MSU School of Music at the Shane is excited to present the third installment of our brand new concert series that will take place on Sunday, September 18th at 3pm featuring the Bobcat Brass Trio with Sarah Stoneback on Trumpet, Elizabeth Schmidt on Horn, and Jeannie Little on Trombone.
MSU School of Music at the Shane is generously sponsored by Carol Glenn & Sal Lalani.
Sarah Stoneback is an innovative and exuberant performer, with over twenty years professional performance experience. As an active trumpet soloist, chamber musician and orchestral performer, she has frequented stages throughout the United States, Europe, China and Chile. 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 high school bands throughout the United States. In the Fall 2019, Sarah performed Brandenburg's Concerto No. 2 with Baroque Music Montana and is a featured trumpet soloist and chamber musician in two upcoming 11th & Grant PBS shows in the 2022-2023 season. Sarah serves as the Trumpet Professor at Montana State University School of Music, holds the position of Principal Trumpet with the Bozeman Symphony and is an active Conn-Selmer Bach clinician and artist. She is passionate about connecting and supporting others in their musical endeavors and has been a featured clinician and educator at the 2019 NAFME-NW, International Women's Brass Conference and the International Trumpet Guild Conference, among many more. Sarah recently was elected to be a Board of Directors Member of the International Trumpet Guild and is looking forward to serving the trumpet community in this capacity. Sarah’s dedication and love for music can be traced to her early experiences, performing and traveling with Stoneback Sisters and Brass. composed of a triplet trumpet trio, trumpet quartet & brass quintet, this ensemble has presented over 2,000 performances, 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. Sarah holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Performance and Pedagogy a Master’s of Music in trumpet performance from CU Boulder, under Professor Terry Sawchuk, and her 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.
Elizabeth Schmidt is a Montana based horn player who is constantly looking to challenge the role that classical music, and the horn, occupies in current culture. She is in her first year as part of the brass faculty at Montana State University, where she serves as the horn professor as well as teaching music theory and conducting. In addition to her position at MSU, Elizabeth enjoys a career as an active orchestral and chamber musician in the Northwest, and is a member of the Bozeman Symphony Orchestra and Billings Symphony Orchestra. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Performance from SUNY Stony Brook, where she worked as a teaching assistant in theory and ethnomusicology. Her research focuses on the Gender and Sexuality in music, through which she has engaged in the study of gendered instruments and the effect presumptions of gender have on brass players’ developmental and professional experiences. Her primary teachers have been David Jolley, Randy Gardner, Elizabeth Freimuth, James DeCorsey, and Josh Phillips, and she has been fortunate to have opportunities to work with influential horn players from around the world. Outside of the horn, you can likely find her on a mountain, on a bike, on a boat, or hovering over the oven checking on some baked goods.
Trombonist and conductor Jeannie Little joined the Bozeman Symphony Orchestra as Principal trombonist, and the Montana State University School of Music in 2015 as Low Brass Professor and Director of the University Band. Jeannie earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Performance and Pedagogy at the Eastman School of Music, a Master’s degree in Music Performance from Northwestern University and a Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance from the Florida State University. As a soloist and clinician, Jeannie is active presenting recitals and master classes throughout the country, with recent performances and clinics at the International Trombone Festival, the International Women's Brass Conference, and the American Trombone Workshop. She has also earned a reputation as an outstanding, dynamic and inspiring conductor having served as the Music Director of the Brighton Symphony Orchestra and assistant conductor of the legendary Eastman Trombone Choir. Jeannie’s orchestral experiences include Principal Trombone of the Bozeman Symphony, Charlottesville Symphony, the Illinois Chamber Symphony, Chicago Sinfonietta, and the Elgin Symphony Orchestra. In addition, she has performed with the Syracuse, Honolulu, Long Beach, Alabama, Chautauqua, New Mexico and Detroit Symphony Orchestras and the Louisiana Philharmonic. Other highlights include touring and recording with the Chicago Symphony under Leonard Bernstein. Additionally, she has performed with such jazz greats as Doc Severinson, Ella Fitzgerald, and Natalie Cole. Previous teaching positions include Trombone Professor at Louisiana State University, James Madison University, and Instructor of Low Brass at the Interlochen Arts Academy and the University of Hawaii. She has finally settled in beautiful Bozeman, Montana with her wife, two children and two dogs, and hopes one day to fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a cowgirl.