[3] Her first independent works were published from 1954 to 1959 under the name Gertrud Willert-Orff, in four volumes entitled Small Piano Pieces and listing her as the composer.
Related work takes up the ideas of elementary music education, a playful and multisensory approach, and further developed them into a methodology individually tailored to the needs of children with disabilities.
[4] From 1980 onwards she passed on her knowledge to students attending courses, which from 1986 gave rise to further training, which is continued by the German Academy for Development Promotion and Health of Children and Adolescents.
[5] A year before her death she was involved in founding the Society for Orff Music Therapy based on Gertrud's work.
[6] Gertrud Orff's many students have included the music therapists Christine Plahl and Susanna Filesch (Catholic Foundation University Munich), Karin Schumacher (Berlin University of the Arts), Ursula Stiff (new music forum) and Melanie Voigt (Children's Center Munich).