We are very pleased that Dr. Christian Gold from the Grieg Academy Music Therapy Research Centre in Bergen, Norway will be joining us for two stimulating lectures. r. Gold is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, and is well-known for his randomized control trials and work in psychiatry and mental health. His plenary lecture titled, "Music Therapy Research in the 21st Century: From Separation to Integration" will headline our series of sessions. He will also present a session titled, "Collaborative Research Projects in Music Therapy in Mental Health: The House and its Rooms." In addition to Dr. Gold's presentations, we will be adding a session highlighting recently completed doctoral research by MAR members to our usual fare for the Research Track at the conference. A special research track featuring Dr. Christian Gold. Dr. Gold is professor at Grieg Academy and University of Bergen, Norway, as well as the principal researcher at the Grieg Academy Music Therapy Research Centre ( GAMUT), Uni Research, Bergen, Norway. In addition, he is the editor-in-chief of the Nordic Journal of Music Therapy. We are very excited about Dr. Gold's visit to MAR! Amazing entertainment like Thursday night's Exhibit Hall Spectacular featuring The Garnet Hearts https://www.facebook.com/thegarnethearts and Friday night's Dessert Bar featuring the Junkyard Saints! http://junkyardsaints.com/

Professor Christian Gold is a music therapist.Professor of the Grieg Academy Music Therapy Research Center of the University of Bergen, in Norway, and methodological adviser of the Department of Communication and Psychology of the University Aalborg of Denmark.Editor in Chief of the "Nordic Journal of Music Therapy," he is a known investigator of the therapeutic effects of music in mental disorders and a greater promoter of the development of these activities in mental health services.

In a randomised controlled study, Kim, Wigram and Gold (2008) reported that improvisational music therapy was more effective at facilitating joint attention behaviours and non-verbal social communication skills in children than play. They also reported more and lengthier eye contact and turn-taking. Gold, Wigram and Elefant (2006) in a review of the effects of music therapy for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) conclude that available studies were of limited applicability to clinical practice. However they did report that findings indicate that music therapy may help children with ASD to improve their communicative skills. More research is needed to investigate the effects of music therapy in typical clinical practice, and to examine whether the effects are enduring (Gold, Wigram and Elefant, 2006). Nordic Journal of Music Therapy. [Publishes in English and Scandinavian languages] Contact: Dr. Christian Gold, Editor in Chief, Grieg Academy Music Therapy Research Centre, (GAMUT), c/o Grieg Academy, Dept. of Music, University of Bergen, Lars Hilles gt. 3, N-5015, Bergen, Norway; tel: +47 97 50 17 57; fax: +47 55 58 69 60; website: www.njmt.no Christie, P. and Wimpory, D. (1986). Recent research into the development of communicative competence and its implications for the teaching of autistic children. Communication. 20(1), pp. 4-7. Gold, C., Wigram, T. and Elefant, C. (2006). Music therapy for autistic spectrum disorder. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2, CD004381. Available to download from www.mrw.interscience.wiley.com/cochrane/clsysrev/articles/CD004381/pdf_fs.html Kim, Wigram and Gold (2008). ‘The effects of improvisational music therapy on joint attention behaviors in autistic children: a randomized controlled study’, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38(9), pp. 1758-1766. Wigram, T. and Gold, C. (2006) ‘Music therapy in the assessment and treatment of autistic spectrum disorder: clinical application and research evidence’, Child: Care, Health and Development, 32(5), pp. 535-542.

Christian Gold, PhD, Gold, C., Heldal, T. O., Dahle, T., & Wigram, T. (2005). Music therapy for schizophrenia and schizophrenia-like illnesses (Cochrane Review), The Cochrane Library, Issue 2, 2005. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Biographical details: Christian Gold, PhD, is Associate Professor at the Grieg Academy Music Therapy Research Centre, University of Bergen, Norway (currently working within a research project conducted by Sogn og Fjordane University College). In addition, he serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, works on the PhD Board at the Department of Communication and Psychology at Aalborg University, Denmark, and runs a private music therapy practice in Vienna. His main research interests include clinical trials and meta-analysis for examining therapy outcome, as well as the predictors and processes linked to it, for people with serious mental disorders.

Prof. Christian Gold