The interest of our institute in music therapy has distant roots. Already in 2001 the Conservatory of Music of Verona, in collaboration with the University of Verona, the Consortium for the Development of University Studies of Verona and the Lichtenberger Institut of Darmstadt, gave life to the "Orphéus Project" (from a therapy for music to music therapy), a multi-year research project on the relationship between medicine and music conceived and directed by prof. Romildo Grion.
Together with the "Orphéus Project", the Conservatory has created an Elective Course in Music Therapy for students of the University of Verona's Faculty of Medicine.
In 2005 the Verona Conservatory activated with Ministerial Decree n. 484 of 23 November the Experimental Course for the Academic Diploma of Specialization in Music Therapy, the first training course in music therapy together with that at the Conservatory of L'Aquila.
The Corso itself, thanks to the law of 17 July 2020 n. 77, article 23 paragraph 3bis has obtained equivalence to second level diplomas. In these twenty years we have represented an essential point of reference for training in music therapy on the national scene and in particular within the AFAM-MIUR sector.
The Ministerial Decree n. 2905 of 6/12/2021 establishes the Ordinamental Biennium DCSL 72 Theories and techniques in Music Therapy and allows us to make this long experimental period fully official: the Verona Conservatory has obtained authorization for this Biennium starting from the 2022 academic year -2023.
In July 2022 an agreement was signed with the University of Verona for the specific sector of Music Therapy: agreement.
Educational goals
The course aims to train qualified musicians in "Theories and techniques in Music Therapy" able to make a professional use of music and its elements as a form of intervention in the medical, educational and daily life fields with individuals, groups, families and communities. The training plan integrates musical training aimed at music therapy purposes (improvisation, use of instruments, multimedia skills) together with training of a more specifically theoretical and methodological nature in music therapy (foundations, methods and techniques, planning, evaluation) with training in the psychological area, medical and pedagogical, for the inclusion of the graduate in rehabilitation and treatment pathways. The training course is aimed at acquiring the ability to observe and describe interventions through the contribution and dialogue between different points of view (including musical, pedagogical, psychological, medical, music therapy) and different musical and music therapy practices ( including vocal, movement, with musical instruments, with listening). Furthermore, it intends to develop design skills and techniques for the conscious and targeted use of sound and music in the various sectors: educational-preventive, personal and social integration/development, rehabilitative and therapeutic. In order to bring the students closer to the various employment contexts, a 250-hour practical internship is planned, carried out in partner centers, guided and supervised by a Tutor.
At the end of the course of study, graduates in "Theories and Techniques in Music Therapy" will have acquired:
• knowledge in pedagogical, medical-psychological, anthropological, methodological and musical and music therapy techniques;
• interdisciplinary skills, through experiences, training and research activities that provide for diversified forms of interaction between the knowledge that characterize the disciplinary fields oriented towards music therapy practices.
Employment prospects
As part of the helping relationship for the realization of paths aimed at personal and social integration/development, rehabilitation and therapy in hospitals, hospices, day centers, rest homes for the elderly, residential care facilities for the disabled, prisons, community of integration and recovery, social cooperation.
In the school environment for the creation of paths aimed at the prevention, inclusion and treatment of youth discomfort in schools of all levels.
