Past Events

Music Therapy Symposium 2019 - "Music Therapy in Singapore: Local and International Perspectives".

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27 July 2019

AMTS held its inaugural symposium on 27 July 2019 at Enabling Village. Titled "Music Therapy in Singapore: Local and International Perspectives", the symposium featured four keynote speakers - Dr Stuart Wood, MBE, PhD, Professor Annette Whitehead-Pleaux, MA, MT-BC, as well as Singaporeans Dr Xueli Tan, PhD, MT-BC, and Ms. Ng Wang Feng, MMT, MT-BC. The keynote addresses invited the audience to envision with hope the future of music therapy in Singapore, and also provided an overview of the development of the local music therapy scene, music therapy in the medical setting, and the need to build up the local research base.

The latter half of the symposium included a panel discussion with the four keynote speakers, moderated by AMTS Professional Member Ms. Eta Lauw. Thereafter, six Singapore-based music therapists conducted breakout sessions covering various aspects of music therapy. These included sessions on assessing the inner self through music-evoked images and music therapy in palliative care (Ms. Tammy Lim), music therapy in mental health (Ms. Fontane Liang), community music therapy with older adults (Ms. Evelyn Lee), special education (Ms. Eta Lauw and Ms. Dawn Chik), and music therapy in collaboration (Ms. Kayla Wong, with Speech Therapist Ms. Chu Xiao Hui and Art Therapist Ms. Pearlyn Lee).

The symposium saw close to 160 participants of all backgrounds come together, with leaders from various sectors - healthcare to education, academics, philanthropists, students and individuals from the wider community, gather to learn more about music therapy.