Shannon K. de l’Etoile, assistant professor and music therapy program director, joined the Phillip and Patricia Frost School of Music faculty in fall 2001.  She earned both her bachelors and masters degrees in music therapy from Colorado State University.  In 1999, she received her doctorate in music education with an emphasis on music therapy from the University of Kansas.  Dr. de l’Etoile’s clinical background includes working with adults with mental illness, children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders, adults and children with developmental disabilities, as well as adults and children with neurologic disorders.  Prior to her current appointment, Dr. de l’Etoile taught music therapy at the University of Iowa and at Colorado State University.  In addition, she worked as a research associate for the internationally-recognized Center for Biomedical Research in Music in Fort Collins, Colorado.  Her current research interests include infants’ responses to music, as well as the effect of rhythm on the gait parameters of patients with spinal cord injury.  Dr. de l’Etoile is a board-certified music therapist and current member of the American Music Therapy Association, and the Southeastern Region for music therapy.  She is also recognized as a Fellow of the Robert F. Unkefer Academy of Neurologic Music Therapy and serves on the editorial review board for the Journal of Music Therapy. 

“Our students learn an evidence-based approach to clinical practice,

founded in scientific research on how the human brain

perceives, processes and produces music.”

email: sdel@miami.edu