History of IAMM

Dr. Joanne Loewy:

In 2009, after working in hospital/clinic settings for 15 years alongside doctors and nurses in NYC, where I had attended numerous conferences, and read numerous studies in medical journals indicating results of "music therapy" interventions, that had no consultations with music therapists. I was working and consulting with Dr. Russell Portenoy, who then Chaired our hospital's Pain and Palliative Medicine Department. He encouraged me to start a society to devote attention toward the unique practice and research of music therapists and doctors that worked as we did, to build better practices and a research platform. Soon after that I was offered a Journal Editorship, and I invited David Aldridge to join me, and we organized two groups-Founding Members (1) and Journal Editorial Board (2):

1) Founding Members invited were practicing music therapists and clinical program directors, and doctors, and clinical leaders who were working and developing programs music medicine and/or music therapy

2) Editorial Board Members were researchers, music therapy clinicians and milieu team members, doctors etc. who had studies and experience with research in music medicine and music therapy. After our inaugural conference, David stepped down, and from 2009-present, Dr Ralph Spintge has built the journal content and readership.

Dr. Patravoot Vatanasat: Dr. Joanne Loewy circulated a document to the founding member as an invitation to establish IAMM.

Dr. Concetta Tomaino: It all started with the phone call from Dr.  Joanne Loewy!

Dr. Jane Edwards: Our first meeting was in Ireland in 2009 to form the board and elect the inaugural President (me). Thereafter we ran conferences every two years. The first conference was in collaboration with Mozart and Science in Krems, Austria in 2010. 

Dr. Joanne Loewy:

We started inviting people to join IAMM in 2008. Originally, we were planning our inaugural conference to be in Moscow, but we re-routed to Limerick, Ireland when there was sudden political uprise in Russia. Dr. Jane Edwards became seminal in the planning and development of this conference and was voted in as inaugural President.

Dr. Patravoot Vatanasat:

I think, it is the credibility of Dr. Joanne Loewy and her innovative idea to build an open community where multidisciplinary team involving in music therapy or music medicine can share, learn and integrate their knowledge and experience for great benefits in this borderless field. Most individuals looked for opportunities to collaborate with people in various professions from around the world in the field of music therapy and music medicine.

Dr. Concetta Tomaino:

All of us were very much aware of other things happening in medicine, and really good research taking place especially in the field of cognitive neuroscience. Although there were some other societies in Germany and Philadelphia related to music and medicine, it was mainly doctors doing arts for their own wellbeing, which is different from the application of arts for the sake of medical care. 

Another motivation for IAMM was the fact that doctors had been working in surgery and anesthesiology for a very long time, doing research and publishing, but they were not aware of music therapy. If the doctors had a chance to know music therapy and know the rigor and the extent of the clinical expertise of music therapy, we could advance music therapy's place in the field of medicine and bring it up from some ancillary complementary treatment to being fully recognized.

Dr. Joanne Loewy:

I started IAMM because I wanted to create a forum for sharing and developing research and clinical activities in hospitals and clinics globally. Having been in the field and working with hospitalists and those involved in medicine and music, I was unsatisfied that only a few collaborative medical musical therapeutic ventures were occurring in our country. I was also struck by how few hospitals globally had access to music therapy-yet our hospital had hosted so many doctors, nurses and others who wanted to have music and music therapy in their settings but had no access and platform for collaboration.

Dr. Patravoot Vatanasat:

Back then, I was a full-time head and neck surgeon and instructor in the field of otolaryngology (ENT), but full of interest in applying music in clinical practice. An invitation from Joanne Loewy to take part really fit my desire because there was no organization in this field that I could access because of my location and my profession. IAMM brought the real opportunity to those interested from around the world, either western/eastern, developed/developing world.  

I have been involved in IAMM's leadership team since right after the inaugural meeting in 2009, as a secretary to Jane Edwards, the founding President of IAMM, later on Vice President, and President in 2016. I have also served in the editorial board of the Music and Medicine Journal.

What motivated me to continuously take part in IAMM is friendship and opportunity. It is my privilege to work and become friends with all colleagues who are world authorities in the field. Besides, I, among colleagues from various countries, cultures, and backgrounds, have worked together with others in a professional way. I could feel an atmosphere of trust and support, that convinced me to contribute more to IAMM. IAMM's charm is borderless in the field of music and medicine. We have music therapists, medical doctors, nurses, music educators, musicians, scientists, and journalists, just to name a few. 

Dr. Concetta Tomaino:

Joanne had called to say - what do you think about us getting together with some of the leading people and see if we can bring in the practitioners who apply music in medical situations to create an Association where they could be in the open forum. Because that would make a difference from a music therapy association, such as the World Federation for Music Therapy, and would provide access to collaborative exchanges within the medical field.

Dr. Suzanne Hanser:

My clinical and research activities focused on music therapy and music-based interventions in health and medicine.

Dr. Joanne Loewy:

Dr. Ralph Spintge is the father of Music Medicine and IAMM was built upon his foundation. There have been collaborative efforts-the missions are similar. There are differences between 'societies' and 'associations'-however these groups work closely together. 

Dr. Patravoot Vatanasapt:

ISMM was actually founded in 1982. We have a close relationship and collaboration with ISMM through the President, Prof. Ralph Spintge, who is a co-editor in chief with Joanne Loewy for the Music and Medicine Journal.

Dr. Joanne Loewy:

It is growing-the conferences have bloomed and harvested new and dynamic activity. The Chairs have been outstanding. From Austria, to Thailand, Canada to China, and Boston-the planning and institution of rituals have been inclusive and have attracted local interest. In the starting days, we agreed that the conferences would include 'visits' and lectures in local hospitals and universities. This has been important toward 'activating' our desire to grow and share clinical developments. We have nudged doctors and nurses to join in, in our plight.

Globally: Our policy of 'turn no one away' such as our Journal-we have representatives who assist authors with editing. We have run our team with a spirit of 'understanding' and 'sharing'

Regionally: We have highlighted activities of IAMM to hospitals and those who are undertaking music medicine research-we seek to integrate possibilities of music therapy within the research plans-to combine and enhance efforts.

Dr. Patravoot Vatanasapt:

As I mentioned earlier, IAMM has given a mutual platform for people around the world in different disciplines to share and learn in the field of music medicine / and music therapy. During the last 12 years, there have been more and more collaborations across continents. More experts in the US and Europe went to collaborate in different countries in Asia, and vice versa. Beyond international politics, I can see friendship among members of IAMM who help in developing education and research in the field of music medicine/music therapy. In addition to advanced knowledge, experience, and technology; music medicine is culturally sensitive, it requires a global perspective through an empathetic lens. The research publication in Music and Medicine Journal is also an evidence for the growth in the field of music medicine globally.   

For the region, I think hosting the conference is also a great benefit to the local members in terms of opportunity. In my region where music medicine/music therapy was still far behind, the IAMM conference in Bangkok in 2012 brought world experts to Thailand with participants coming from around the world including Southeast Asia. We have seen more music therapy programs have been established with support from well-developed countries and further collaboration across countries.  More research in music medicine from this region was published in the journal. This field has become better known and widely accepted in Thailand. Collaboration, initially introduced through members of IAMM, was going on in some local universities. Likewise, the IAMM conference in Beijing in 2016 has opened wider the gate through music and medicine in China that brought collaboration across the world.

Dr. Suzanne Hanser:

The official journal of IAMM, Music & Medicine, is an important source of research.  IAMM’s international conferences bring experts in multiple disciplines from around the world together for dialogue, collaboration, and sharing of the latest thinking.

IAMM forges networks between musicians, physicians, music therapists, researchers, healthcare practitioners, clinicians, artists, and anyone who works and plays at the intersection of music and medicine/health are invited to join the conversation. 

IAMM has collaborated with global organizations like the World Federation for Music Therapy in projects, such as “Music is…” a virtual ensemble.

Dr. Joanne Loewy:

The Newsletter, the conferences, the connections that IAMM has fostered.

Dr. Patravoot Vatanasapt:

We always have memorable moments with IAMM, especially during our biennial conference.  However, a highlight I would like to mention here is the conference in Limerick, Ireland, in 2009. My memory is from the first time we met in the meeting room with an inspiring speech from Joanne Loewy and a music jam session that gave me a feeling of connection within the circle that brought energy to get IAMM firmly started. It did confirm music can blend many into one.  

Another memorable moment is also the hard time we had together with IAMM colleagues when facing challenging situations, and we could get through it with support from the team. The latest one is the 6th IAMM conference in 2020 under Covid-19 situation. It was initially planned to be held at Berklee College of Music but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we had to make an urgent decision. I was impressed by the support from our team, especially Dr. Suzanne Hanser, then President of the organizing committee, who did a great job with her leadership to transform our conference into a virtual one successfully. It was also the first time WFMT collaborated with IAMM in the conference both in academic and music performance part.   

Dr. Suzanne Hanser:

The inaugural meeting of IAMM in Limerick was the first time I met so many experts who shared my interests in music, medicine, and health. They have become advisors, collaborators and friends.

Dr. Joanne Loewy:

All of the officers of IAMM have been outstanding - Patravoot Vantasapt continued Jane Edward's spark. And Fred Schwartz and Vera Brandes have both held the pillars of our association since its inception. President Hanser has done marvelous work in not only keeping IAMM present and forging ahead in this global pandemic, but her vision and fortitude has been exemplary and continues to inspire the growth of IAMM. Hanser won the first Journal award for her research article on Integrative Music and Medicine-no surprise. 
Improvement?

More music-live 'show and tell' of techniques, models at work, in action. A 'patient hub'-where reflections of cases are shared live by those who feel comfortable about sharing and discussing what their music experiences were like-what they would change etc.

Dr. Patravoot Vatanasapt:

Strength of IAMM is the openness of the organization to embrace all professions involving music medicine and music therapy. I foresee our future is still shining bright with expanding members to cover every corner in the world. IAMM may contribute more to the field of music medicine, for instance, as a hub for international collaboration in education, research, or even service. I think SIGs is a great model for promoting collaboration among members in their own interest. 

Covid-19 has given us lessons to handle disruption effectively. With technology, IAMM is and will be more accessible for people around the world. Therefore, we will have to provide more platforms, in addition to the journal and conference, for members and non-members to access our resources.  We may have to reach out to the areas that are not yet on IAMM’s map. Support the qualified local institutions to organize conference, webinar, or workshops by providing credentials as a symbol of collaboration. This will help IAMM to get closer to its members. 

I propose IAMM to develop an international guideline for music medicine to be a standard reference. This will not only apply as a guidance for members, but also to be used to reach out to the medical community or others who may be interested in applying music in their practice.

Dr. Concetta Tomaino:

I am hoping we start contributing to policies at the government level. And by doing so, my hope is that music therapy is not only advanced and recognized, but it's so well accepted that there wouldn't be a question about what differentiates the music therapist with the entertainer who comes and plays at bedside. 

Dr. Suzanne Hanser:

As President of IAMM, my vision is:

IAMM is an active, engaged global community

1.    Participating in active communication - Not just outstanding international conferences every two years, but IAMM provides regular opportunities and a safe, respectful setting for ongoing dialogue, collaboration and discussion (the Special Interest Group Webinars represent this effort)
2.    Embracing and inclusive of a diversity of voices on our leadership committees and Task Forces, while remaining culturally responsive, across: continents diverse languages and cultures, professional disciplines, specialties like research, education, clinical practice, theory, students & experts, mature and young, able-bodied and physically challenged, different sexual orientations, levels of social/economic status & diverse races, philosophical orientations and points of view, disenfranchised voices
3. Mission-driven - Clarifying strategic priorities and committing to making a difference
4.   Committed to upholding high standards for research, publications, clinical guidelines, and theoretical white papers through Music & Medicine, Special Interest Groups, website blogs, and other communications