Oct. 14, 2026
Claire Galloway has been involved in music for as long as she can remember. However, she wasn’t sure how that love of music would connect to a higher education pathway.
“I played trumpet in middle school and high school, enjoying concert band, marching band and jazz band,” Galloway said. “I always knew I loved music, but I didn’t have a clear idea about what I wanted to do with it.”
Claire visited several colleges to try and find the right fit, but nothing she investigated really clicked. Then she came to GRCC.
“I attended an open house and met Dr. Shaker,” Galloway said. “As soon as she started talking with me and explaining the programs, I got the sense that GRCC’s music students are a tight-knit community. And I was right!”
Starting with a Quality Foundation
Claire came to GRCC in the fall of 2022 to pursue an associate of music, planning to transfer to a four-year college for her bachelor’s degree.
“I knew college was going to be expensive,” Galloway said. “From a financial perspective, GRCC made sense as a place to get my core classes out of the way. I earned most of those credits for a fraction of what I would have paid at a four-year college.”
After finishing her associate of music at GRCC, Claire transferred to Western Michigan University in the fall of 2025.
“The transfer was so easy,” Galloway said. “I had no issues from an academic perspective. I also found that I was incredibly well prepared. Some of the piano classes I took at GRCC were miles harder than the ones I’m taking at Western now!”
What Claire didn’t know at the beginning, however, was how rewarding the music education would be at GRCC.
“I learned a lot about myself and how I functioned in a music setting,” Galloway said. “Class sizes were small, which allowed me to develop close connections to my peers and professors. During my first year at GRCC, I received the Franklin Asper Trumpet Scholarship. Dr. Shaker nominated me for this award. That told me the people in this building believed in me and that I was on the right path."
Taking the Next Steps Toward a Career
Claire is now working towards a Bachelor’s of Music in music therapy.
“Music therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of music to accomplish non-musical goals,” Galloway explained. “We use it to increase communication, memory recall, emotional expression and more. I might, for example, play 50s songs with older patients who have memory loss, to help them recall and sing along. But with kids, I might do something different, like Baby Shark.”
Claire says she doesn’t have any regrets about starting her music career at GRCC.
“Having an excellent program be both financially accessible and close to home for me was huge. GRCC surrounded me with people who lifted me up and pushed me to be my best self every day. I immersed myself into that environment and it paid off."
Visit the Music department's web page to learn more about programs and areas of study.
This story was reported by Julie Hordyk.