Alice M. Hammel

Grammy Award-nominated educator, Dr. Alice Hammel, was the 2023 National Association for Music Education (NAfME) Lowell Mason Fellow, Virginia Music Educators Association (VMEA) Lifetime Achievement Award Winner (2025), and is the current Past-President of VMEA. She is a widely known music educator, author, and clinician whose experience in music is extraordinarily diverse. She is a Disabilities Specialist with many years of experience teaching music to people with and without disabilities.

Dr. Hammel travels nationally and internationally to serve as an in-residence scholar, headline and keynote speaker, and active teacher in the area of differences and disabilities. She is well-informed about the needs of people of all abilities. Her expertise and life experiences range from musicianship, pedagogy, and teaching students who learn differently. She is a committed learner and leader of people and firmly believes in “nothing about us without us.” This high demand places her in close collaboration with professionals seeking to become better teachers, musicians, and humans.
Dr. Hammel has put these varied experiences to great use while compiling a large body of scholarly work. She is a co-author for many texts: Q&A for Band Directors: Students with Disabilities and Differences, Teaching Music to Students with Differences and Disabilities (A Label-free Approach and A Practical Resource), Teaching Music to Students with Autism, Winding It Back, and Universal Design for Learning in Music Education. Dr. Hammel is Past-President of the Council for Exceptional Children – Division for Visual and Performing Arts Education and was awarded their Past President Award for Excellence. She was also awarded the Shenandoah University Lifetime Achievement Award in 2025. Dr. Hammel has served (NAfME) as a member of the National Executive Board, Equity Committee, Professional Learning and Partnership Committee, The President’s Council, and the Music Teacher Professional Initiative. She identifies as Neurodivergent, Physically Disabled, and Hearing Impaired. Grammy Award-nominated educator, Dr. Alice Hammel, was the 2023 National Association for Music Education (NAfME) Lowell Mason Fellow, Virginia Music Educators Association (VMEA) Lifetime Achievement Award Winner (2025), and is the current Past-President of VMEA. She is a widely known music educator, author, and clinician whose experience in music is extraordinarily diverse. She is a Disabilities Specialist with many years of experience teaching music to people with and without disabilities.

Dr. Hammel travels nationally and internationally to serve as an in-residence scholar, headline and keynote speaker, and active teacher in the area of differences and disabilities. She is well-informed about the needs of people of all abilities. Her expertise and life experiences range from musicianship, pedagogy, and teaching students who learn differently. She is a committed learner and leader of people and firmly believes in “nothing about us without us.” This high demand places her in close collaboration with professionals seeking to become better teachers, musicians, and humans.
Dr. Hammel has put these varied experiences to great use while compiling a large body of scholarly work. She is a co-author for many texts: Q&A for Band Directors: Students with Disabilities and Differences, Teaching Music to Students with Differences and Disabilities (A Label-free Approach and A Practical Resource), Teaching Music to Students with Autism, Winding It Back, and Universal Design for Learning in Music Education. Dr. Hammel is Past-President of the Council for Exceptional Children – Division for Visual and Performing Arts Education and was awarded their Past President Award for Excellence. She was also awarded the Shenandoah University Lifetime Achievement Award in 2025. Dr. Hammel has served (NAfME) as a member of the National Executive Board, Equity Committee, Professional Learning and Partnership Committee, The President’s Council, and the Music Teacher Professional Initiative. She identifies as Neurodivergent, Physically Disabled, and Hearing Impaired.