Ruth Debrot

Ruth Debrot

Senior Lecturer, Music Education

Ruth A. Debrot espouses a joyful approach to music-making. Presently, she is the Coordinator of Music Teacher Licensure and Lecturer in Music Education at Boston University. She has held university appointments at The City College of New York and University of Massachusetts Lowell. Debrot serves as the chair of the Student Life and Honors Committee.

Debrot completed a BA in Music from The University of Mississippi. She earned an MA in Vocal Performance at The City College of New York. Debrot completed level I teacher certification in Orff Schulwerk at the Eastman School of Music. Ruth earned her doctorate in Music Education from Boston University.

New York Newsday described Debrot’s vocal style as “bright and thoughtful.” Billboard Magazine described her style as “soothing, with a laid-back delivery that folks should find pleasing.” In 2001, she was honored to sing the National Anthem at Fenway Park in Boston. Presently, Debrot performs regularly as a vocalist/keyboardist and guitarist with her rock/pop band Notorius Jones. During the summer, she sings jazz with “The Roy Scott Big Band,” part of the Sharon Community Band.

In addition to teaching and performing, Ruth is a well-known clinician and researcher. Debrot has presented her research at the Desert Skies Research Symposium, the Maryland Music Educators Association and at the Mayday Colloquium 29. Debrot is a featured clinician on the NAfME Academy: Professional Development Webinar Series. In addition, she has presented numerous workshops for the American Orff Schulwerk Association and has presented for the Cleveland, Connecticut, Florida, New England and New York Chapters of AOSA. Debrot has conducted choral, composition and general music workshops at CTMEA and MMEA All State conferences and for the Boston and Quincy Public Schools. She has arranged vocal and instrumental pieces for general music classes, children’s choirs, jazz, and Orff ensembles.

Journal publications include Frontiers in Psychology, The Journal of Popular Music Education, The Arkansas Segue, The Orff Echo, MENC’s Spotlight on General Music, and the Massachusetts Music Educators Journal. She contributed a book chapter to Living Song: Singing, Spirituality, and Wellbeing. Academic and teaching honors include Pi Kappa Lambda, the Lowell Mason Award, the SGMM Award for Excellence in General Music and The MMEA Distinguished Service Award. Prior to her appointment at Boston University, Ruth enjoyed a highly successful career as a middle-school music educator.

Presentations & Publications
  • Debrot, R. A. (in-press). Disrupting power relations in the middle school choir: A student-centered approach. In Points of disruption in music education curriculum.
  • Debrot, R. A., & Vu, K. (2021). A pedagogy of love. Presented at the Massachusetts Music Education Association Virtual Professional Development Conference.
  • Debrot, R. A. (2021). Singing the good life. In Singing, spirituality, and wellbeing, (pp. 219-233). Peter Lang.
  • Debrot, R. A. (2021). Well-being in the post-pandemic general music classroom. The Massachusetts Music Educators Journal, 70(1), 24–26.
  • Debrot, R. A. (2021). Life-long music learning: Implications for social and psychological well-being. Presented at the Maryland Music Education Association Professional Development Conference.
  • Debrot, R. A. (2021). Jammin’ the blues: Experiencing the “good life.” Frontiers in Psychology 12:648007. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.648007
  • Debrot, R. A. (2021). Jammin’ the blues: Living the “good life.” Presented at the Desert Skies Research Symposium, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.
Awards

Academic and teaching honors include Pi Kappa Lambda, the Lowell Mason Award, the SGMM Award for Excellence in General Music and The MMEA Distinguished Service Award.