Music Therapy

Program admission will begin in Fall 2025

Music Therapy is an established health profession in which music is used within a therapeutic relationship to address the physical, emotional, cognitive and social needs of individuals. The Music Therapy program at St. Cloud State University will prepare you to be a highly skilled and broad based music therapist while also improving your skills as a musician. 

Program Requirements Department of Music Music Scholarships

Program Highlights

• Performance opportunities include Chamber Orchestra, New Music Ensemble, Wind Ensemble, Campus Band, Sports Band, Jazz Band, Concert Choir, Women's Choir, Men's Choir, Chamber Choir, Percussion Ensemble, Brass Ensemble and World Drumming Group.
• Additional performing experiences possible through community partnerships with St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra, Great River Chorale, Minnesota Center Chorale, St. Cloud Municipal Band, Great River Jazz Collective, GREAT Theatre and Pioneer Place Theater.
• State-of-the-art Music Technology Lab prepares students for the future of teaching, creating and performing music.
• Courses designed to help graduates identify and apply American Music Therapy Association standards, professional roles and ethics. 
• Annual department festivals attract hundreds of high school band, choir and percussion students to campus.
• Department conferences attract hundreds of professional composers and electro-acoustic musicians to campus. 

Program Distinctions

• Program is approved by the American Music Therapy Association but pending review by National Association of Schools of Music.
• Music graduates have been accepted into nationally recognized graduate programs including the University of Minnesota, Manhattan School of Music, Cleveland State, Oberlin Conservatory, Indiana University, University of Illinois, University of Oregon and SUNY New York.
• Music graduates have won positions in prestigious performing groups including the Toledo Symphony, Eastman Opera Theater, San Francisco Opera, Utah Opera, United States Army Field Band, Walt Disney World, Glenn Miller Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic and the Cleveland Orchestra.
• Trio Lorca, a university ensemble of voice, flute and percussion, performed as part of the Distinguished Concerts Artists Series at Carnegie Hall in March 2012.
• Bruce Pearson, SCSU Distinguished Alumni and Honorary Doctorate, is the author of the award-winning Standards of Excellence Comprehensive Band Method, a series of books used in band programs around the world.

University Facts & Stats

• $50,000 in music scholarships awarded annually

• 1 million hours of campus, community volunteer service

• 39 Education Abroad programs offered

• 1 of 17 schools in the Centre for Medieval & Renaissance Studies Consortium, Oxford, England

• 2013 Senator Paul Simon Award for Comprehensive Internationalization

Connect With Us

Department of Music Husky Sports Band Department of Music Husky Sports Band