Songs, Stories, & Sundaes: APSU music therapy program hosting free community event Sept. 13
By: Dr. Andrea Spofford September 2, 2026
An APSU music therapy student works with children during the program’s Spectrum Families of Clarksville Music Therapy Day. | Photo by Sean McCully
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Austin Peay State University’s Department of Music, with support from the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts, will present "Songs, Stories, & Sundaes” at 2 p.m. on Sept. 13 in Music/Mass Communication Room 147. This free public event features musical performances, ice cream sundaes, and stories about working in music therapy.
Presenters include Anna Roty and Steph Boshea, board-certified music therapists, and the APSU music therapy faculty. High school students interested in pursuing music therapy are especially encouraged to attend, along with community members who want to learn how the field supports health and wellness.
“I am so excited to share with the community the impact music therapy can have on clients,” said Lauren Edmonds, assistant professor of music therapy. “I hope that our music therapy program will continue to appeal to high school students interested in pursuing the career, and we will continue to find ways to expand our services to the community.”
Music therapy is the clinical use of music intervention to reach individual health, emotional, and cognitive goals. It has been proven effective in a variety of clinical settings. APSU’s music therapy program trains future therapists to be both professional healthcare workers and musicians.
About Anna Roty
Anna Roty is a licensed professional counselor and a board-certified music therapist. She works in Troy, Michigan at River’s Bend, P.C. She completed her master's in clinical Mental Health Counseling at Wayne State University, and her bachelor’s of music in music therapy from Belmont University. Roty has experience with many populations in private practice, in-home care, and nonprofit settings. Her experience includes working with adults with brain injuries and spinal cord injuries, and with children and adults with a variety of mental health concerns, including trauma, OCD, autism, anxiety disorders, and ADHD.
About Steph Boshea
Steph Boshea is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW), board-certified music therapist (MT-BC), and certified yoga instructor (CYT-200) with over eight years of experience in partial hospitalization (PHP) and intensive outpatient (IOP) mental health settings. Boshea specializes in working with complex trauma, PTSD, eating disorders, OCD, anxiety, self-harm, suicidal behaviors, LGBTQIA+ issues, and neurodivergent needs. Their approach is trauma-informed and grounded in a systems perspective, recognizing how relationships, identity, culture, and other social systems influence mental health and healing. In addition to psychotherapy, Boshea has experience providing music therapy with veterans and general mental health populations. They currently work as a primary therapist and supervisor in a complex trauma partial hospitalization program in Skokie, Illinois.
More information
To learn more about music therapy at Austin Peay, contact Assistant Professor Lauren Edmonds at edmondsl@apsu.edu. To learn more about future CECA events, productions, and performances, visit https://www.apsu.edu/ceca/.
About the Department of Music
The Austin Peay State University Department of Music hosts more than 100 performances each semester. Events take place in the 600-seat George & Sharon Mabry Concert Hall, Recital Hall in MMC 147, Heydel Hall in the Art + Design Building, and other venues across campus and in the local community.
Performances feature APSU student and faculty soloists, chamber, and large ensembles. Performances also feature guest artists sponsored by the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts.
About the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts
Since 1985, the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts (CECA, or "seek-ah") has been providing students, the Clarksville community, and the Middle Tennessee region with engaging experiences through the Art + Design, Creative Writing, Music, and Theatre & Dance programs at APSU. CECA brings as many as 85 guest artists to Clarksville each year and presents up to 100 public arts and culture events annually, including concerts, exhibitions, artist lectures, master classes, artist residencies, and more. In addition, CECA provides the arts faculty at APSU with research opportunities to enhance their professional growth as well as numerous student scholarships each year to support APSU's own emerging artists. To learn more about the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts at APSU, contact Dr. Andrea Spofford at spofforda@apsu.edu.