University of South Carolina Introduces New Music Teaching Artist Certificate Program

The program, which addresses a deficit of music teachers in South Carolina schools, includes coursework, mentoring, individual observation, and paid conference attendance

Having noted a serious shortage of music teachers within South Carolina and the impact this deficit has on local music learning, the University of South Carolina (USC) is introducing a new certificate program to train new music teachers.

The Music Teaching Artist Certificate program (MTAC) will accept its first cohort in January 2025, and will offer its students coursework, mentoring, individual observation, and paid attendance to the SC Music Educators Association Professional Development Conference.

Fred and Dinah Gretsch, the owners of the local Gretsch Company, have made a generous donation to the new program — and this will provide full scholarships for ten artists in the program's first intake.

The faculty for the program will include Hassan Anderson, Gail Barnes, Amanda Schlegel, Wendy Valerio, and guest instructor Alice Hammel. USC Music Professor-of-Practice in Music Leadership and Advocacy Mary Luehrsen will oversee the program as USC Music Teaching Artist Certificate Director.

Applications for the program open on October 24 and close on December 2, 2024. Those who have received a scholarship will be notified on December 16, 2024. You can read more about the program and apply here.

"This new program addresses the reality that many schools wish to hire full-time music teachers, but qualified applicants are not available," said Luehrsen. "The new MTAC program seeks to support working musicians in communities across SC who wish to share music learning with extended school residencies; every SC school needs to be filled with music."

"The vision of the School of Music at Carolina is to be the nation’s model public music school," said Tayloe Harding, Dean of the School of Music. "We feel very strongly that addressing the teacher shortage in a way that hasn't been conceived of before demonstrates this intention."

"There will never be a substitute for a certified teacher in a classroom with musicians in our state, but our society does need to fill classrooms in our SC schools where music teachers have not been hired and this program will help us do that. Our music education faculty have made it known that while we’re still focused on preparing music education students to be certified teachers, we can do this program, too."