Leslie Bunt

Leslie's first degree was in music (Bristol, 1973) and he studied music therapy with Juliette Alvin, a pioneer in the field, at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London in 1976. He began teaching at the Guildhall in 1980. Leslie has worked as a music therapist with children and adults across the lifespan and with wide-ranging healthcare needs.  He was awarded the first PhD in music therapy (City) in 1985 for his outcome-based studies with children. Leslie set-up the first part-time PGDip in Music Therapy at the Department of Music, University of Bristol in 1992. This evolved into a MA in 2006 when the course was transferred to UWE. Leslie is Founding Director of the community-based music therapy charity The MusicSpace Trust,  launched in 1991. In 2009 Leslie was awarded an MBE for his services to music therapy. His position as Professor in Music Therapy was the first to be granted within a UK university. His publications include books published by Routledge: Music Therapy: an art beyond words (1994) and with a 2nd edition written with Brynjulf Stige (2014) and The Handook of Music Therapy, edited with Sarah Hoskyns and currently being revised with Sarah Hoskyns and Sangeeta Swamy.  In addition to his work as music therapist, trainer and researcher Leslie is also a freelance conductor. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Musicians.