Our People

The Music Therapy Charity was presided over for more than 20 years by the late Lord Menuhin, OM KBE and by Sir Neville Marriner from 2000 until October 2016. Past Vice Presidents include the Nobel Laureate, Sir James Black, and conductor Sir Charles Mackerras. 

PRESIDENT

Nicola Benedetti CBE

VICE-PRESIDENTS

Sir Thomas Allen CBE
Simon Callow CBE 
Richard Crewdson
Julius Drake
Roy Van Gelder
Brian Kay
John Lubbock OBE
Penny Neary
Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne
Anne Skeggs
Benjamin Zander

GOVERNORS

Chair - Professor Helen Odell-Miller OBE, PhD, M Phil Music Therapy, BA, LGSM, Registered Music Therapist

Professor Helen Odell-Miller is a Director of The Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research and Professor of Music Therapy at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), Cambridge. She holds an honorary contract as a music therapist and researcher at Cambridge and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust.  She has extensive experience as a researcher and has lectured and delivered keynote lectures all over the world. She has led the development of the profession in the NHS, and recently ARU won a Queens Anniversary Prize for Research in Music Therapy, specifically for meople living with dementia.  In addition to leading several large multi-site studies nationally and internationally, Helen's research interests are in mental health and music therapy, psychoanalysis and music therapy and supervision.  She is author and editor of many publications including in 2009 Supervision of Music Therapy, Odell-Miller H and Richards, E and in 2013 Forensic Music Therapy Compton Dickinson, Adlam and Odell-Miller.  Professor Helen Odell-Miller is also a member of the Research Committee of The Music Therapy Charity.

Vice Chair - Dr Rachel Darnley-Smith

Rachel Darnley-Smith is a senior lecturer in music therapy at the University of Roehampton and a registered practitioner with the Health Care Professions Council.  She has held teaching posts at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and Durham University where she received her PhD for a study of aesthetics in the music of music therapy, funded by an AHRC award.  Rachel has worked concurrently for many years in clinical practice with adults, mostly in NHS mental health settings.  She is co-author (with Helen M. Patey) of the widely translated introductory text, 'Music Therapy' (Sage 2003).  Her recent chapter 'The Role of Ontology in Music Therapy' appeared in The Music in Music Therapy, (Eds. De Backer and Sutton, JKP 2014).  Forthcoming publications in 2018 include 'Jung and the Transcendent Function in Music Therapy' in Music - Psychoanalysis - Musicology, ed. Samuel Wilson, Routledge and Psychodynamic Perspectives and the Care of People With Dementia (with Sandra Evans and Jane Garner), Routledge.  Dr Rachel Darnley-Smith is also a member of the Research Committee of The Music Therapy Charity.

Treasurer - Roger Swain CPFA

Roger is a public finance accountant who retired in 2004 from full-time employment after 38 years service in local government and the NHS, latterly as Finance Director and Deputy CEO of Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge.  Since then he has held part-time interim Finance Director postions at Papworth Heart Hospital and contributed to its move to Cambridge.  He has been a Governor of Anglia Ruskin University and a Trustee of Babraham Research Institute, serving on their Audit Committees.  He is currently an independent member of the Audit Committee of the NHS Confederation.  Roger is also Treasurer of two local charities and a local club.                                                                                                      

 

Lady Caroline Borg ACRCM

Lady Caroline Borg is a musician and teacher who founded the innovative Music for the Young classes in London in 1983. She has been involved in a variety of charitable organisations including Coram, the Foundling Museum and Trust in Children. Her wide ranging experience is invaluable to the development of the MTC.

Professor Ian Cross

Ian Cross teaches in the Faculty of Music at the University of Cambridge, where he is Professor and Director of the Centre for Music and Science, leading a lively group of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in exploring music, its materials and its effects from a wide range of scientific perspectives.  His early research helped set the agenda for the study of music cognition;  he has since published widely in the field of music and science, from the psychoacoustics of violins to the evolutionary roots of musicality. His current research focuses on exploring relationships between speech and music as interactive media. He is a Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge, a classical guitarist, and a Trustee of SEMPRE, the Society for Research in Psychology of Music and Music Education.  Professor Ian Cross is also Chair of the Research Committee of The Music Therapy Charity.

Dominic Delaforce

Dominic Delaforce is a Head of UK Institutional Client Relationship Management at Columbia Threadneedle Investments and has worked for over 35 years in the investment management business.  Dominic has been a Governor of The Music Therapy Charity since 2003 and is also a Liveryman and Member of the Investment Committee at the Worshipful Company of Vintners.

Angela Harrison

Angela Harrison is a music therapist, viola player and speaker. Before qualifying as a therapist in 1995 she played with the Halle Orchestra and for three years represented the players at Board level. In October 2019 Angela retired from her post as Lead Music Therapist at the North Yorkshire Music Therapy Centre, where her role included fundraising, marketing and service development.  Her clinical interest lies in communication and attachment difficulties. Angela has presented her work at international conferences, contributed to two recent publications and is visiting lecturer at three universities. She was Chair of the British Association for Music Therapy (BAMT) until November 2012 and is on the Council of the World Federation of Music Therapy as Commissioner for Public Relations.

Grace Meadows

Grace is Director for Music for Dementia, a national campaign to help make music more readily available and accessible for people living with dementia.  Prior to this, she was the Development Director for the British Association for Music Therapy.  Grace is also a qualified music therapist and has worked across a range of health and educational settings with people from across the lifespan.  In her role at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, she worked with Dr Claire Flower on developing the first 'Music While You Wait' programme in antenatal and maternity services.  Alongside this, she also supervises music therapists.  Grace is an active musician, and pre-Covid regularly played bassoon and contra bassoon with several orchstras.

Anne Katharine Thomson MB BS MRCP DCH

Dr. Kate Thomson is a former Principal in General Practice with extensive experience in the care of children.  She has had a life-long interest in music and two of her children are professional musicians. She has been a school governor and recently at Charterhouse, where her husband was Master, has had first-hand knowledge of a working charity, of which music was an aspect.

Susan Waldman

Sue Waldman is currently a trustee of the Development Trust of the European Union Baroque Orchestra, is involved with the Temple Music Foundation and Temple Church and is on the advisory board of St. John the Evangelist (SJE Arts), Oxford's newest concert hall and arts venue. She was previously Custodian of the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford. Responsible for the day to day running of the Ceremonial Hall of the University of Oxford, Christopher Wren's first major work, a historic building and the major concert venue in Oxford. She was on the committee of the Churchill Memorial Concerts held annually at Blenheim Palace in aid of the Music Therapy Charity.

RESEARCH COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Chairman - Professor Ian Cross

Ian Cross teaches in the Faculty of Music at the University of Cambridge, where he is Professor and Director of the Centre for Music and Science, leading a lively group of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in exploring music, its materials and its effects from a wide range of scientific perspectives.  His early research helped set the agenda for the study of music cognition;  he has since published widely in the field of music and science, from the psychoacoustics of violins to the evolutionary roots of musicality. His current research focuses on exploring relationships between speech and music as interactive media. He is a Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge, a classical guitarist, and a Trustee of SEMPRE, the Society for Research in Psychology of Music and Music Education.  Ian Cross is also a Governor of the Music Therapy Charity.

Dr Catherine Carr

Catherine is a music therapist and researcher at Queen Mary, University of London and East London NHS Foundation Trust.  Her research spans intervention development, processes and randomised controlled trials of music therapy in mental health.  Previously a Governor of the Music Therapy Charity, Catherine has served as a Trustee for the British Association for Music Therapy and she is lecturer and supervisor for students on the MA in Music Therapy at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Dr Rachel Darnley-Smith

Rachel Darnley-Smith is a senior lecturer in music therapy at the University of Roehampton and a registered practitioner with the Health Care Professions Council.  She has held teaching posts at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and Durham University where she received her PhD for a study of aesthetics in the music of music therapy, funded by an AHRC award.  Rachel has worked concurrently for many years in clinical practice with adults, mostly in NHS mental health settings.  She is co-author (with Helen M. Patey) of the widely translated introductory text, 'Music Therapy' (Sage 2003).  Her recent chapter 'The Role of Ontology in Music Therapy' appeared in The Music in Music Therapy, (Eds. De Backer and Sutton, JKP 2014).  Forthcoming publications in 2018 include 'Jung and the Transcendent Function in Music Therapy' in Music - Psychoanalysis - Musicology, ed. Samuel Wilson, Routledge and Psychodynamic Perspectives and the Care of People With Dementia (with Sandra Evans and Jane Garner), Routledge.

Dr Carol Gregory

Carol Gregory worked until recently as  a Consultant Old age Psychiatrist both in the NHS and in Australia. She has also trained as a psychodynamic psychotherapist, Cognitive Analytic Therapist and more recently in EMDR. She now works both in the NHS and in private practice as a therapist and supervisor.

Over the years she has played an active role in the teaching of psychiatrists in training and of other professional staff - including music therapy students at Anglia Ruskin University in  Cambridge. She has undertaken research in the fields of dementia, particularly fronto-temporal dementia and schizophrenia. 

Professor Helen Odell-Miller OBE, PhD, M Phil Music Therapy, BA, LGSM, Registered Music Therapist

Professor Helen Odell-Miller is a Director of The Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research and Professor of Music Therapy at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), Cambridge. She holds an honorary contract as a music therapist and researcher at Cambridge and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust.  She has extensive experience as a researcher and has lectured and delivered keynote lectures all over the world. She has led the development of the profession in the NHS, and recently ARU won a Queens Anniversary Prize for Research in Music Therapy, specifically for meople living with dementia.  In addition to leading several large multi-site studies nationally and internationally, Helen's research interests are in mental health and music therapy, psychoanalysis and music therapy and supervision.  She is author and editor of many publications including in 2009 Supervision of Music Therapy, Odell-Miller H and Richards, E and in 2013 Forensic Music Therapy Compton Dickinson, Adlam and Odell-Miller.  Professor Helen Odell-Miller is also a Governor of the Music Therapy Charity.

Dr Neta Spiro

Dr Neta Spiro is Head of Research at Nordoff Robbins where she leads a team of researchers with a variety of backgrounds exploring music therapy in its different contexts.  She is also a member of the Faculty of Music, University of Cambridge where she teaches topics in music psychology and music in health.  Two main questions underlie her research: What is the nature of interaction in music and what is the potential role of music in peoples' health and wellbeing?  In terms of exploring the nature of interaction in music, in current projects she is exploring what is shared and what is not shared in interpretations of what happened during music.  In terms of music in health, projects include exploration of the features that may help characterise musical interaction and their relationship with perceived outcome.

Michael Thorne (ex officio member - Chairman of the Board of Governors)

Roger Swain (ex officio member - Treasurer of the Board of Governors)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Nicola Barton - Administrator
info@musictherapy.org.uk