«DrumPower» – Developments 2015/16

Various reports from colleagues at the Institute for Music Therapy and other institutions have shown that the DrumPower method is proven to be a well-founded music therapy method in different contexts of prevention and therapy. It is successfully carried out by the graduates of the DrumPower training in new fields of practice.

Applications
At Emmy-Noether-Gymnasium in Erlangen the DrumPower Project has become a stable part of the school concept in recent years. It is carried out with great enthusiasm by the local DrumPower team around Katrin Lehr. The feedback from students as well as from teachers is highly positive. In addition, the project at the Emmy Noether school has received positive attention as a model for other schools in the region of Nürnberg/Erlangen, and DrumPower projects were offered at various other schools.

Also at the middle school in Wolfratshausen DrumPower has become a major project, which is very popular among the students. This success has been made possible through the work of Yoshihisa Matthias Kinoshita and Peter Hennen and the financial support of the Barbara Weidinger Music Foundation. The DrumPower Project was offered and successfully carried out for the second time at the request of students in an 8th class in 2015. From a preventive-therapeutic point of view it was very important and exciting that the students had to deal with the tension between idealized expectations and real actionable opportunities. This triggered major dynamics that have been processed in the project.

At an annual network meeting in September 2015, graduates of the advanced qualification "DrumPower" reported on various current projects in Hamburg, Erlangen, Deggendorf, Dachau, Wolfratshausen and Munich. In the discussion methodological details were reflected from which new ideas and suggestions arose for practice. In addition, new project initiatives in Latin America have been reported.

However, the most important issue of 2015 were refugees who seek protection, asylum and support in Europe. It is very gratifying that our musical and music therapy facilities in various locations and places in Germany and Europe help to welcome and to support refugees in a creative music therapeutic project.. Various colleagues have modified the DrumPower concept and carried out projects with refugees for example, Petra Schmidt in Hamburg as well as Kirstin Ghosh and Sven Heidenstecker in Nürnberg and Erlangen.
Also in Munich pilot projects could be offered with the support of the Cultural Department Munich and the Lion Club in five institutions. The project team of Freies Musikzentrum with Henrike Roisch, Stefanie Fricker, Silvia Reum, Julia Zerbe, David Westphäling and Robert Richter is currently involved in the final evaluation of the pilot phase. Parallel a DrumPower follow-up project is carried out in a first accommodation that is well received by the young refugees. This project is seen as very important and useful for the refugees.
Unfortunately there are not enough financial funds to meet the great interest and demand for DrumPower projects for refugees in various institutions.
The DrumPower team could successfully adapt the first projects to make the offers variable enough that projects could take place under difficult structural conditions. Currently the experiences of the pilot projects are being evaluated. Conceptually modified approaches for working with unaccompanied minors have been elaborated.
Although issues such as emotional support and strengthening personal resources are at the forefront, it is evident that, indirectly, the issue of violence prevention plays an important part . Contents such as affect regulation, mutual respect and constructive conflict resolution are the key feature of the drum power project. .
During the musical play/session the importance of respect, tolerance, demarcation and compromise are experienced and taught as cultural values, before violence can happen.

A very special event was project with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra at a primary school in Munich. Embedded in the framework of the DrumPower concept Yoshihisa Matthias Kinoshita and Manuel von der Nahmer ,cellist of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, together with the children, developed the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin in a new way - with new twists and conflict resolution.
The play was performed in Munich during the event 360 degrees of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Munich and the Community Music Conference in Munich on 14th November in the black box of the Gasteig. For the years 2016 and 2017 further cooperation projects are planned with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. Thanks to the support of the Robert Bosch Foundation the new projects have already been( financially) secured.

For the year 2016, the Working Group “Prevention” of the Institute for Music Therapy is planning further projects with pupils at various schools, with refugees in different institutions and further projects in cooperation with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra.

Advanced Qualification
In 2015 the training group was completed. The participants from different educational and therapeutic areas developed in their final papers promising application concepts for the drum Power project. This included among others project ideas for primary education, for work with mentally disabled people and for clinical work in child-adolescent psychiatry and forensic psychiatry. These modifications of the DrumPower concept in other fields of practice show impressively the flexible methodological applicability of the project model with various audiences in different contexts.

In addition, an advanced training course in the UK was carried out on the initiative of the Institute CHROMA . The resonance of the participating music therapists was very positive. First Drum Power projects were carried out in England and Wales.

In autumn 2016 a new training group will begin. In spring 2017 an additional qualification is offered in English language. Target audience for the English course are mainly participants from neighbouring European countries and individual visitors from other continents. In addition to the concern to teach the method, it is also of great interest to examine the applications of the project model in other cultures and contexts and to learn from the participating colleagues.
Scientific discourse
The method gained international attention on the occasion of its presentation at different conferences in Canberra (Australia), Cadiz (Spain), Oslo (Norway), Aalborg (Denmark), Vienna and Krems (Austria), Verona (Italy), Zurich and Winterthur (Switzerland) as well as Munich.
In 2015 the method was again presented at conferences in Oslo and Bergen (Norway) . The relationship between music, violence and violence prevention were scientifically discussed. Furthermore, the method has been presented with its implications for "Community Music Therapy" at the conference "Community Music - an Interdisciplinary View" in November 2015 in Munich. In April 2016 the project method will be discussed at the 3rd International Symposium on Music Therapy with Children in Edinburgh in the context of development.

New findings in theory and research are expected from the detailed analysis of the pilot projects with refugees, which is carried out by academic staff. In this context, the practical implementation of various newly developed testing sheets is checked. The results of this study will be presented at the European Congress of Music Therapy in July 2016 in Vienna.

Professional support and supervision
All Munich DrumPower projects take place under professional support and supervision; supervision is also provided for a high school in Erlangen (Emmy Noether-Gymnasium) and for use in forensic psychiatry and for other single projects.

Support
DrumPower projects with the children, adolescents and young adults can only be realized with the support and funding from foundations and private sponsors. For the year 2015 special thanks go to Barbara Weidinger Music Foundation, the Lions Club München - Karl-Valentin, the Robert Bosch Foundation and the Cultural Department Munich.