12/04/2025
Meet our talented music therapy faculty! Passionate about healing through sound, they inspire creativity and connection in every class they teach. Get to know the heart behind our program, meet our next faculty member: Leigh Williams!
Pronouns: She/her
Courses you teach: Music Therapy in Rehab, Music Therapy Practicum Seminar, and Music Therapy Internship I and II.
When you aren't teaching, what do you do in your clinical work?: I am a hospice music therapist full-time. Twenty-three years ago, I created the music therapy program at Blue Ridge Care (formerly Blue Ridge Hospice) and have been practicing there ever since.
What drew you to teaching future music therapists?: I was looking for something to balance my clinical work, which involves constant death, dying, and grief. I have always enjoyed mentoring others and decided to extend my work in the community into the classroom setting. Although my specialty is hospice, the generalization and overarching themes and topics are similar across populations and settings.
What is the most rewarding part of being on the SU Music Therapy Faculty?: There are several rewarding parts of being on the SU Music Therapy Faculty. One, is that SU is where I got my bachelor's and master's of music therapy, and by teaching there, it comes full circle. Two, I get to know some amazing students who teach me each and every day. Lastly, the moment that "the light bulb goes off" makes it all worth it to me. Especially when students reach out years later to tell me how they are doing and what they took from our classes that is making a difference now.
What is your favorite instrument in the clinic?: My favorite instrument in the clinic is and always will be the ocean drum.
