Meet your biggest fans.
Meet the Team
Kate Kelly, MT-BC, RYT-200
Owner & Executive Director
Anna Laura McAfee, MMT, MT-BC
Music Therapist & Clinical Coordinator
Maria Malafronte, MT-BC, NICU-MT
Music Therapist & Outreach Coordinator
Emily Hammer, MT-BC
Music Therapist
Emily Lehr, MT-BC, NMT
Music Therapist
Learn more about
Team Empower
below.
Kate Kelly, MT-BC, RYT-200
Owner, Executive Director
Meet Kate!
Kate Kelly discovered her passion for music therapy as an adolescent, finding significant relief from life's challenges and gaining self-understanding through songwriting. This early connection ignited her lifelong dedication to the healing power of music, inspiring her to become a founding member of Belmont University's music therapy program, from which she graduated in 2016.
After completing her education, Kate spent five transformative years as a music therapist in inpatient mental health settings, working with adolescents, adults, and older adults. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kate took a leap of faith and established Empower Music Therapy. Her vision was clear: to address the urgent need for inclusive music therapy services in the community while creating a nurturing environment where music therapists could find fulfillment and community.
Since founding Empower four years ago, Kate has created over 15 facility partnerships, organized numerous music therapy advocacy events, and led hundreds of music therapy sessions with individuals, groups, and families in Nashville. Her clinical expertise spans the treatment of complex mental health disorders, trauma, neurodivergence, and developmental delays.
As a director, Kate devotes herself to overseeing Empower's staff, delivering keynote speeches at local conferences and events, forging partnerships with like-minded facilities, and spearheading programming initiatives across the Southeast. Her visionary leadership continues to elevate Empower not only as a provider of therapeutic services but as a beacon of healing, innovation, and community support.
Kate believes in collaborative leadership and credits every member of the team with helping to shape what Empower has become.
Meet Anna Laura!
Anna Laura McAfee, MMT, MT-BC, is a dedicated music therapist who holds a master’s degree in music therapy from Appalachian State University. When asked about her favorite aspect of her work, she shared, "Witnessing her clients open up and blossom into their true selves." Anna Laura integrates humanism, neurodiversity-affirming approaches, Community Music Therapy, and resource-oriented music therapy into her practice.
Anna Laura helps her clients build awareness, autonomy, and self-determination through diverse interventions, such as improvisation, art-making to music, playlist creation, and songwriting. She prioritizes following her clients' lead, incorporating their interests, and fostering playfulness in sessions. Utilizing adaptive tools like visual schedules and sensory-friendly props, she effectively supports individuals of all ages and abilities, embracing diverse communication and processing styles.
Growing up in environments where communal music-making was central, Anna Laura cherishes the transformative power of shared musical experiences. Her master’s thesis research on self-determination in inclusivity, accessibility, and disability greatly informs her therapeutic approach. She is dedicated to nurturing relationships, promoting openness, and advocating for her clients.
In her role as Clinical Coordinator at Empower, Anna Laura oversees group registration, provides clinical supervision, offers educational resources, and collaborates with universities and colleges to facilitate valuable student experiences. Outside of her professional endeavors, she finds solace and rejuvenation in crafting.
Anna Laura's unwavering commitment to her clients and community, coupled with her compassionate and inclusive approach, exemplifies her invaluable contribution to the Empower team.
Anna Laura McAfee, MMT, MT-BC
Music Therapist & Clinical Coordinator
Meet Maria!
With years of experience in both the music industry and as a music therapist, Maria Malafronte, MT-BC, NICU-MT is deeply attuned to the profound impact music has on the human experience. She holds a degree in Music Therapy from Belmont University and a degree in Music Industry from The College of Saint Rose.
Maria has worked extensively with clients of all ages and abilities in a variety of settings, specializing in mental health, chronic medical conditions, and developmental disabilities. Her holistic approach weaves authenticity, humor, and spunk into evidence-based techniques like songwriting, instrument playing and improvisation, creating a warm and welcoming space where everyone feels free to express themselves. Maria’s clients often share that they feel less isolated, more expressive, and have developed healthier coping skills since working with her.
Beyond her work with clients, Maria serves as the Outreach Coordinator for Empower, connecting the organization with the greater community through volunteer programming, facility partnerships, events, and pop-up groups.
Outside of work, Maria finds joy in cooking, writing music, and spending time outdoors, which helps her maintain a healthy work-life balance. Her dedication to her clients and community, combined with her vibrant personality, makes Maria an invaluable part of the Empower team.
Maria Malafronte, MT-BC, NICU-MT
Music Therapist & Outreach Coordinator
Meet Emily H!
Emily Hammer is passionate about the profound impact music has on people’s everyday lives, especially in connecting with friends and family. She values the meaningful and lasting relationships she develops with her clients, taking a humanistic approach and embracing the therapeutic community model.
Specializing in working with school-aged children with varying disabilities, adolescents with behavioral challenges, and adults experiencing mental health struggles, Emily sees music therapy as a unifying force that promotes healing and connection across diverse populations. She thrives on collaborating with other professionals and contributing to interdisciplinary teams to provide comprehensive care.
Emily creates a therapeutic environment that is safe, dynamic, and healing, characterized by warmth, authenticity, and creativity. She prioritizes client-centered approaches that honor each individual’s unique needs and strengths, fostering growth and self-discovery through music.
Outside of her professional life, Emily loves to crochet, drawing parallels between creativity in her hobbies and in her therapeutic practice. She believes that creativity can produce something useful and meaningful in everyday life.
Emily’s dedication to providing a client-centered, creative, and therapeutic experience makes her an integral part of the Empower team.
Emily Hammer, MT-BC
Music Therapist
Meet Emily L!
Emily Lehr believes deeply in the power of music to create access to healing. She loves watching people gain confidence and connect with themselves through music-making. Guided by a humanistic and person-centered approach, Emily holds that everyone is inherently worthy of love, respect, and agency, and that everyone is innately musical.
Specializing in pediatric and adolescent psychology and mental health, Emily focuses on increasing her clients' positive perception of the past, present, and future. She helps clients improve emotional regulation and achieve relaxation using interventions like music-based meditation, deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation (PMR), rewriting familiar songs, lyric analysis, drumming improvisation, and mood vectoring playlists and instrument play. Emily works with clients of all ages and abilities.
Emily’s experience in residential treatment centers has profoundly shaped her perspective as a clinician, revealing the transformative power of music in granting self-awareness and agency to her patients. As a songwriter, she loves helping people write their own stories in song form, building self-esteem by sharing their experiences through music. She is highly relational, ensuring that all her clients feel like the most important person in the room. Clients often describe their sessions with Emily as freeing, safe, and enlightening.
Emily’s compassionate and empowering approach to music therapy makes her an invaluable member of the Empower team, dedicated to creating a supportive and healing environment for all her clients.
Emily Lehr, NMT, MT-BC
Music Therapist