Founder and President
Education and awards:
- Bachelor of Music in Music Therapy, Florida State University (cum laude)
- Board-certified music therapist licensed in the state of Georgia
- Semifinalist in the Young Keyboard Artists Association International Piano Competition in 1990
- Graduate of the Greenville Fine Arts Center, Greenville, South Carolina
Notable roles/performance experience:
- Currently performing with the band Life As Mary
- Toured with the band Life As Mary from 2000-2003
- Featured on A&R stage at the Atlantis Music Festival, Atlanta, GA, 2002
- Toured and recorded with LAM from 1998-2003
- Finalist in the Greenville Symphony Orchestra Russian Music Festival Piano Competition in 1990
- Semifinalist in the Young Keyboard Artists Association International Piano Competition in 1990
- Singer/songwriter after college, recording three EPs and one full-length album
Music therapy/teaching experience:
- Board-certified music therapist since 1997
- Licensed music therapist in the state of Georgia since 2013
- Private music teacher and music therapist since 1992
- Worked with Mars Music, Inc. to implement the Babies Make Music program in the metro Atlanta area
- Intern at San Antonio State Hospital (a mental health institution)
- Music therapist for special needs classes and in private behavioral therapy
- Provided ABA Therapy services to those diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Research of neonates in the NIC the NICU at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital under the supervision of Dr. Jayne Standley
- Music therapist at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center for teens and in mental health settings working with adults diagnosed with a range of disorders
Allison Jarrell has been teaching music since 1992 (sometimes as many as 78 students per week herself), with students ranging from three years of age to senior citizens, and those with special needs. As parents learned about her music therapy background, she began to get requests for adaptive lessons for students who might not otherwise find success in traditional lessons.
Allison’s flexibility working in diverse positions and environments gave her the training needed to begin Metro Music Makers, a private Atlanta-based music studio offering in-home and online music lessons, in 2002. In addition to overseeing a variety of instructors in the Metro Music Makers family, she is a board-certified Music Therapist licensed in the State of Georgia.
Allison is currently a member of the Music Teachers National Association and the Music Therapy Association of Georgia. Additionally, Allison serves as a judge for events sponsored by the National Guild of Piano Teachers and the Georgia Federation of Music Clubs.
Allison’s students have achieved many honors over the years. She has seen over 225 of her private students make top marks in the National Piano Guild Auditions and National Federation of Music Clubs Festival since 2003.
Allison believes that the process of learning how to play a musical instrument and learning how to create music relates to everything else that we accomplish in life. “We are teaching the future leaders and innovators of tomorrow,” she says. “As a teacher, when I really think about that and about the influence that lessons may have in my students’ lives, I’m overwhelmed with gratitude for the opportunity to work one-on-one with young people over the course of many years.” In fact, now that Allison has been teaching for a number of years, her favorite times are catching up with prior students over lunch or coffee. “It’s exciting to see what our former students do with their lives as they grow into adulthood,” she says.
Allison also was a one-time snake handler (a long story involving removing a baby snake from her house that turned out to be a copperhead!) and a one-time opera singer, (I Pagliacci) in 1991). She has a teenage son Elliott who plays drums in Metro Music Makers rock band program.
