Music education scholar to take helm of School of Music

Ann Marie Stanley, an internationally known music education scholar who currently serves as associate dean of graduate studies in Louisiana State University's College of Music and Dramatic Arts, has been appointed director of the Penn State School of Music in the College of Arts and Architecture, effective July 1, 2023. Stanley will succeed David Frego, director of the school since 2017, who is retiring.

Stanley also holds an appointment as the Aloysia L. Barineau Professor of Music Education at LSU and is the chair-elect of the Society for Music Teacher Education, one of music education's most prestigious national professional organizations.

B. Stephen Carpenter II, Michael J. and Aimee Rusinko Kakos Dean in the College of Arts and Architecture, said Stanley brings an impressive balance of experience as an administrator, faculty member, and music educator.“I am confident Ann Marie will provide the necessary leadership for faculty, staff, and students in the school to map a creative, resourceful, imaginative, and collaborative future,” he added.

Before coming to LSU, Stanley was associate professor of music education at the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester, from 2007 to 2016. She also taught public school general music and children's choir for seven years in California. In addition to a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, she has degrees in oboe performance from Wichita State University and a teaching credential from California State University-East Bay.

"I am thrilled to join the renowned Penn State School of Music. The superb quality of the students, alumni, staff, and faculty was immediately obvious to me when I visited, and I look forward to working with the entire community,” said Stanley.

The high level of talent and dedication across the school offers tremendous possibilities for enhancing our visibility and impact within the College of Arts and Architecture and the Penn State campus at large." -Ann Marie Stanley

Stanley is known for expertise in music teacher learning and professional development, and co-authored the 2020 Oxford Handbook of Preservice Music Teacher Education in the U.S. (Oxford University Press). She has chapters published in eight music education textbooks, and has written widely on musical collaboration, qualitative research methodology, and urban and rural music education. Stanley has had more than 20 research studies published in major music journals: Arts Education Policy Review, Bulletin for the Council for Research in Music Education, Journal of Music Teacher Education, and Research Studies in Music Education. She has also written on interdisciplinary arts policy, including editorship of a special focus issue on international arts teacher collaboration for the Arts Education Policy Review journal.

Stanley has presented her research at more than 30 national and international conferences, including being the invited research headliner at the 2022 Pennsylvania Music Educators' Association conference. She has been an invited scholar-in-residence for Temple University, University of Florida, and Wichita State University and spoken at universities in the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, and China.

Noted for her skill in facilitating large community engagement programs in music, Stanley has successfully created and fundraised for arts partnerships between LSU and community groups, including programs for schools, children with special needs, and residents in the East Baton Rouge school system. Stanley is on the board of directors of Baton Rouge's large music non-profit Kids' Orchestra. She also created an early literacy and music task force for the Louisiana State Department of Education and facilitated professional development and peer coaching for music teachers throughout rural Louisiana, North Carolina, and Texas.

Stanley said she is looking forward to joining the Penn State community. "Penn State, with its storied traditions of musical excellence, is well known for its international impact on music performance and scholarship. I am excited to be a part of this energy, and l look forward to establishing new partnerships and collaborative initiatives with local and international communities."