Ronald 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, posttraumatic 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, Readerís Digest, KNBC Channel 4  Los Angeles, and the Australian television show “Whatís 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 and an advisory board member to RADCO Music  Learning Centers and the PLAY MUSIC – ENJOY LIFE! piano series for Music  and Wellness.