Dr. Sarah Stoneback is an innovative and exuberant performer, with over twenty years professional performance experience. Dr. Stoneback is the Trumpet Professor at Montana State University School of Music and holds the position of Principal Trumpet with the Bozeman Symphony. As an active Conn Selmer Bach Artist/Clinician, trumpet soloist, chamber musician and orchestral performer, Sarah has frequented stages throughout the United States, Europe and China. She has been featured with groups including; the National Brass Quintet, the InterHarmony International Chamber Music Festival (Acqui Terme, Italy), Eurobrass, the Denver Municipal Band, the Montana State University Band and numerous university and high school bands throughout the United Sates. She has also been featured clinician and educator at the National Association for Music Education NW, International Women’s Brass Conference, the International Trumpet Guild Conference, among many more.
Sarah is one of the founding members of the “Bobcat Brass Trio”, comprised of the trumpet, horn and trombone professors in the Montana State University School of Music at Montana State University School of Music. In the Fall 2019, Sarah performed Brandenburg’s Concerto No. 2
with Baroque Music Montana and is also a featured trumpet soloist and chamber musician in two 11th & Grant PBS shows during the 2022-2023 season.
Sarah’s dedication and love for music can be traced to her early experiences, performing and traveling with Stoneback Sisters and Brass. Comprised of a triplet trumpet trio, trumpet quartet & brass quintet, this ensemble has presented over 2,000 educational seminars and residency programs. They frequently solo with bands and orchestras throughout the United States and Europe, including; the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, The John Philip Sousa Band, the South Dakota Symphony, the Texas Christian University and the United States Air Force Band of the West. In Spring 2018, Sarah and her triplet sisters and father were featured trumpet soloists in an evening of classic trumpet trios with the MSU Wind Symphony as part of Montana State’s 125th Birthday Celebration.
Dr. Stoneback’s approach to teaching incorporates her evidence-based research in applying the Kolb Learning Style Inventory. Her research provides a unique understanding about how undergraduate and graduate trumpet majors learn the trumpet, literature, and foundational elements of music most effectively. A portion of her research results can be found in the International Trumpet Guild Journal published, Summer 2017. Her Dissertation can be found published at: http://scholar.colorado.edu/brap_gradetds/1/.
Dr. Stoneback holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Performance and Pedagogy and Masters of Music from CU Boulder, under Professor Terry Sawchuk. Dr. Stoneback has a bachelor’s degree in trumpet performance from Arizona State University where she studied with Regent’s Professor David Hickman. She is a 2000 graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy, where she studied with Dr. Stanley Friedman.
Sarah’s warm and engaging personality comes through with the video clip on this page!