Music Therapy

Bachelor of Music
Study the impact of melody, harmony, and rhythm on children and adults.

Music therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship. Board-certified music therapists (MT-BCs) work in medical, psychiatric, and educational settings to help clients improve psychological and physiological functioning. Your clinical training will include a board-certified music therapist as a supervisor at every session throughout your four years. You will get experience conducting sessions in community health care and education settings and in our state-of-the-art Music Therapy Clinic.

Course curriculum • Student outcomes • Cost of attendance

student singing and playing guitar for three children

Highlights

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Receive four years of music lessons and you can perform in recitals and with multiple ensembles

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Gain clinical skills in the York Wellness and Rehabilitation Institute on campus.

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Study abroad options in South America, Europe, and Africa.

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Learn piano, guitar, and percussion, along with your primary instrument

music therapy class playing percussion instruments
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student teaching child to play drums

Career Paths

  • School music therapist
  • Gerontology specialist
  • Mental health clinician
  • Medical music therapist
Example internships
  • Strong Memorial Hospital
  • Hospice Buffalo
  • The Wildwood School, VA
Employers
  • Golisano Children’s Hospital at Strong Memorial Hospital
  • West Palm Beach Hospice
  • Saint Barnabas Medical Center, NJ
  • Giant Steps Autism Treatment, CT

70+

study abroad options to enrich your experience, including Austria, Italy, or Sweden

550-seat

Glazer Music Performance Center: state-of-the-art building designed to provide excellent acoustics for large instrumental and vocal ensembles

MT-BC

gain eligibility to sit for a national certification exam for a board certification credential (MT-BC)

Music Therapy at Naz

How to Audition

Auditions are required for this major. View audition details and register.

Professional Licensure Disclosure

Nazareth University curriculum is designed to help students complete the AMTA-approved bachelor’s and master’s degree in Music Therapy. Additionally, the master’s program meets educational requirements in New York to apply for a licensure as a Licensed Creative Arts Therapist.

Upon completion of the bachelor’s degree in Music Therapy, students are eligible to sit for the national board certification exam to obtain the credential MT-BC (Music Therapist - Board Certified) which is necessary for professional practice. The credential MT-BC is granted by a separate, accredited organization, the Certification Board for Music Therapists (CBMT).

Nazareth University cannot determine whether completion of the master’s degree in Music Therapy meets educational requirements to apply for licensure as a music therapist in other states.

For questions regarding the undergraduate program, please contact Laurie Keough, M.S.Ed, LCAT, MT-BC at lkeough7@naz.edu

See answers to frequently asked questions.

Jessica Jarvis, alumna of the music therapy major, music therapy degree program at Nazareth College

Alumni Spotlight

Jessica Jarvis ‘11 

A six-month internship at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, Texas, led to a full-time job there for Jessica Jarvis (left) as one of three board-certified music therapists. In a Texas Medical Center story, Jarvis said, "To see the joy in a mom’s eyes when her child gets up and walks for the first time because it’s easier with music as a stimulation and motivation… I see music therapy making a real difference in my patients." Jarvis went on for a doctorate in rehabilitation sciences, to advance research in the field, including testing music therapy intervention in pediatric intensive care.