OCMT 2017

Dr. Kenneth Aigen is an associate professor in music therapy at New York University. He has lectured internationally and authored numerous publications on Nordoff-Robbins music therapy, qualitative research, the use of popular music in music therapy, and music-centered music therapy. His research uses musicological analyses to reveal connections between the elements of music and common cognitive, emotional, and motoric goals in music therapy. Two of his books, Paths of Development in Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy and Music-Centered Music Therapy have been translated into Japanese and Korean. Dr. Aigen is president of the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Foundation. He is also a past–president of the American Association for Music Therapy and was the scientific committee chairman for the Ninth World Congress of Music Therapy held in Washington, D.C. in 1999. Honors include the Research and Publications Award from the American Music Therapy Association and the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching from Temple University. His most recent publication is the book The Study of Music Therapy: Core Issues and Concepts published by Routledge. His current research interests include the area of neurodiversity and autism spectrum disorders and he is very committed to helping music therapists to develop clinical and research projects that are congruent with the goals of autism self-advocacy organizations.