Michael Moniz

"Not everyone is structured to be a professional musician, but there are a lot of other careers that you can get involved with in music. There's business, recording, and teaching, and you can still play locally in all kinds of groups and get your musical satisfaction. So be open to those possibilities. It's a tough world out there, and there are a lot of people who don't make it at that level, but you can still continue to enjoy music, to contribute, and to pass it on to the next generation."

"Music therapy is healing through music. There are various ways that people can be helped through sound, through playing music, through making music, and through listening to music. Students in the Music Therapy Department learn about all these different populations and how to help those patients become more active, and in some cases, help them manage their pain."

"Music therapy is like teaching; unfortunately you don't make a lot of money being a music therapist. But you have a sense of satisfaction and the knowledge that you're helping people and sharing what you know about music. The types of students who are successful are good musicians, first of all, and people who have a sense of empathy toward others. They also have a willingness to help other people; it's someone who can put their patient ahead of themselves."

"All the technology available now, it opens avenues for people with disabilities to make music, things that they couldn't do 5, 10, 15 years ago. Even people with severe disabilities, they can be creative, they can contribute, and they can make music in a variety of different ways. We're seeing all kinds of changes. There are all kinds of new things happening with sound healing and with creative ways of having people with disabilities create music, maybe not in the traditional sense, but in their own unique way."