Cheryl Stephenson, executive director of Music Academy of Eastern Carolina, a nonprofit community music school in Greenville, N.C., has been elected president of the Southeastern Region of the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA). She began her two-year term in April.

Stephenson earned a bachelor’s degree in music therapy and music education from East Carolina University and a master’s degree in music therapy from Michigan State University. She is the chairwoman of the AMTA professional advocacy committee and serves on the Assembly of Delegates, the governing board for AMTA.

Working in the field of music therapy for more than 25 years, she is an active clinician and has published and presented at local and national conferences. Stephenson is a free-lance oboist, teaching and performing in eastern North Carolina and with the ensemble Harmonious Camaraderie. She also serves as a representative for the Southeastern Chapter of School Directors for the National Guild for Community School of the Arts.

“I am honored to serve my profession of music therapy,” she says. “My commitment to supporting the advancement of music therapy is ongoing, and I look forward to furthering the advocacy and mission of the Southeastern Region of the American Music Therapy Association.”

The Southeastern Region of the AMTA serves a 10-state area (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee). The association’s mission is to advance public awareness of music therapy and to increase access to quality music therapy services.

As defined by the AMTA, music therapy is “an established health care profession that uses music to address physical, emotional, cognitive and social needs of individuals of all ages.”

Stephenson and her husband, Michael, co-founded the Music Academy of Eastern Carolina in 1997, as a nonprofit community music school. The Music Academy of Eastern Carolina serves to provide education and involvement in music for people of all ages and abilities based on quality instruction in a variety of musical styles fostering lifelong values and an appreciation of the arts. Music instruction and music therapy services are available at Music Academy of Eastern Carolina with private and group instruction for individuals of all ages.

Source: The Daily Reflector, Greenville, N.C.