University of Tennessee Chattanooga and Lee University
Based in Chattanooga, TN, Staci A. Spring leads a versatile career as a professional bassoonist, educator, and arts advocate. She performs frequently throughout the region with ensembles including the Knoxville Symphony, Chattanooga Symphony & Opera, Rome Symphony, Chattanooga Bach Choir, Opera Tennessee, Figment Chamber Ensemble, and the Fourth Wall Trio. She maintains a private bassoon studio, and holds faculty appointments at Lee University, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga State Community College, and the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts. In 2019 she was selected as a UTC-Wolf Trap Teaching Artist, an affiliate program of the nationally renowned Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning through 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 as the Youth Orchestras Manager and the Community Engagement Manager. In 2016 she founded the Scenic City Bassoon Ensemble; a group for bassoonists of all ages and skill levels that performs in community settings.
Other professional experience includes a decade of performing and teaching in Texas, where she held faculty appointments at Stephen F. Austin State University, McMurry University, Abilene Christian University, and Hardin-Simmons University. She performed numerous recitals as a member of the Stone Fort Wind Quintet, Key City Winds, and the Abilene Chamber Players, and performed regularly with the Abilene Philharmonic, Midland-Odessa Symphony & Chorale, San Angelo Symphony, Longview Symphony, Texarkana Symphony, and Shreveport Symphony orchestras. She has performed and presented at conferences for the International Double Reed Society, Texas Music Educators Association, and the College Music Society, and has served on the organizational team for the Meg Quigley Vivaldi Competition & Bassoon Symposium since 2013.
Spring is a doctoral candidate at the University of North Texas, where she studied bassoon with Kathleen Reynolds and 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.