By Tim Fox
Stephanie Holly, ’18, has always had a passion for music, but Maryville University’s music therapy program gave her the opportunity to combine it with another love — helping people.
Holly had just earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts when she decided to apply her talents to music therapy.
“I looked at about 50 schools, and Maryville was in the top three,” Holly said. “Though music and music therapy can seem similar, they are totally different professions.” After talking with an admissions counselor at Maryville, she applied, was accepted and has never looked back.
Today, she is planning to work with new and expectant parents as the music therapist for her own organization, Little Beats LLC.
“So many colleagues, friends and supervisors had small children, and seeing them interact with their kids reminded me of my personal life and my relationship with my mother,” Holly said. “It inspired me to find a way to provide music therapy for parents and children, because that relationship is so important.”
Holly’s dream builds on the work of L.I.F.E. Arts (Leadership, Innovation, Faith, Excellence), an organization founded by soul singer, songwriter, producer and community activist Brian Owens. As a Maryville student, Holly was the first graduate assistant for a pilot program, now called Compositions for L.I.F.E. Therapeutic Songwriting. The program fosters positive expression through music for at-risk youth. L.I.F.E. Arts was recently awarded a $100,000 grant from Maryville University to support future graduate assistants.
Today, L.I.F.E. Arts is thriving — and so is Holly. She is Director of Programs at L.I.F.E. Arts, overseeing not only Compositions for L.I.F.E. but also Strings for L.I.F.E., Lessons for L.I.F.E. and L.I.F.E. Labs. She also provides music therapy services three days a week to middle school and high school students in a Missouri alternative school. Her goal is to use therapeutic songwriting, recording and performance to help young people manage life’s adversities.
But Little Beats takes her work one step further. “Many families don’t have the resources for music therapy available to them, but I believe that it can be helpful for both parents and their children,” Holly said. “One of my goals with Little Beats is to make music therapy more accessible for everyone.”
Photo courtesy of Casey Neebs