Sunshine Music Therapy
Our History
Sun Joo Lee established Sunshine Music Therapy in 2008, and immediately began introducing music therapy to senior living communities, hospices, adult daycare centers, and individuals in Phoenix, Arizona. In addition, Sun Joo Lee created heath-focused therapeutic choirs for people with neurological diseases such as Tremble Clefs. Her love for sharing music with older adults has resulted in Sunshine Music Therapy becoming a specialized elderly music therapy company serving both the East and West valleys of Phoenix. In 2017 Sunshine Music Therapy, LLC was incorporated so that the company could train interns and add additional music therapists in order to expand service offerings for senior care professionals, senior care organizations, caregiving settings, and private individuals. Also, Sunshine Music Therapy, LLC began to offer Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) to serve the populations who suffer from neurologic diseases such as dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease (PD), Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), stroke, and ataxia.
Aging is a natural process that we cannot avoid. The key to successful aging is discovering strategies that can be utilized to live meaningful lives despite the decline caused by these types of health issues and the limitations they pose. Sunshine Music Therapy focuses on providing music therapy to enhance the quality of life for all older adults by sharing meaningful musical experiences. We assist clients to not only meet their therapeutic goals but also to discover and experience the joy of making music by celebrating every musical moment we create together.
The therapists of Sunshine Music Therapy will support you in maintaining autonomy, identity, and well-being during your physical, mental, and cognitive limitations and losses. We are ready to provide optimal ways to make the lives of older adults valuable by sharing musical experiences. Are you ready to discover new ways to successfully enjoy aging?
Sun Joo Lee was born in Seoul, Korea, and obtained an undergraduate degree in Voice Performance from Sungshin Women’s University in Seoul. She moved to Arizona in 2003 and earned master’s degrees in Music Therapy and Voice Performance from Arizona State University in 2008. Upon graduation Sun Joo was approached by the Muhammad Ali Parkinson's Center in Phoenix and asked to establish a singing group for people with Parkinson’s disease in the Sun City area. Ms. Lee accepted that offer and continues as Music Director of that group, known as West Side Tremble Clefs. Same year she accepted the position of Music Director of the Original Tremble Clefs, a choral group for people with Parkinson’s founded in Scottsdale in 1994.
Sun Joo Lee is a Board-Certified Music Therapist (MT-BC) and is also certified as a Neurologic Music Therapist Fellow. As owner and clinical director of Sunshine Music Therapy, LLC, Ms. Lee focuses on those with neurological diseases. She has provided Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) programs for PD at Banner Sun Health Research Institute, Sun City, AZ, and offers PD group music therapy sessions in the Phoenix Metropolitan area.
In January of 2020, she accepted the position of Music Director of Banner Alzheimer’s Institute’s Shine Your Light program, a Life Enrichment Program choir for people with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease and their families. Her passion for creating community choirs for seniors is not limited only for older adults with neurological disease. Sun Joo received her Ph.D in Music Therapy at the University of Iowa in 2025 and currently teaches at the University of Missouri Kansas City.
To learn about Tremble Clefs, Arizona click here.
Meet Sun Joo Lee
MM, MT-BC, NMT FELLOW
The founder/director
Meet Our Team
Jae Young Jung, MT-BC, NMT, is a board-certified music therapist specializing in early childhood special education. She currently facilitates music therapy groups for individuals with dementia and Parkinson’s Disease, using music to support connection, memory, and quality of life. Jae Young holds a dual bachelor’s degree in Voice Performance and Psychology from South Korea, a master’s in Music Therapy from Arizona State University, and a MBA in Health Systems Management from Grand Canyon University. She is currently pursing a PhD in Learning, Literacies, and Technologies at ASU.
Jae Young Jung
MM, MT-BC, NMT
Richard Bogen
MT-BC
Richard Bogen, MT-BC, grew up in Arizona and studied music therapy at Arizona State University with an internship in a school for special-needs students. Richard has worked in that setting for over 16 years, primarily working with students on the Autism spectrum. Richard's clinical experiences also include memory care, assisted living, and adult psychiatric settings. Richard is a multi-instrumentalist with a passion for music of the 1920s-1960s. His jazz band, Yourchestra, regularly performs for listeners and dancers around the valley.
Kiersten Iris Hillman
Intern
Kiersten, a classically trained soprano, began her college career as a vocal performance major as, having achieved success in many local and state vocal competitions. However, after witnessing the positive effects music therapy had on her grandfather who was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease, she instead decide to pursue a career in music therapy.
She studies music therapy at Arizona State University and completed her music therapy internship at Sunshine Music Therapy, LLC in May of 2020, and intends to become a board-certified Music Therapist by the end of 2020 or spring of 2021.
Kiersten has been a staff singer at Saint Barnabas on the Desert Episcopal Church in Paradise Valley since 2018. In her free time, she plays the guitar to her four cats and enjoys being serenaded by her equally musical husband, Josh.
Jihyeon Ryu
Jihyeon Ryu earned her degrees in piano performance, beginning at an arts high school and continuing through her undergraduate studies at a university in South Korea. She was initially admitted to the master’s program in Piano Performance at Arizona State University but chose to change her major to Music Therapy after completing. The first year of the two-year program. This decision reflected her growing interest in the therapeutic potential of music and its ability to bring about positive change across diverse populations.
In addition to her training as a solo performer, she was drawn to the power of music as a tool for connection and healing. During her internship at Higher Octave Healing in Tempe, Arizona, she gained clinical experience with a wide range of populations, from early intervention to end-of-life care.
Currently, she is especially passionate about working with older cults and is committed to developing creative interventions that support their quality of life. Her professional goal is to become a board-certified music therapist (MT-BC) and to provide person-centered, empathetic care through music-based interventions.
Ashley is a classically trained soprano, having studied privately for 20 years. Singing in different choirs and singing groups growing up, and having performed in some musical theatre performances over the years. She has been a member of ProMusica Arizona Chorale as a 1st soprano for several years now. She also took piano lessons as a child and when she got older started taking guitar lessons. Music has always been a part of her life. In fact, it's how she has always learned and remembered things as a child, and even still to this day. Knowing all of this and already having taken many music classes from studying vocal performance, and wanting more for her life, she decided to pursue a career in music therapy.
In 2019, she earned her bachelor's degree in music therapy from Arizona State University. After she graduated, she started her internship at Mindful-Music Therapy in January 2020, gaining knowledge and working primarily with children and young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), developmental and physical disabilities. After her internship, she worked at Mindful-Music for about a year. In 2021-2022, she started working at Sunshine Music. It was at Sunshine Music where she gained experience in working with geriatric populations and memory care.
Ashley Grampp
MT-BC
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