Dave StampsFaculty

Dave Stamps is Associate Professor of Music at Gustavus Adolphus College located outside of the Twin Cities in Minnesota. He is also the co-founder and Vice President of Operations for the International Society of Jazz Arrangers & Composers (ISJAC).

An active trombonist and composer/arranger, Dave has performed with/written for the Colorado Jazz Orchestra, Nebraska Jazz Orchestra, Ninth+Lincoln Jazz Orchestra, Chuck Owen & the Jazz Surge, Jim Widner Big Band, Wil Swindler's Elevenet, and Luiza Zan, among others. He has performed all over the United States as well as Canada, Mexico, Peru, and Europe, including the Montreax Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, Jazz à Vienne, and Festival Jazz en Lima.

Dave’s compositions have been performed and recorded by university and professional jazz ensembles worldwide. He is a member of ASCAP with all of his compositions currently available through UNC Jazz Press or his own firm, March of the Purple Penguin Music Publications .

Recently, Dave presented a masterclass on jazz listening skills at the 2013 Jazz Education Network’s International Conference in Atlanta, GA. He has also served in residency as guest faculty at the National University of Music in Bucharest, Romania in both 2011 and 2013.

Dave’s present research interests include jazz composition, music entrepreneurship, and their juxtaposition. Composition topics include: aural sound mapping, orchestration of mixed timbral instrumentation, and the facilitation vs. dictation of improvisation in the medium. Entrepreneurship topics include: higher education solutions for talent opportunity ratio, social impact of arts-based enterprises, and non-profit models for youth music programs. Topics that juxtapose composition and entrepreneurship include: music copyright, distribution of digital goods, and contemporary publishing modalities.

Previously, Dave has served as the Associate Director of Jazz Studies and Director Designee of UNC Jazz Press at the University of Northern Colorado, as well as the Managing Director of the Center for Jazz Composition and Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of South Florida where, with composer Chuck Owen, he helped develop the Jazz Masterworks Series, the International Jazz Composers' Symposium, and the International Jazz Arranging Competition.

Dave is an alumnus of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (DMA), University of South Florida (MM), Northern Illinois University (MM), Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (BM), and Indiana University.

Courses Taught