American Music Therapy Association

AMTA Remembers 9/11/2001

We Remember 9/11/2001

Ten years ago we gasped and held our collective breath. Music therapists slowly exhaled, gathered together, and set forth on a journey of healing and hope that continues today. The American Music Therapy Association, and our entire community of music therapists, takes this time to reflect, remember, and move forward in hope and peace.

We Remember the New York City Music Therapy Relief Project

We are especially grateful to the contributions of music therapists and everyone who participated in the New York City Music Therapy Relief Project. The project was aimed at providing direct music therapy services to individuals and groups in and around New York City who were directly affected by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The legacy of this project serves today as a tangible milepost in music therapy excellence and service.

The Things Said and Sung a Decade Past and Today

"Our Caring for the Caregiver group, which was an outgrowth of the AMTA-Grammy 2002 Support, has gathered to memorialize friends, relatives and colleagues that we lost on that day. The music, and in particular, our singing and holding of one another has been, and continues to be a refuge. For this, we are grateful."

- Joanne Loewy DA, LCAT, MT-BC 

"…Because of this tragedy, we have been bound together by a silver chord of hope and brotherhood and sisterhood. What was meant to drive us apart has really drawn us together. May we always remember."

- Reverand W. Phipps

And the world will live as one…"

- John Lennon, Excerpt from Imagine

"In spite of all the devastation, there is always the hope for tomorrow.  The sun will always rise."

- Deborah Johnson. From Caring for the Caregiver: The Use of Music and Music Therapy in Grief and Trauma, Edited by Loewy, J.V. and Frisch-Hara, A. 2002, AMTA, Silver Spring, MD.

An Invitation To Sing

As a community of music therapists and music therapy students, the American Music Therapy Association invites you to take a moment around the anniversary of 9/11 to sing – in remembrance, in peace, and in hope. We offer a suggested chant of reflection (and mp3 recording) titled My Voice Has Wings. We also offer a copy of Sing With Me, a song composed by music therapist Kate Geller and used by the New York City area Caring for the Caregiver Group. We provide the chant and song, below, in the hopes that our voices, united, will bring support and comfort to all.*

My Voice Has Wings

My Voice has wings to hold you in my love.

This work by Kristopher E Lindquist is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Sing With Me

With gratitude and respect, in peace,

The American Music Therapy Association

* If music therapists or students choose to record or document your 9-11 anniversary chant or song of reflection, we invite you to share any permitted digital files or photos with AMTA for the association’s archives. Contact: info@musictherapy.org Subject line: 9_11 Anniversary

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