Dave Stamps

Dave Stamps, an accomplished musician/composer, has recently assumed the role of Associate Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Northern Colorado.  At UNC, Stamps manages the UNC Jazz Press and the daily operations of the award-winning UNC jazz studies program.

An active trombonist and composer/arranger primarily in the Denver area, Dave Stamps has performed all over the United States as well as Canada, Mexico, Peru and Europe, including the North Sea, Vienne, and Montreax Jazz Festivals.  He has accompanied such artists as Rufus Reid, Walt Weiskopf, Gary Versace, Wycliffe Gordon, Hamiet Bluiett, Michael Abene, Randy Brecker, Steve Turre, John Fedchock and Chick Corea.  Additionally, his compositions have been performed by university and professional jazz ensembles worldwide.  Stamps has also toured, recorded, and served as a clinician with the Jim Widner Big Band since 2002.

Previously, Stamps served as Visiting Assistant Professor and Managing Director of The Center for Jazz Composition at the University of South Florida in Tampa.  The CJC was established by USF as the only known research institute dedicated to assisting the continued worldwide growth, development, and appreciation of the role of the composer in jazz.  During his time in this position, he oversaw the day-to-day operations of the CJC including management of staff resources, financial accounting of expenditures, grant-writing, coordinating the cataloguing and archiving of our score library, assisting with acquisitions of pedagogical literature and recordings, and the establishment of a state of the art website.  Collaborating with renowned composer and current President of IAJE, Chuck Owen, Stamps helped to develop the Jazz Masterworks Series, the International Jazz Composers’ Symposium and the International Jazz Arranging Competition.

Academically, Stamps has taught jazz composition/arranging and has directed jazz ensembles at both Northern Illinois University and the University of South Florida.  He is a Liberace Scholar, a Golden Key Honour Society Scholar, and a member of Pi Kappa Lambda, The College Music Society, the International Association for Jazz Education and the International Trombone Association.

Stamps holds graduate degrees in jazz performance/pedagogy and jazz composition from Northern Illinois University and the University of South Florida, respectively.  He also earned a Bachelor of Music degree in jazz studies from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville and is an alum of Indiana University.