Based in Chattanooga, TN, Dr. Staci A. Spring enjoys a versatile career as a professional bassoonist, music educator, and arts advocate. An active freelancer, she can be heard as a frequent guest musician on bassoon and contrabassoon with the Knoxville Symphony, Chattanooga Symphony & Opera, Huntsville Symphony, and Nashville Symphony orchestras, among others. She maintains a private bassoon studio, and teaches at UT Chattanooga, Lee University, Chattanooga State, Covenant College, Southern Adventist University, and the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts.
An active member in the Chattanooga arts community, Spring has participated in the Holmberg Arts Leadership Institute, served on the Community Arts Team for the Kennedy Center’s Ensuring the Arts for Any Given Child initiative in Chattanooga-Hamilton County, and spent three seasons with the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera working as the Youth Orchestras Manager and the Community Engagement Manager. In 2016 she founded the Scenic City Bassoon Ensemble for bassoonists of all ages and skill levels to perform in community settings. As a UTC-Wolf Trap Teaching Artist, she collaborates with teachers to integrate arts-integrated learning strategies in early learning classrooms.
Other experience includes a decade of performing and teaching in Texas, participating in numerous conferences and festivals, and serving on the organizational team for the Meg Quigley Vivaldi Competition & Bassoon Symposium.
Influential bassoon teachers include Kathleen Reynolds, Jeff Keesecker, Frank Morelli, David Kirby, and Eric Anderson.
University of North Texas: D.M.A. Bassoon Performance, Graduate Certificate in Arts Leadership
Florida State University: M.M. Bassoon Performance, M.M. Historical Musicology
Brevard College: B.A. Music (emphases in performance, theory/history, and jazz studies)
Gallery Images: Betsy Bowden
Public Artwork: Passageways/Garden Grass [Inversions]