Music Therapy

Music Therapy students at the Cali School of Music prepare to use music, relationship, and clinical practice to support wellbeing across the lifespan. Through listening, performing, improvising, composing, and engaging with a wide range of musical styles and traditions, students learn how music can address physical, emotional, social, and cultural needs in many different care settings.

Established in 1969, Montclair’s Music Therapy Program is one of the longest-standing programs of its kind in the world, with a distinguished history of service, mentorship, and professional preparation. Students build academic, artistic, and clinical skills through coursework, musical engagement, supervised fieldwork, and internship experiences in schools, hospitals, nursing care centers, community programs, and other clinical environments.

Guided by Cali faculty, students learn to assess needs, develop therapeutic goals, collaborate with care teams and stakeholders, and create music-based approaches that support wellbeing. Students also have access to the newly redesigned David Ott Lab for Music and Health, an innovative space focused on digital music technologies and their role in music therapy, research, education, and care.