Marisol Norris Appointed Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Therapy
Shenandoah Conservatory has appointed Marisol Norris, M.A., MT-BC, as a visiting assistant professor of music therapy beginning August 2017. Norris will teach undergraduate and graduate music therapy courses, supervise clinical training, and engage with Shenandoah Conservatory faculty and staff to foster innovative approaches to music therapy education and training.
“I’m thrilled that our search brought in someone who is not only so passionate about the discipline and work of music therapy, but who is also an emerging leader in the field,” said Shenandoah Conservatory Dean and Professor of Music Michael Stepniak, Ed.D. “With her care for students, her passionate commitment to excellence and innovation in training, and clear orientation towards collaboration, I have no doubt that Professor Norris will do very well here.”
“Marisol will be an exceptional addition to our music therapy programs and conservatory community,” said Director of Graduate Music Therapy Studies and Associate Professor of Music Therapy Anthony Meadows, Ph.D., MT-BC. “She is dynamic and passionate in her teaching, easily engaging students in the learning process. Her depth of knowledge about cultural competence in music therapy education and training, as well as her national leadership role in the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA), expresses her commitment to the field and her desire to advance the profession.”
As an emerging researcher in the field of music therapy, Norris has co-authored two peer-reviewed publications with an in-depth focus on cultural competency. She has frequently presented and co-presented at AMTA regional and national conferences, and has been invited to lecture at a number of universities along the East Coast.
Norris currently serves as a music therapist at the Family Court of Philadelphia and All Together Sing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has a broad clinical background that includes work with older adults, adults with a mental health diagnosis and children with special learning needs.
Norris was elected to serve as the vice president of membership for the Mid-Atlantic Region of AMTA in 2016, and also serves on the National Membership Committee and Diversity and Multiculturalism Committee for the organization.
A board-certified music therapist, Norris is currently completing her dissertation, “Between lines: A critical multi-modal discourse analysis of cultural memory and black aesthetics in a vocal music therapy group for chronic pain,” to fulfill the degree requirements of a Doctor of Philosophy in Creative Arts Therapies from Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she received her Master of Arts in Creative Arts Therapies. She received a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy, Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Bachelor of Arts in Music from Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama. Norris’s appointment to this one-year visiting position precedes a fall search for a full-time career contract appointment in music therapy, for which she will be enthusiastically invited to apply.
