[Original Voices: World Congresses of Music Therapy]

Secrets of the 2005 World Music Therapy Congress in Brisbane, Australia: An interview with Helen Shoemark, a member of the organisation committee.

By Krzysztof Stachyra

Krzysztof Stachyra: How did it come about that the World Congress was held in Queensland, Australia?

Helen Shoemark: The Queensland Tourism Board approached the Australian Music Therapy Association (AMTA) to market Queensland as a place that is very suitable to host an international conference. They are pro-active in bringing business to Queensland. Denise Grocke and Dianne Allison (a former President of AMTA) went to look at venues and discussed the viability of hosting the congress there. They determined that this was both administratively and financially viable and therefore made a proposal to the AMTA National Executive Committee that we make a bid for the Congress. The AMTA Executive and the National Council agreed that it was both viable and advantageous to the Australia profession to bring the “world’ of music therapy to Australia and a bid was made by Susan Coull and Denise Grocke at the 2002 World Congress in Oxford.

K.S.: How was it decided to have the World Congress in Australia and in Brisbane?

H.S.: The AMTA could see a two-way benefit. We felt that Australians were beginning to make an impression on the global scene and we wanted to encourage music therapists in other countries to know the quality of the work and writing being done. For the Australians we wanted to increase their engagement with the international scene. While Australian authors and researchers were beginning to present and write on the international stage, most Australian clinicians could not afford to travel overseas. Australia is very isolated and an air-fare to Europe or the USA is very expensive. Therefore the AMTA felt bringing the world to Australia could stimulate the Australian therapists’ engagement with the wider field.

K.S.: Who besides you was involved in the organization and who had what role? Was an Australian music therapy organization involved in the planning?

H.S.: This event was organised by the Australian Music Therapy Association. It had the backing of the National Council, and was integrated into the Association’s vision for the profession in Australia. We had major sponsors who enabled us to bring four keynote speakers to the event, and who supported the presentation of significant musicians during the congress.

K.S.: Organizing such a big event must definitely be complicated and must engage many people. How was the planning of the congress organized? How did you become one of the persons on the congress organizing committee? How was the Australian music therapy organization involved?

H.S.: Susan Coull was president of AMTA in 2002 and led the bid process and subsequently the organisation committee. Denise Grocke served a Chair of the Scientific Committee and was eminently knowledgeable about the congress itself and the world scene because of her international speaking engagements and her former role as the President of the WFMT. I had previously convened two national conferences for music therapy in Australia. I took up sponsorship and marketing as I had previously undertaken such roles successfully both for music therapy and other professional conferences. Susan, Denise and I were all living in Melbourne Australia (the other end of the country from Brisbane) and therefore it was important to have Toni Day who lived in Brisbane on our committee. Toni Day was our social and music co-ordinator, who sourced and co-ordinated many of the cultural events. We worked with a Brisbane-based professional conference organising company called OzAccomm. They managed the whole event, sourcing suppliers and negotiating contracts for venue, catering, resources such as satchels etc… Our committee meetings were via telephone link-up.

K.S.: A big challenge... Let’s talk about how the congress was itself organized? Were there plenary sessions and also smaller sessions?

H.S.: There was a plenary session each day. During the opening session the plenary showcased Australian music therapy by featuring the work of Helen Shoemark (hospitalized newborns), Clare O’Callaghan (adult oncology), and Ruth Bright (psycho-geriatrics). Further keynotes were given by Mercedes Pavlicevic (“WorkSongs, PlaySongs: Communication, Collaboration, Culture and Community”, South Africa); Robert Krout (“The Music Runs Through It: Notes from a Music Therapy Journey”, USA); Anja Tait (“From Lament to Lullaby - Stories of Indigenous Community Engagement with the Arts for Education and Well Being”, Australia).

For the rest of the program there were six concurrent sessions which were organised by themes and contained either two or three papers. One of the concurrent sessions was usually a workshop.

XI World Congress of Music Therapy draft program (pdf, 86KB)

K.S.: How many people attended? From how many and what countries?

H.S.: The final number of attendees (which included registration at the event) was about 500 from 31 countries. The last document detailing the attendees that I have lists the following:

Argentina	3
Australia	232
Austria	2
Brazil	2
Denmark	7
Germany	12
Greece	1
Hong Kong	2
India	3
Iran	2
Ireland	4
Israel	4
Italy	5
Japan	36
Korea	1
New Zealand	28
Northern Ireland	1
Norway	6
Russia	1
Scotland	1
Serbia	1
Slovenia	1
South Africa	1
South Korea	2
Spain	4
Sweden	3
Switzerland	2
The Netherlands	2
United Arab Emirates	1
United Kingdom	32
United States America	63

K.S.: What kind of social activities were planned?

H.S.: One of the major concerns of hosting the event in Australia was whether or not the rest of the world would be willing to pay the cost of getting to Australia. From our own experience and the experiences of the Queensland Tourism Board we believed that there would be enough people who would come and make it into a family holiday while they were here. This did happen and many people either travelled around Australia on their way to or from the Congress.

K.S.: What were some of the highlights for you, both of the formal congress and informally/socially?

H.S.: The international attendees commented on the cultural program. The inclusion of music in every coffee break and lunch time was very much enjoyed. The indigenous music provided by William Barton and his mother at the opening was a highlight, for many people thanked us. The conference dinner at Kasalis had a fabulous energy which was evident in everyone singing and dancing together with the whole group dancing the Zorba the Greek dance, dancing on tables etc..

K.S.: It sounds nice…

H.S.: The workshops were very popular with people appreciating the opportunity to “do” rather than always listening. This was important for those for whom English was not a first language.

And the Congress Choir rehearsed with James Kuskelly every morning at 7.30, and performed for the closing session. To see our colleagues joined so fundamentally in the music was spine-tingling.

K.S.: What presentations remain deep in your memory?

H.S.: The curious aspect of being on a conference organising committee is that you do not attend very many papers! I was particularly struck by the work with indigenous populations in both South Africa (Mercedes Pavlicevic) and the Northern Territory of Australia (Anja Tait) and the realization that music therapy could be an elitist process for those with money, or we could ensure that the process was grounded in the humanity of all peoples.

K.S.: Maybe some funny, unexpected events?

H.S.: Definitely the dinner! We had hoped for about 60 people and ended up taking over the whole restaurant with rows and rows of tables packed with people who dissolved their own little clusters and shared time with colleagues from countries far away. It was a most joyful occasion.

K.S.: Everything starts and ends with people... Helen, thank you very much for introducing the secrets of the 2005 World Music Therapy Congress organization.