My name is Wade Richards – I am a board-certified music therapist, and one of the Owners and Directors of Spectrum Creative Arts.
I was always interested in music and psychology, but never envisioned myself becoming a music performer or psychologist. One day in my high school fine arts program, the music department from S.U.N.Y. Fredonia visited to outline career choices in field of music. After hearing about all options, the visiting music therapy professor showed a video about music therapy- and I had my epiphany! I went on to become a music therapist and even got my degree from Fredonia.
I attended S.U.N.Y. at Fredonia, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Music Therapy and Applied Voice. My internship ended up being in my hometown of Binghamton, New York at the Broome-Tioga Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES). I went on to complete trainings in Neurologic Music Therapy from Colorado State, Performance Wellness at New York University, and Orff-Schulwerk from University of Kentucky, Arizona State, and the Eastman School of Music.
My work with students at Spectrum Creative Arts is my passion, seeing each person embrace their uniqueness, independence, and artistry. I carry this passion into my work with music therapy and music education students with various universities. At the Eastman School of Music, I serve as an adjunct professor in the Music Education Department teaching education students how to adapt methods for special learners. In other local and national colleges, I am Internship Director for music therapy students completing their undergraduate and equivalency degrees. I present nationally for our American Music Therapy Association and Certification Board of Music Therapy, providing presentations and continuing education courses.
As a naturally creative person, (my name means “the creative one”), I enjoy a variety of adventures in cooking, art, writing, performing, songwriting, and traveling. Although I’m new to traveling- I recently started taking short trips to new locations and discovering the joy of a Norwegian cruise getaway. I have several self-published resource books and enjoy contributing to our Spectrum Press website. I support many programs for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder, including Campaign D., and recently was nominated for International Autism advocacy award.
Fun fact: My first jobs brought me to Rochester to work as a music therapist at Monroe BOCES 2 Alternative High School and The Hochstein School. I continued working at The Hochstein School for 15 years, becoming Chair of both the Music Therapy Department and the Orff-Schulwerk Department. This is where I accepted superstars Noa Ferguson, Megan Resig, and Molly Phillips into my internship program.
