper, Tony Wigram set the first boundaries and goals for the EMTC, i.e., the basis for the development of the EMTC throughout Europe. After being elected the president of the WFMT, Tony always supported the President who followed him (Gianluigi di Franco and Jos De Backer) and strengthened their position. Tony was indeed a trailblazer and influential leader – his ability to communicate and persuade was exceptional. Slowly he decreased his tremendous efforts for EMTC in favour of his new task at Aalborg University – establishment of a European and worldwide platform for a higher academic level of training: the PhD in Music Therapy.

For his work, the EMTC honored Tony Wigram in 2004 with the first EMTC Award. He has inspired students and professionals all over the world through his contribution. His energy, great knowledge and enthusiastic ways of working within the EMTC were highly esteemed and invaluable.

Tony Wigram had a wonderful sensibility and wisdom that helped people to come forward and be heard. At the same time, he was a brilliant musician, and his humor was legendary.

We are deeply thankful for Tony's immense contribution to music therapy in Europe. He is and will continue to be remembered with deep respect and love. We will miss him.