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 playing bassoon and contrabassoon as a frequent guest musician with the Knoxville Symphony, Chattanooga Symphony & Opera, and Nashville Symphony orchestras, and in other creative collaborations across the region. Dr. Spring maintains a private bassoon studio, and is on faculty at UT Chattanooga, Lee University, Chattanooga State, Southern Adventist University, Covenant College, and the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts.
As an active member in the Chattanooga arts community, Spring has participated in the Holmberg Arts Leadership Institute and previously spent three seasons with the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera working as the Youth Orchestras Manager and Education & 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 and to raise funds for charitable organizations. Through the UTC-Wolf Trap Teaching Artist program 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. Spring holds a D.M.A. in Bassoon Performance from the University of North Texas, where she studied bassoon with Kathleen Reynolds and also completed a Graduate Academic Certificate in Arts Leadership as a Priddy Scholarship recipient. She earned dual Master of Music degrees in Historical Musicology and Bassoon Performance from The Florida State University, studying with scholar Denise Von Glahn and bassoonist Jeffrey Keesecker. She completed her undergraduate studies at Brevard College in North Carolina.
When not on stage or in the classroom, you can probably find her outside hiking a trail with her pup!