Members Area

The countdown is on for Conference 2026, to be held in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland at Auckland University on Saturday 12 – Sunday 13 September. Keynote speakers to be announced soon.

The Conference theme, Te Poutama Hononga: Weaving Connections, celebrates the art of weaving together people, stories, and music, creating patterns of understanding, and community. The te reo name, gifted by Matua Sonny Niha (University of Auckland Centre for Brain Research) means “the connected journey of achievement and progress”. Each thread represents a unique experience or voice, and through the process of weaving diverse strands, new relationships and meanings emerge. 

KEYNOTE PRESENTERS

Katie Pureti and Jan McConnell, Mauri Tui Tuia Creative Therapies New Zealand
Dr Waireti Roestenburg (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairoa, Ngāti Pāhauwera, Rongomaiwahine, Ngāpuhi nui- tonu, Dutch, Irish, English)

CALL FOR PRESENTERS AND PERFORMERS

We welcome submissions for oral presentations, panels/round tables, workshops, posters, performances, shared musicking, and other creative formats that reflect our conference theme and reflect the diversity of practice, participation, theory, and collaboration. We welcome your critical reflections; magical moments; and your journey with music therapy or related fields. Our audience will include members, registered music therapists, people with lived experience, allied health professionals, students, people involved in community groups or government agencies, and the wider public. 

Please submit by Sunday 15 March 2026, 5pm, using this Google Form: https://forms.gle/ba13QjwGcdpXhfKZ6  

(If you have any difficulty using the form, please email the Administrator admin@musictherapy.org.nz for an alternative option.)

Presentation Formats:

  • Oral presentations: 20 minutes plus 5 minutes questions (25 minutes total), followed by a five-minute changeover and time to move to the next session. 
  • Panel discussions and roundtables: 55 minutes (including short presentations, discussion, and audience questions) – for example, three speakers, each 10 minutes, and 25 minutes  discussion. 
  • Workshops: 55 minutes, with an emphasis on active audience participation.
  • Posters (size A0 or A1) will be displayed throughout the conference, with a scheduled opportunity for presenters to give a brief elevator pitch introducing their work. 
  • Performances of 15-30 minutes will be featured during the conference breaks
  • Other format suggestions are welcome, if aligned with the conference theme.
  • Note, you may submit more than one presentation proposal; due to scheduling limitations, we may invite oral presentation proposals to be presented as a poster instead, and we reserve the right to limit oral presentations to one per presenter (after the anonymous review process).

Response to presenters: Your submission will be acknowledged, and the Selection Committee will aim to finalise the programme by 1 May. Advice will be sent out as soon as possible after this date.

Please spread the word among your personal and professional networks. The call is open to members, registered music therapists, allied professionals, students, and the general public. 

Any queries may be addressed to the Administrator: admin@musictherapy.org.nz.

Some photos from Music Therapy NZ 50th Celebration Conference, 2024

Photo: Katie Pureti