Interview with Tony Wigram, WFMT President 1996-1999

By Denise Grocke

Prof. Tony Wigram was appointed President of the WFMT at the World Congress in Hamburg, Germany in 1996. He served as President from July 1996 to November 1999. Below is a transcript of an interview with Tony Wigram made on November 22, 2009, as he recalls his time as President. The interviewer is Denise Grocke.

What was happening in the world of music therapy when you were President?

In 1996 when I became President, the WFMT was a formalised organisation. My work in developing the European Music Therapy Confederation was bringing in all the countries of Europe that had music therapy training and practices. The EMTC was working on a research register and the Constitution. A Pattern of congresses was emerging with a 3-year cycle of the WFMT Congress and the EMTC conference in intervening years, as well as local regional conferences in the intervening years (e.g. Nordic conferences). There was an emerging movement of research supporting evidence based practice in music therapy which began in the mid 1990s. The emerging research agenda was seen in the EMTC conference in Leuven 1998, the 1997 conference in Los Angeles and the 1998 Music Medicine in Melbourne. During my presidency the huge impact of the world-wide web and beginning of the world wide web began to change the way the WFMT worked.

What were the highlights of your Presidency?

The development of the glamorous Newsletter inspired by Gianluigi di Franco in conjunction with Ismez in Italy stands out as a highlight. These were beautiful Newsletters, and they carried current notifications of events and developments that were distributed very widely to the members organisations, who then distributed them to music therapists in that organisation. In this way the Newsletter reached hundreds of practising music therapists throughout the world.

The Commissions of the WFMT were also fleshing out the membership with regional representation, which resulted in an inclusive program at grass roots level. The Commissions grew in numbers, so that all regions of the world had a voice on each. In the time of my Presidency the WFMT made closer connections between WFMT and other music therapy organisations. At that time we had a close connection between WFMT, the EMTC, and the SAMT (South American Music Therapy Committee).

Another highlight was the planning of the World Congress in Washington, which was the biggest Congress of WFMT with 2400 participants, including over 700 people from outside USA. It was also the 1st conference of the new AMTA (the previous National Association for Music Therapy and the American Association for Music Therapy had merged to become the American Music Therapy Association in 1999). At the EMTC congress in 1998 there were discussions about the models of MT, and the WFMT Congress in Washington developed the model as a major theme of the Congress – I think it was Ken Bruscia’s initiative. Initially there were 3, but this expanded to 5 models: Benenzon, Mary Priestly, Helen Bonny, Nordoff-Robbins and behavioural music therapy. I remember being disappointed that Juliette Alvin’s music therapy model wasn’t represented, as I had trained with her.

What was the lasting legacy of your Presidency?

Greater communication, stronger networks, expanded commissions, greater connections through visiting countries in Europe, USA and Australia. I served the WFMT since 1983, when the French first drew up the concept of the world organisation. I felt myself as a red thread running through the concept. I began with the process in July 1983 – I proposed who should serve on the first committee. I remember asking, “Why don’t we make a committee of those who are interested in this?” The first committee comprised Ruth Bright (Australia), Benenzon (South America), and Molle Breightfied (Yugoslavia), Amelia Oldfield (UK). This was the group that started the first work towards a World Federation of Music Therapy, and took their discussions to Rio de Janeiro. The first real congress of WFMT was in 1990 in Rio de Janeiro. Cecila Conde and Ria Rejane Barcellos organised the Rio Congress.