University of Oregon School of Music and Dance Instructor of Horn, Justin Stanley, is preparing to make a cross-country trip to the Volunteer State after accepting a tenure track assistant professorship at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, Tennessee.
“It’s a huge move, and I am looking forward to it in so many ways!” Justin says.
Justin credits his professional music experience and time at UO for landing the new gig. After receiving his bachelor’s in music performance at New York University and his master’s in horn performance at the New England Conservatory in Boston, he came to SOMD to pursue his Doctor of Musical Arts in Horn Performance.
He chose UO after a honeymoon trip to the West Coast with his husband. On their road trip from San Diego to Seattle, they stopped in Eugene. He quickly realized they were in Duck country, and perused SOMD’s website while enjoying downtown.
“I looked up Lydia Van Dreel and thought, ‘Wow! Their career looks a lot like I want mine to look,’ so that was when I decided to apply. I auditioned and loved Lydia and the town. And the rest is history!”
The DMA program was a perfect fit for Justin for several reasons. One, he was able to dedicate more time to teaching and performance, playing three full recitals. He was also able to work consistently by landing gigs with several groups, including Oregon Mozart Players, Eugene Symphony, Newport Symphony, and Oregon Symphony.
The quality of the faculty and the interesting research they were conducting also drew him to the program. “When I first got here, it was mind blowing. SOMD is a real gem. From Lydia to Dr. Stephen Rodgers in music theory, who is one of the most interesting people I have met, to Dr. Abigail Fine in Musicology, there are so many great minds here!” he said. “That is the biggest strength of the school.”
Outside of his coursework and regional performances, he was involved in several other opportunities that laid the foundation for his future career in higher education. He helped launch the Dean’s Student Advisory Council, an organization that helps Dean Sabrina Madison-Cannon liaise with the student body. Madison-Cannon, who has also been a “great mentor” to Justin, later invited him to join the Dean’s Advancement Council. He also served as the Northwest Horn Society (NwHS) scholarship chair and is the current communications and outreach chair on the NwHS board. He also started a podcast through the organization.
After completing his DMA in 2021, he was granted the opportunity to teach at UO. Professor Van Dreel announced their intention to go on sabbatical, and Justin was invited to teach in their absence. “I had a great opportunity to find out what it's like to teach in higher education full time, right after my doctorate,” Justin said. “It all worked out, which is great!”
He started out with quite a bit of nerves but quickly got into the rhythm of teaching. “Let me tell you, I was a bundle of nerves before school started back in late September 2022. But then I told myself, ‘I can do this!’”
This experience has prepared him for his new position at Tennessee Tech, as well as the “portfolio career” he had prior to his time at UO.
“That's what we're calling careers where you have a lot of different jobs all related to the music field,” Justin said. “It's part of a freelancer's life these days, especially if you really want to be engaged in performance.”
He started an artist management company where he did public relations, marketing, booking, and networking for a variety of chamber ensembles and classical soloists. He was also the education director at a small music school in Quincy, Massachusetts. He later became a co-owner of the school which also sold instruments and did instrument repairs. He also taught at All Newton Music School, a community music school outside Boston. He founded two chamber ensembles—including American Prize-finalist “Some Assembly Required” — and freelanced with several orchestras.
His path to a career in music started when Justin was a kid. He grew up in Texas where band programs are extremely popular, and he started on horn in sixth grade band. “I tried piano and guitar before that and was terrible at them, truly awful!” he said. “I am still bad at them. But horn was the first time I found an instrument that I felt like I could start to express myself. It has a similar range to my own voice, so it feels like I can really speak through it. It's also very versatile. We have our tender, lyrical moments, and then our more bombastic, big moments. I can use it to say whatever I want.”
Decades later, his passion for music and horn led him to Tennessee Tech University where he recently announced he will be an Assistant Professor of Horn.
“I don't want to downplay what I've done in my career so far to get to this point, but it does feel very lucky and wonderful that I'm almost straight out of my DMA at UO and was offered and accepted a tenure-track position!” he said. “It’s surreal. It's incredible.”
Justin will start the 2023-2024 school year teaching several courses and performing with the Cumberland Quintet, Brass Arts Quintet, and Bryan Symphony. The semester begins on August 17.