DrumPower Workshop in Melbourne, Australia 2019
by Dr. Andreas Wölfl
In an intensive workshop at 27th and 28th November 2019 Dr. Andreas Wölfl taught the basics of the DrumPower-Project method in Melbourne, Australia. The Australian Music Therapy Association (AMTA) had invited to offer the workshop as a part of the preconference of the 45th National Music Therapy Conference 2019. The workshop was fully booked, 30 music therapists from Australia took part.
The workshop took place in the premises of the University of Melbourne. Due to the broad music therapy practice of the participants, the level of the workshop was highly professional. A large number of music therapy improvisations and exercises ensured, that theory and methodology were provided in a very practical way. Misunderstandings on the language level as well as irritations due to the different context conditions could be resolved quickly, so that the steps of the concept and the process-oriented approach of the project were evident for all participants at once.
Methodological exercises to work out a final performance with the different project elements completed the intensive workshop. The presentation of the results of the scientific evaluation of the DrumPower-Project, as well as the discussion of the different contextual conditions in Australia and Germany and the differences in the therapeutic attitudes and approaches led to very interesting professional discourses in the course of the workshop. At the end of the workshop, a large number of participants gave positive feedback and emphasized that they want to integrate parts of the methodological approaches into their professional work. Some confirmed that they are also interested in further training in the DrumPower project method.
Overall, the workshop took place in a very good learning environment. The participants enjoyed playing music, music therapeutic role play and a vivid discussion of the DrumPower method.