“The Evelyn Selesky Night of Music” set for May 6

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The Molloy College Music Department Division of Humanities will present “The Evelyn Selesky Night of Music” on May 6 at The Madison Theatre.

The annual spring event is the last concert of the year. Two years ago, it was named in honor of Selesky, a Baldwin resident who served as the music department chairperson until her passing on Aug. 17, 2014, from pancreatic cancer.

Selesky’s professional life began with her studies and work as a speech pathologist, but she quickly realized that her true passion and path was as a music therapist. She practiced music therapy in day treatment centers for emotionally disturbed children and schools for handicapped children, and taught special education in the New York City public school system.

She taught at Molloy for 26 years as the director of the Undergraduate Music Therapy program and served as chairperson of the music department since 2006.  She developed music therapy training affiliations for Molloy with hospitals, schools, and treatment centers across Long Island and throughout New York City and supervised students at all levels of music therapy training, including fieldwork and internship.

Selesky, who lived in Baldwin, was the advisor of the music therapy club and consulted at Molloy’s Rebecca Center for music therapy. She was also known for her dedicated service with the Jamaica Field Service Project, a national service learning program for music therapy and music education students. She served on many college-wide committees, including the Student Learning Assessment Group and Promotion and Tenure. She collaborated with Dr. Suzanne Sorel on the development of the proposal for Molloy’s master’s degree in music therapy, which is now in its sixth year.

She was a frequent presenter at regional and national conferences and served on the Academic Program Approval Committee, the Judicial Review Board and as an Assembly Delegate of the American Music Therapy Association. Among Selesky’s many accomplishments was her service on the Commission on Education and Clinical Training. Her work with the commission resulted in new education and clinical training standards for AMTA-approved degree programs. She was also a member of the New York State Task Force for Occupational Regulation for many years, working on legislation affecting the practice of music psychotherapy in New York state.

There is a $20 suggested donation and all proceeds will go the Evelyn Selesky Memorial Scholarship.