Taking Music Seriously

Taking Music seriously gathers together the first generation of South African trained music therapists, each of whom ventures into audacious territory: while funders, teachers, doctors and community workers believe in music as a therapeutic force, music therapy is relatively unknown and little understood. Here are narratives of hope and humanity; stories of music-work with profoundly disabled adults, with people affected by dementia, with school children traumatized by the gang violence in their suburbs, with youngsters in trouble with the law, with babies who have developmental delay and more. This title reveals the immense bravery and musical generosity of vulnerable people. However excluded, disabled, incapacitated or troubled, it is the musical partnerships shared by therapists and clients that convey a persuasive message: as South Africans we need to take music seriously- to enable us to grow a dynamically engaged society that celebrates itself through its music.
 
Taking Music seriously gathers together the first generation of South African trained music therapists, each of whom ventures into audacious territory: while funders, teachers, doctors and community workers believe in music as a therapeutic force, music therapy is relatively unknown and little understood. Here are narratives of hope and humanity; stories of music-work with profoundly disabled adults, with people affected by dementia, with school children traumatized by the gang violence in their suburbs, with youngsters in trouble with the law, with babies who have developmental delay and more. This title reveals the immense bravery and musical generosity of vulnerable people. However excluded, disabled, incapacitated or troubled, it is the musical partnerships shared by therapists and clients that convey a persuasive message: as South Africans we need to take music seriously- to enable us to grow a dynamically engaged society that celebrates itself through its music.