Rising Star Music Fund’s signature program is the Rising Star Choirs for Children with Autism. We work with the Music Therapy Departments of our partner Universities to provide the choir experience led by Certified Professional Music Therapists. In addition to providing this beneficial activity to the children our goal is to provide a joyful and stress free activity for the parents, who face tremendous challenges each day. We currently offer this program at:
California State University, Northridge
Ronald M. Borczon,
Ronald M. Borczon, MT-BC, founded the Music Therapy Department at California State University, Northridge in 1984. After more than 25 years, he remains director of the program, one of only two in the State of California. He also instructs classical guitar at the university. Mr. Borczon holds a M.M. degree from the University of Southwestern Louisiana, a B.M. in Music Therapy and a B.A. in Music with an emphasis on performance, from Florida State University. He also is an alumnus from the Aspen School of Music. His teachers include Bruce Holzman, Oscar Ghiglia, Eliot Fisk, and Robert Guthrie.
He is past president of the National Association of Music Therapy, Western Region. His clinical experience in music therapy spanning 30 years and encompassing numerous populations including psychiatric, intellectual and developmental disability, autism, post traumatic stress syndrome and substance abuse. Ron Borczon has presented numerous papers at national and regional conferences, as well as given many public service presentations. In 1994, he received the Presidential Award from the President of the National Association for Music Therapy. This prestigious honor was given in recognition of Music Therapy work done following the 1994 Northridge Earthquake where he developed innovative music experiences to help school age children in the Northridge community deal with the earthquake trauma. In 1995, Borczon conducted a special workshop on Music Therapy and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder for therapists in Oklahoma City after the Oklahoma City bombing. While in Oklahoma, Borczon worked not only with the therapists who were treating family members and survivors, but he also worked directly with a survivor from the bombing. In 1998, he was awarded a grant from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to investigate the effectiveness of two different approaches of music therapy on expressive communication with autistic children, and in 1999, Borczon was awarded the “Betty Isern Howery Award,” the highest distinction given in the Western Region Association for contributions to the field of Music Therapy. He was asked to help in the planning of music therapy interventions for the students of Columbine High School in the aftermath of the Columbine tragedy and the Santee High School shootings. In 2006 He was awarded the “Award of Merit” from the American Music Therapy Association at the National Conference in Kansas City, Missouri. This award is the one of the highest forms of recognition given by the national office for contributions to the field of music therapy. In 2007 he was awarded the “Outstanding Faculty Award” from California State University, Northridge. He has presented numerous workshops on the effectiveness of music therapy in the wake of a mass disaster.
In 1996 he created the CSUN Music Therapy Wellness clinic that serves the Los Angeles community. The clinic currently enjoys three music therapists who work with clients of all ages and disabilities. In 2006 the clinic merged forces with internationally acclaimed Nordoff-Robbins music therapy bringing the title of “Nordoff-Robbins West” to the clinic.
Ron Borczon has been interviewed many times for periodicals and venues such as LA Times, LA Daily News, Reader’s Digest, KNBC Channel 4 Los Angeles, and the Australian television show “What’s Good for You.” He appears on the Paul McCartney documentary DVD “The Space Within US” and has also been seen as the music therapist for Danny Bonaducci in the VH1 show, “Breaking Bonaducci.” He has been consulted for many projects that appear in television and film.
He has two compact disc recordings on Centaur Records. His instructional video, Guitar Today, is available in Spanish and English through Valiant Industries. In 1998 his book “Music Therapy, Group Vignettes” was published by Barcelona Publishing. In 2004 his second book “Music Therapy: A Fieldwork Primer” was also published by Barcelona Publishing.
He is still active as a clinician working in the Music Therapy Wellness clinic at CSUN.
Yessenia Gonzalez
Yessenia Gonzalez, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, graduate from the Music Therapy Program at CSUN and a holds a Master’s in Social Work degree from USC. Yessenia completed her clinical internship at Fairview Developmental Center, in Costa Mesa Ca where she worked with adults with a wide range of disabilities and behavioral- emotional needs. She began her work experience at the CSUN MTWC in 2014, working with a wide variety of clients, in both individual and group settings, including the Rising Star choir. Yessenia has been CSUN MTWC Assistant director since 2019. Her clinical training as a social worker has focused on children and families, and consisted of work in schools and non-profits. Along with her current work at CSUN, Yessenia works as a Psychiatric Social Worker for LAUSD, where she continues to use music to build rapport and engage with her clients.
Rebeca Orantes
Rebeca Orantes is a board certified music therapist that completed her Bachelor of Arts in Music Therapy at CSUN. Rebeca has served as outreach therapist at CHIME, Northridge Hospital, and Huntington Hospital pediatric Unit. Rebeca has led the Reminiscing Through Music Group for older adults and Kidz Music & Movement Group at CSUN, and is the co-director for the Rising Star Choir. Prior to graduating, she completed her internship at Professional Child Development Associates in Pasadena, CA. She worked with children with a wide range of disabilities. Rebeca was trained in the DIR/Floortime® approach, a relationship-based model that focuses on the social-emotional development of a child. In addition, Rebeca has experience working with geriatric populations in assisted living facilities, memory care homes, and senior centers, using music to promote wellness, memory recall, and life enrichment.
Judy Langdon
Judy Langdon is a graduate from the Music Therapy Program at Cal State, Northridge. She is the Director for the Asteroids Band and Co- director for Sunshine Singers. Judy has served as outreach therapist at LAUSD Lokrantz Sped Elem. Judy completed her clinical internship at Professional Child Development Associates in Pasadena, California, where she received training in DIR®/FloortimeTM, a relationship-based therapy model. Judy has experience working as a Music Therapist at an acute psychiatric facility, elementary education, and also utilizes her music therapy expertise and techniques to facilitate sessions at teen rehab centers and various camps.
Belmont University, Nashville, Tennessee
Alejandra J. Ferrer
Alejandra J. Ferrer, Ph.D., MT-BC, Assistant Professor of Music and Coordinator of Music Therapy, joined the faculty at Belmont University in the Fall of 2015. Dr. Ferrer holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Therapy from The Florida State University (2004), a Master of Music in Music Therapy from The Florida State University (2005), and a PhD in Music Education from The Ohio State University (2012).
Prior to joining Belmont University, Dr. Ferrer worked as Adjunct Professor at Ohio University and The Ohio State University, where she taught music therapy and music education courses. Concurrently, she practiced music therapy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, where she served infants and toddlers in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and supervised undergraduate and graduate practicum students and interns. Dr. Ferrer developed the first music therapy program at the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. Prior to that, she served adults with mental illness and substance abuse disorders in both acute care and forensic units. Additional clinical experiences include working with the gerontology population and children and adults with developmental disabilities.
Dr. Ferrer is an active member of the American Music Therapy Association and a regular presenter at regional and national music therapy and music education conferences on topics pertaining to medical music therapy, prgram development, and professional issues. Her research has been published in the Journal of Music Therapy. Dr. Ferrer has authored one book chapter (Music Therapy: Bettering Lives One Note at a Time in Charyton’s Creativity and Innovation Among Science and Art) and most recently co-authored an article for the music therapy online magazine Imagine.
