Jacqueline Birnbaum, MSEd, MA, NRMT, MT-BC, LCAT, Administrative Coordinator/Senior Music Therapist

Ms. Birnbaum graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Human Development and Family Studies and went on to earn a Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education. After several years as a teacher, she began graduate work in music therapy, completing her degree at NYU in 1981. Her work experience has been quite varied. At the Detroit Community Music School she led group and individual sessions with children and developmentally-delayed adults, and carried out a grant project with geriatric clients in area nursing homes. She returned to her native New York City in 1985 to establish a music therapy program for children ages three to eight at the School for Language and Communication Development on Long Island.

In 1990 Jacqueline joined the first advanced training course in Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy to be offered in the United States and received her certification in 1991. In 1993 she developed a music therapy program at the Parkside School, a special education program for children with speech and language, learning, and emotional difficulties. her particular area of interest is early childhood and she has presented on the use of Creative Music Therapy in early intervention at several music therapy conferences. She has been a member and Chairperson of the Credentialing Committee of the American Association for Music Therapy. In 1996, she assumed her current position at the Nordoff-Robbins Center where her responsibilities include clinical work, supervision of fieldwork students and certification candidates, programming and the day-to-day operations of the Center.

David Marcus, MA, CMT, NRMT, LCAT, Music Therapist, Coordinator of Special Projects and Publishing

David began the practice of music therapy in 1984 after several years as a professional musician. For the next 15 years he worked with psychiatric patients at units of the New York State Office of Mental Health: Manhattan Psychiatric Center and Bronx Psychiatric Center. He supervised fieldwork students and interns at these facilities. He has presented on music therapy in psychiatric treatment in these and other psychiatric facilities around the state. He has practiced music therapy at the Nordoff-Robbins Center since receiving his certification in the Nordoff-Robbins approach in 1997. He helped to found the Creative Music Therapy Studio, a private music therapy practice in Manhattan, where he continues to serve as Co-director.

David served as Editor-in-Chief of Music Therapy, the scholarly journal of the American Association for Music Therapy, for five years. He is also the author of the chapter "Entering the World of Tones”, in Listening, Playing, Creating: Essays on the Power of Sound, edited by Carolyn Kenny and published by the State University of New York Press. He has recently assumed the title of Coordinator of Special Projects and Publishing at the Nordoff-Robbins Center. In addition to his clinical duties, he will be working with Center staff to prepare clinical and instructional materials for dissemination.

Michele Schnur Ritholz, MA, MT-BC, NRMT, LCAT, Training Coordinator,Senior Music Therapist

Ms. Ritholz graduated with Bachelors Degree in Psychology from Queens College. While renewing her study of music, and piano in particular, Michele began to learn about the field of music therapy. After attending a workshop with Vera Moretti at the State University of New York New Paltz, in which the work of Paul Nordoff and Clive Robbins was taught and then experienced in the clinical setting, Ms. Ritholz was inspired to pursue a career in music therapy. First gaining further competency by completing a second major in music at Queens College, she then undertook graduate work in the Department of Music Therapy at New York University, completing a Masters Degree in 1981. Michele has worked with children ages 5–12 in the Latency Unit at Kings County Psychiatric hospital, Brooklyn, New York and in special education settings for the Westchester Conservatory of Music Outreach Program (COMIT).

In 1990, Michele undertook the first Nordoff-Robbins training at the NYU Center, joining the clinical staff at that time. She has been at the Center since then and is currently a full-time therapist, Coordinator of Training, instructor in the Center's training programs and supervisor of graduate interns and certification candidates.She is the second certified Instructor of the Nordoff-Robbins approach in the United States.Her publications include music written for Snow White: A Guide to Child-Centered Musical Theater (1997), Themes for Therapy: New Songs and Instrumental Pieces from the Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy (Carl Fisher, Inc.), More Themes for Therapy: 45 New Songs and Instrumental Pieces (Carl Fisher, Inc.), and the journal article "The Journey by Train: Creative Music Therapy with a 17-Year-Old Boy", co-authored with Alan Turry and published in Music Therapy. Her professional activities include being a former member of the AAMT Credentialing Committee and former transition Representative on the Clinical Training Committee of the American Music Therapy Association, as well as past Member of the Board of Directors of the Certification Board for Music Therapy (CBMT).

Clive Robbins, CMT/RMT, DHL, DMM, Founding Director

Dr. Clive Robbins, CMT/RMT, is a co-originator of Creative Music Therapy, and the Founding Director of the Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy at New York University, where he holds the appointment of Research Scientist. He has worked with developmentally and multiply disabled children for over forty years.

From 1954 to 1959 he worked at Sunfield Children's Homes, Worcestershire, England as a Special Class Teacher. He was trained in the Home's educational and arts therapies programs and studied with Herbert Geuter, M.D., Director of Research. In 1959, on the foundation of experience in special education and previous musical studies, he began his collaboration with Paul Nordoff, D.Mus., pioneering the application of improvisational and compositional techniques in music therapy. As cotherapist and group leader, he participated in exploring innovative approaches to individual and group therapy. He composed songs, instrumental activities, games, and musical theatre to meet developmental goals with variously disabled children.

Throughout his sixteen years of teamwork with Dr. Nordoff, Dr. Robbins was continuously active in the practice, documentation, study, research, and demonstration of creative music therapy with children and adolescents. He worked with children presenting a wide range of disabling conditions: mild to profound developmental disabilities, autism, emotional disturbance, schizophrenia, aphasia, learning disabilities, visual and auditory impairments, physical and multiple handicaps.

During 1960-62, together with Paul Nordoff he engaged in explorative clinical practice and research at Sunfield Childrens Homes, the University of Pennsylvania, the Devereux Foundation, Devon, Pennsylvania, and the Institute of Logopedics, Wichita, Kansas. This work led to two major concurrent programs engaged in during the years1962-67: The first was at The University of Pennsylvania, Day Care Unit, Department of Child Psychiatry, School of Medicine. This work–encompassing treatment, training, research and publication components was funded by the a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) applied research grant. The second project was conducted in The School District of Philadelphia, Department of Special Education. It was a treatment and demonstration project with developmentally disabled children and adolescents and included in-service training for special class teachers, public demonstrations, and the preparation of instructional materials for teachers and music specialists.

The Nordoff-Robbins team was situated at various overseas clinical and academic settings during 1967-74. As a Lecturing Fellow of the American Scandinavian Foundation, and in his role in the Nordoff-Robbins team, Clive Robbins traveled and taught extensively and added to his clinical experience in treatment, training, and demonstration projects with children and adolescents in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. He also taught in Australia, England, Germany, Greece, Ireland, New Zealand and the USA. During these years he gave both long- and short-term training courses for music therapists, music educators, musicians and students.

In 1974 Paul Nordoff's health began to fail; he died in 1977. In 1975 Clive Robbins formed a new team with his wife Carol to continue the development and dissemination of his life's work. Carol Robbins had begun her studies with Nordoff and Robbins in 1966. All the subsequent projects were done in collaboration with Carol Robbins until her death in 1996.

From 1975-1981 the Robbinses worked at the New York State School for the Deaf at Rome, New York. Federal funds provided the basis for this project which was devoted to developing a music curriculum for the deaf. This project had the emphasis of meeting the needs of students with severe and profound hearing losses. The comprehensive music program that developed for students aged 3 to 18, attracted much attention and served as a demonstration program for innumerable visiting professionals and students. Innovative audiological studies in musical perception by the hearing impaired were made in collaboration with Arthur Boothroyd, Ph.D., then Director of Research and Clinical Services, Clarke School for the Deaf.

During 1981-1982. Dr. Robbins was at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, as a Meadows Distinguished Visiting Professor of Music Therapy. He established clinical training sites in the Special Education Division of the Dallas Independent School District, and in the Special Care School, Farmers' Branch. He also worked with intellectually disabled men at Marbridge Ranch, Manchaca, Texas. In 1982 he relocated to Australia and established music therapy programs at Warrah Village, and Inala School, Sydney, Australia. These were treatment and demonstration projects with developmentally and multiply disabled children and adults. He also conducted work with severely and profoundly hearing impaired children attending St Gabriel's School for the Deaf, leading musical activities in a family setting with normally hearing siblings and parents. During these years Clive Robbins was closely involved in establishing and developing treatment, training and research centers for the practice of Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy in London (1974), Germany (1980), and Australia (1984). In 1989, with Carol Robbins, he established The Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy at New York University where he has been since that time.

Through his clinical practice, teaching, supervision, lectures, workshops, writings, and media presentations with Paul Nordoff, 1959-74; Carol Robbins, 1975-96: and subsequently in collaboration with members of his staff, Clive Robbins has become internationally recognized for his teaching of clinical resources, his research into processes of music therapy, and for his commitment to higher standards of clinical practice, creativity and musicianship in music therapy. He continues to travel and teach: in addition to his lectures and workshops in Australia, Europe, New Zealand, Scandinavia, the USA and the UK, he has taught in Brazil, China, Israel, Japan, South Africa, Spain and Taiwan. He is presently involved in guiding the development of a music therapy treatment and training program in Tokyo.

Clive Robbins holds honorary doctorates from Combs College of Music, Philadelphia; Universitat Witten/Herdecke, Germany, and the State University of New York. With Paul Nordoff, he co-authored Music Therapy for Handicapped Children, Therapy in Music for Handicapped Children, Music Therapy in Special Education, Creative Music Therapy, and many books of musical activities for children. With Carol Robbins, he co-authored Music for the Hearing Impaired and Other Special Groups; Snow White: A Guide to Child Centered Music Theatre, and songs and musical plays for children. Together they also edited Healing Heritage: Paul Nordoff Exploring the Tonal Language of Music. Clive Robbins compiled What a Wonderful Song her Life Sang: an Anthology of Appreciation for Carol Robbins. He is currently revising Creative Music Therapy and preparing instructional case studies on video.

Kaoru Robbins, MA, CMT, NRMT, Senior Music Therapist

Having studied flute and piano privately as a child, Kaoru majored in flute at Kunitachi Conservatory of Music, Tokyo, 1980. She was the first Japanese music therapist to graduate from the New York University Music Therapy Program, gaining her Masters degree in 1988. She took her advanced training at the Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy in 1991-92. She has worked with both English speaking and Japanese speaking children at the Center. Since 1991, she has divided her work between the Center and an extensive private practice serving the children of Japanese speaking families in New Jersey and Westchester, New York. Her program in New Jersey also functions as a clinical training site for Japanese music therapy students.

Kaoru has presented her work internationally in Japan, Lithuania, Russia, and Estonia. Her bilingual capabilities and her familiarity with Japanese culture enable her to serve the Center's continually growing connections with the emerging field of music therapy in Japan. She is the Center's Coordinator of Japanese-American Communications, maintaining active liaison with the Organization for Studying Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy in Japan (OSNRMT) and also with the Japanese community in the New York City area. In collaboration with Clive Robbins, Alan Turry and Kana Okazaki, she also coordinates a collaborative NRCMT/OSNRMT Clinical Supervision Program for music therapists in Japan. She has collaborated in the translation of the Nordoff-Robbins text Music Therapy in Special Education published by Ningen to Rekishi-sha, Tokyo, and has translated the monograph Here We Are in Music: One Year with an Adolescent, Creative Music Therapy Group by Kenneth Aigen.

Alan Turry, DA, NRMT, MT-BC, LCAT, Managing Director

Alan Turry has earned his Bachelor's, Masters and Doctoral degrees in Music Therapy from New York University. He has a wide range of experiences as a music therapist, working since 1981 at facilities such as Metropolitan Hospital and Bellevue Hospital, both in New York City. Formerly the Supervising Music Therapist and Coordinator of Student Training, Activity Therapies Department at Bellevue, his practice there included improvisational music therapy groups on several in-patient units including the adolescent unit and the prison unit, groups for higher functioning outpatients, emotionally disturbed adolescents, and adults in psychiatric care.

In 1990, he participated in the first training course at the Nordoff-Robbins Center, joining the clinical staff at that time. He became Clinical Director in1997 and is currently Managing Director. Dr. Turry is the first certified instructor of Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy and coordinates the Graduate Internship Program and the Advanced Training Program in Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy. In addition, he develops course work and teaches clinical improvisation in the NYU Graduate Music Therapy Program.

Dr. Turry has taught and presented his work internationally. He is an annual visiting lecturer at the Nordoff-Robbins Centre in London, and a visiting professor at Saint-Mary-of-the-Woods College in Indiana, the University of Lisbon in Portugal and Senzoku College, Japan. He has helped to develop the Nordoff-Robbins supervision program in Japan, the Nordoff-Robbins clinical program in Korea, and has led workshops on clinical improvisation in Denmark, Greece, Poland, Ireland and Italy. He was also a keynote speaker at the 8th World Congress of Music Therapy in Hamburg in 1996. Dr. Turry is recognized for his innovative contributions to the Nordoff-Robbins approach. These include the utilization of contemporary idioms, his use of improvisation and improvised songs in group music therapy, as well as pioneering work with self-referred adults integrating music psychotherapy and community music therapy practice. His expertise utilizing guitar has allowed the Nordoff-Robbins training to include therapists whose primary instrument is guitar. He has been a guest lecturer at many university training programs, including Anna Maria College, Berklee College of Music, and Lesley University. Aspects of his approach are detailed in a number of publications including Transference and Countertransference in Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy from The Dynamics of Music Psychotherapy (Kenneth E. Bruscia, Ed.) and The Use of Improvised Song for Children and Adults with Cancer in the text Music Therapy and Medicine (Cheryl Dileo, Ed.).