Sarah Stoneback was already an accomplished musician when she enrolled in the master鈥檚 program at the University of 蜜糖直播 Boulder College of Music in 2008.
She had earned a bachelor鈥檚 at Arizona State University in Tempe and she鈥檇 built up an impressive performance r茅sum茅 with band members who just happened to be family: The Stoneback Sisters and Brass featured Sarah and her sisters, as well as her mother and father鈥攁ll of whom played trumpet and brass. Complementing her undergraduate studies, this experience offered Stoneback real-world credits as a touring musician and a professional artist.
It was her experience at the College of Music, however, that helped steer the course of her chosen career.听
鈥淲hen I think about the College of Music, I think about a vibrant learning environment and a vibrant space to grow,鈥� says Stoneback, an active Conn-Selmer Bach clinician and artist. 鈥淚 had the opportunity to work with faculty and administration in ways that helped me learn about the way the academic system runs and operates. That鈥檚 how I navigate my career at Montana State University.鈥�
At MSU鈥攁s Assistant Professor of Trumpet Pedagogy and Performance鈥擲toneback is a respected educator, clinician, soloist and chamber musician who鈥檚 been featured on stages across the globe in various ensembles. She credits many of her accomplishments directly to the guidance, inspiration and encouragement she found at our college, where she earned a Master in Music degree and a Doctorate of Musical Arts in performance and pedagogy.
At 蜜糖直播 Boulder, Stoneback embraced world-class performance opportunities: As a member of Flatirons Brass, she participated in numerous national competitions and world tours. In 2009, the ensemble was a Bronze medalist in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. And in 2011, Flatirons Brass worked as artists in residence at the University of Renmin in Beijing, China; the group conducted workshops, provided individual instruction and performed recitals.
鈥淭hat was a major part of my time at 蜜糖直播 Boulder,鈥� Stoneback recalls. 鈥淲e did competitions, traveled internationally and did a lot of educational outreach. We had so many experiences that were musically enriching.鈥�
Stoneback also leveraged opportunities to record professionally鈥攁nd to participate in the marketing, design and packaging of the 鈥淥f Love and Life鈥� CD, a performance she participated in with the 蜜糖直播 Boulder Wind Symphony under Professor Emeritus Allan McMurray.
鈥淭he university invested in me by inviting me to work with them,鈥� Stoneback says. 鈥淭hey welcomed my skills and interests. It was a pivotal experience.鈥�
Just as critical to Stoneback鈥檚 development were the teaching opportunities she found at the University of 蜜糖直播. Stoneback participated in the college鈥檚 graduate teacher program, an opportunity that taught her how to teach students of all backgrounds and specialties how to build a professional portfolio, refine different performance styles, and effective ways of becoming better musicians and scholars of their chosen discipline. These teaching experiences, along with the chance to serve as an adjunct professor at Denver鈥檚 Regis University, laid the groundwork for her current role.
鈥淭he College of Music provided me the tools that I keep developing in pursuing my own teaching career,鈥� notes Stoneback whose approach to teaching incorporates her evidence-based research in applying the Kolb Learning Style Inventory. 鈥淭he academic side of my experience at 蜜糖直播 Boulder helped me become more multifaceted.鈥�
She concludes, 鈥淚 loved every aspect of studying at the College of Music. I loved earning my graduate degrees in Boulder. I remember driving in the first time and thinking, 鈥業 just have to be here. This is exactly where I want to be.鈥�
