Melita Belgrave
About Melita
Melita Belgrave (IAC 92, IAA 92-94, IAC St 94-95) teaches undergraduate and graduate music therapy courses at Arizona State University (ASU) and serves as the advisor for the music therapy student organization. She is also a research affiliate at The Mayo Clinic in Arizona and conducts creative aging music groups in the community. Belgrave earned her bachelor’s degree in music therapy from Michigan State University and her master’s in music therapy, certification in aging studies, and a doctorate in music education with an emphasis in music therapy from Florida State University. Belgrave has worked as a music therapist in special education, mental health, rehabilitation, hospice, geriatric, and intergenerational settings throughout Texas, Florida, Kansas, and Missouri. Her research interests are music therapy with older adults and intergenerational programming.
Belgrave has presented at regional, national, and international conferences and published her research in national and international journals, including the Journal of Music Therapy, Music Therapy Perspectives, Frontiers in Medicine, and the Journal of Music Teacher Education. She co-authored the text Music Therapy and Geriatric Populations: A Handbook for Practicing Music Therapists and authored a chapter and co-edited Music Therapy in a Multicultural Context: A Handbook for Music Therapy Students and Professionals. Her service work has included chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee for the American Music Therapy Association, membership on the editorial board of Music Therapy Perspectives, and 2016-2018 chair of the International Seminar of the Commission on Special Music Education and Music Therapy. Prior to her appointment at ASU, Belgrave taught in the music therapy program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City as an assistant and associate professor. In 2018, Belgrave was recognized by the Black Music Therapy Network, Inc. with the annual service award in recognition of her exemplary commitment to advanced knowledge and practice in the field of music therapy.