The pioneering Music Therapy program at the University of Technology, Sydney enters a new phase next year, moving from a graduate diploma level qualification to a Master of Arts.

The UTS course, which began in 1994, was the first such program in NSW and still is one of only four university-based music therapy courses in Australia.

Music therapists use music as the catalyst for improving communication, health and well-being, working in a variety of settings including aged care, special education, hospitals, community centres, research and private practice.

Course Coordinator, lecturer and practising music therapist Dr Rosemary Faire said the new Master of Arts in Music Therapy had been developed as part of an Australia-wide change in the university training of music therapists.

Offered by the Faculty of Education in association with the Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Health, the course builds on the broad, clinical practice-based graduate diploma, including options to undertake postgraduate education subjects and new electives in expressive arts, verbal and body psychotherapies.

"The UTS music therapy training has always been eclectic, allowing students to experience the diversity of the field, its variety of models and practices, while developing their individual focus areas through special interest assignments and practicum experience," Dr Faire said.

"The course also encourages the personal development of students as an essential part of becoming empathetic and resilient therapists.

"Two core subjects are taught by Kevin Kellehear from the Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Health and guest lecturers are invited from a wide range of specialty areas.

"Other arts modalities are integrated into some subjects to broaden the spectrum of options for self care and future work.

"Because we cater for both music specialists and those who have had careers in other fields such as education or the helping professions, students are supported to bring their own experience into their work and discover their unique form of music therapy.

"Our students are from many different backgrounds, including teachers, musicians, community workers, and from the nursing and health professions," Dr Faire said.

The new Master of Arts in Music Therapy is accredited with the Australian Music Therapy Association as a recognised qualification leading to registration.

The Music Therapy program, which is based on the UTS Kuring-gai campus, will host an afternoon of participatory music making on the Lindfield site on Sunday 29 October.

The picnic and informal musical "conversation" is a Sydney event in the national Making Music, Being Well week, run jointly by the Australian Music Therapy Association and The Music Council of Australia. It will be held from 1pm to 4pm on the campus grounds in Eton Road.