What sets the Music Therapy program at NYU Steinhardt apart from others?
What sets our program apart is its integration of rigorous musicianship, psychotherapeutic depth, and interdisciplinary collaboration within a major research university. It is also one of the few master’s programs in the country that welcomes students without an undergraduate music degree, allowing them to build the necessary musical foundations within the graduate curriculum.
What unique resources does the program offer?
We have The Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy, which offers students a unique opportunity to engage with state-of-the-art technology for recording, analyzing, and studying music therapy sessions. By volunteering to film sessions at the Center, students gain hands-on experience using advanced recording equipment and cameras controlled from a central computer lab. This experience not only provides a practical introduction to the music therapy process, but also fosters interdisciplinary connections by allowing students to collaborate with peers from programs like applied psychology. For students, this combination of resources and opportunities is truly unique; the Center is an incredible asset.
How does NYU’s interdisciplinary environment influence the way music therapy is taught and researched here?
NYU’s interdisciplinary environment expands learning through collaborations with other departments, ensuring that clinical partnerships emerge when they are most meaningful for client care. Our program also offers a wide variety of clinical placements- medical centers, psychiatric units, rehab facilities, forensic units, the VA Health Care System, music schools, public schools and more.
What courses or areas of expertise do you specialize in and how do students benefit?
I specialize in helping students develop their musicianship as music therapists, an essential skill for their future careers. One of my key contributions has been the development of the Theory and Application of Improvisation in Music Therapy track in the graduate program.
In addition, I teach Advanced Methods in Music Therapy, with a focus on working with adult clients, and Key Concepts in Music Therapy, a course that explores foundational theories from disciplines such as music philosophy, music psychology, neuroscience, sociology, ethnomusicology, and musicology.
Through this curriculum, students gain a comprehensive understanding of music therapy theory and practice while engaging in hands-on experiences at pre-internship and internship sites.
How do you approach teaching and mentoring to ensure student's success academically and artistically?
I strive to create an environment that inspires curiosity, nurtures confidence, and celebrates creativity. A key aspect of this approach is fostering a sense of wonder and playfulness, especially when it comes to improvisation, which can feel intimidating for students trained in classical Western traditions.
At the Nordoff-Robbins Center therapists trained in improvisation explore traditions such as African drumming, salsa, jazz, blues, and pentatonic music from the Middle East and East Asia.
At the heart of my teaching is the belief that improvisation is a landscape of hope. It’s a process of discovery that invites students to find possibility and creativity in the unexpected. My ultimate goal is to help students carry this openness and confidence into their work as music therapists, enabling them to connect with clients and use music in meaningful and transformative ways.
An aha! moment that reaffirmed why you do this work?
Moments that reaffirm this work often arise when students recognize their capacity to create authentic musical collaboration that fosters joy and connection- something vividly experienced during community jams that bring together clients, families, therapists, and students into a shared musical community.
If you could change one thing about how music therapy is understood by the public, what would it be?
It would be the recognition that music therapy is not only about restoring function; it is profoundly relevant to today’s social and emotional challenges, offering pathways toward connection in an increasingly isolated world. Music therapy demands an exquisite level of musical responsiveness that goes far beyond the concert stage. Rather than playing from a score, a therapist must use precise listening to resonate with the client’s mood, energy, and clinical needs. We improvise the delivery in real-time to match the person’s internal state, transforming the music into a profound, empathetic dialogue. It is a virtuosic application of connection that requires our full command of the medium to be truly effective.
