Things you can do with a Music Education Degree

One of the things I get to do every year as a full time college professor is produce an “Annual Review,” and one of the categories in the review is “Current Student and Alumni Achievements.” Thinking about those recently I realized that three of my former students from when I taught at the Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam, can serve as great examples of some of the things you can do with a music education degree, which is what all of them earned as undergraduates. Also, as all have their career achievements to this point visible online they are great examples to highlight.

When I taught at Crane the vast majority of the horn players in the studio were music education, instrumental track, with a goal of becoming a band director. One of them who in fact became a band director is Greg Kane. The Canandaigua Academy Band Website is full of info on recent events and activities. It looks like a great school to be at and he has other musical activities going as not only a horn player but also as pianist in a jazz combo.

Another student changed direction a bit into an area that she expressed interest in as an undergraduate, music therapy. Meryl Brown is now a board certified music therapist in Illinois. I am a big fan of music therapy; for sure my son’s favorite therapist is his music therapist and it has helped him to blossom in terms of his interactions and communication these past few years. Meryl has her Masters degree in music therapy from Illinois State University. Arizona State also offers degrees in music therapy, and this past few years in Arizona we have found music therapy under attack as a target of budget cuts. The article just linked leaves me as a musician and parent thinking not enough people understand the goals and possibilities of music therapy as both a therapy and a career option; for more on those topics this is a good link.

One last former student I would highlight is one who became a university professor, Dr. Heidi Lucas. After Crane she went on to earn degrees from Eastman and the University of Georgia, and now is on the faculty of the University of Southern Mississippi. If you are in the southeast be sure to check out the Southeast Horn Workshop this year, March 26–28, 2010, on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi, as she is hosting the event! And not to take anything at all away from Heidi, I would just note that a music education degree may set you up better for teaching at a smaller school in particular, it can actually make your resume more attractive to a search committee than an undergraduate performance degree from some high power conservatory.

Of all the music education students at any of the schools I have taught at over the years I believe something like half of them are still in the field and the rest have gone in other directions. While I would still say that the reason to get a music education degree is because you want to be a music educator, as life goes on and directions change clearly you can do a variety of things with a music education degree, making it one I certainly support as a horn teacher.