Arts Week - Lecture: "Music therapy, identity, and social change", Kate Apley

Kate is a music therapist with the charity Nordoff and Robbins. During her time at university, she became interested in the role of music as a force for social change and this led her to train as a music therapist with Nordoff and Robbins. She qualified in July 2022. Since then, Kate has worked across a range of organisations through Nordoff and Robbins, including a care home, a neuro-rehabilitation unit and several schools for pupils with additional support needs. Her work also involves giving talks and workshops about music therapy, and she recently published a piece on music therapy and social justice (www.voices.no).

In this lecture, Kate will provide an introduction to music therapy, using video excerpts from her work with people with a range of needs and challenges to illustrate the connecting power of music as therapy. She will explore how music therapy can empower people to communicate and express their identity, especially those who may not be able to do so in conventional ways. In a society that isolates people with marginalised identities and disabilities, music therapy can offer agency and work towards positive social change.