Music touches us when words cannot.

– Alan Wittenberg, Founder of The Surry Music Therapy Center

The mission at the Surry Music Therapy Center is to bring the power of music as therapy to clients who would otherwise have little or no access to it. We are especially committed to raising the awareness of music therapy in Maine.

Alan Wittenberg completed music therapy courses at New York University. He is a Certified Music Therapist (CMT), with an M.A. in Music. He is a member of the American Music Therapy Association, and Director of the Surry Music Therapy Center.

Since 1984, Alan has initiated and been a consultant with many music therapy programs for disabled children, adolescents and adults, the mentally ill and geriatric patients throughout the state of Maine.

Alan is founder and president of the St. Petersburg Music Therapy Center in St. Petersburg, Russia, was central in founding the Kyoto International Music Therapy Center in Kyoto, Japan. He has consulted with universities and hospitals in Russia, Japan, France and Germany.

International Work

France

1) In the 1990s Alan presented a music therapy seminar at the invitation of Edith Lecourt, General Secretary of the French Music Therapy Association at the University René Descartes – Paris V Sorbonne, Paris France.2) On a later trip to Paris Alan wrote the proposal for and implemented a music therapy program that took place on the outskirts of Paris at an Institute for multiply disabled visually and hearing impaired children and youth. The institute in Cheveruse was part of a larger agency “Universitare Entradie” which provided clinical, developmental and rehabilitative services to many Children and adults with disabilities at many locations throughout France.

The program was a true international exchange which incorporated three Russian specialists in music therapy from the Center Alan founded in Saint Petersburg to work together with Alan in France for two weeks with disabled French Children. The program was funded by Universitare Entradie and was the first of its kind in France to incorporate music therapists from the US, and Russia to work with French children with disabilities.3) In the late 1990s Alan coordinated an International conference in Saint Petersburg, Russia at the Central National Library titled Music Communication and Contact that included presentations by Edith Lecourt as well as two of her colleagues from Paris University.

4) In 2002 Alan co-coordinated a music therapy conference in Kyoto, Japan at the Kyoto International Center for Music Therapy and arranged for Edith Lecourt to be invited to give a presentation on the development of music therapy in France as well as her own concept(s) of music therapy as a clinical and rehabilitative field.

Japan

Alan gave music therapy lectures, seminars and workshops throughout Japan from October 24th – November 21st 2010. His schedule included:

• October 24 – Keynote presentation – Kyoto International Center for Music Therapy Kyoto, Japan
  Presentation “Music, Creativity and Communication and the development of music therapy in the State of Maine, USA”.
• October 28 – Ogaki Women’s University Gifu, Japan.
  Presentation – The Development of Music Therapy in Russia.
• October 29th – Nagoya University or Art – Video case study presentation – Music Therapy and Children with Special Needs
• October 31st – Fuji Music Therapy Research Association Fuji City, Japan
  Presentation – Clinical demonstration sessions and analysis with five disabled children.
• November 8th – Osaka, Japan – Supervision – Sugihara music therapy group
• November 12 – Kawasaki University Department of Music therapy Okayama, Japan
  Presentation – Music Therapy and psychotherapy.
• November 14th – Tenri, Japan Hibiki no Sato geriatric care center – Music Therapy and the Elderly
• November 18 and 19 – Featured speaker – Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Niigata, Japan
  Presentation – Music Therapy for the Elderly With and Without Dementia.
• November 20th – Daikyo University – Hemeji Japan – Introductory music therapy seminar with video case study illustrations.
• November 21 – Nara University Hospital Nara, Japan
  Presentation – Music Therapy and Children’s Palliative Care.