I was absolutely delighted to return to Tbilisi in November 2024 to deliver training and supervision as part of Project Georgia. The plan for this trip was very similar to my visit in November 2023: two days of delivering an intensive study weekend as part of the Distance Learning Programme alongside local partner Tako Jordania, and a day of supervision to support staff at the Music Therapy Centre.

My sense of anticipation for this trip began particularly early, as I took Georgian language lessons online for a few months prior to polish up my very rusty skills. I have heard English spoken in Tbilisi more and more with each visit over the years, but nevertheless I am keen not to entirely rely on it. It is a fascinating isolate language with its own beautiful alphabet and complex grammar, and studying it more closely also helped me understand Georgian culture more deeply.

Tako and I had worked together over Zoom to fine-tune our training plan for this year, based off our feedback and notes from the 2023 training. One big difference was a new venue for this year: the Tbilisi State Conservatoire. This is a grand historic building in the very centre of Tbilisi. Tako had arranged for one of their small chamber rooms to be our venue for the weekend, and we headed there on the Friday to set everything up. It was lovely being in such a musical environment; hearing reverberations from rehearsal rooms around the building, being able to play the grand piano in the room, and being watched over by portraits of Mozart and Beethoven.

The Distance Learning Programme is currently in its second iteration, led again by local music therapist Tako Jordania. Her group of 9 students have been receiving tutorials via email for 8 months. The intensive study weekend takes place fairly early on in the programme, and everyone is meeting in person for the first time. As well as the participants, the wonderful Eliso Gvasalia also joined us across my visit to provide interpretation: my Georgian skills are still a long way off from not required interpretation, although I did manage to introduce myself and my work in Georgian at the start of the day!

The weekend’s training covers a wide range of content, including discussion of key concepts, reflecting on videos of clinical work, and practising practical skills. I think Tako and I are a great team; we can bounce off each other, adapt material in the moment, and support each other in musical roleplay to demonstrate different concepts – all across two languages! The students all seemed thoroughly engaged throughout, with great observations and questions. Some highlights included one participant sharing a poem she wrote on her experience of day 1, seeing how enthusiastic everyone was to try out new musical techniques, and the completely immersive 15-minute-long group improvisation we finished the weekend with.

On the Monday, I was greeted with a warm welcome at the Parents’ Bridge Day Centre for our day of supervision. This time I was working with four staff members working as music therapists at the centre – Aliona, Eka, Nino and Mariam. Aliona and Eka were involved in the original training project that I delivered alongside Isabel Bedford back in 2014; both have such rich and varied careers and it is wonderful to see how music therapy has remained a huge part of their work. I first met Nino and Mariam in 2023, but it felt like greeting old friends to see them both again! As always, it is a privilege to see examples of their clinical work in supervision, and I look forward to seeing more when we meet online again in the coming months. Teona Kacheishvili, director of the Parents Bridge Centre and long-time pioneer and supporter of music therapy in Georgia, kindly arranged for us all to go to lunch together, which was a lovely treat for my last day before heading home.

Overall, it was another rich and exciting visit to my home-from-home, Tbilisi. I feel exceptionally fortunate to be part of this work. My personal involvement with Project Georgia has now been over ten years and I never take it for granted!