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Stanley Chepaitis is a recognized artist whose accomplishments span those of a jazz performer and educator, conductor, composer, as well as success in classical music as violinist, concertmaster, and teacher. He has performed both jazz and classical repertoire on concert stages in Europe and America and collaborated with David Diamond, John Blake, and Diane Monroe. In 1979, Stanley met Joe Venuti and, after playing for the jazz legend, Stanley was invited to perform with his idol for the remaining two weeks Venuti's concert tour.
Stanley's recent appearances in Washington State, Idaho, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Mexico blend his talents as performer, educator, and conductor, as do the repeat engagements he receives annually from numerous Suzuki Institutes throughout the country. In February '05, he presented a workshop at the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) National Conference in Reno, Nevada, teaching how to integrate alternative string techniques into high school music curriculums. Additionally, he has been nominated for the planning board of the 2006 ASTA Alternative Styles for Teachers Forum.
He studied jazz composition and improvisation with John Blake, Bill Dobbins, and Rayburn Wright, with further improvisation study under saxophonist John Vitali and pianist Tony Caramia, and spent a year studying under Floyd Williams, drummer for Duke Ellington. Continuing to create artistic opportunities, Stanley is a founding member of three jazz groups including a jazz string quartet with three members of the Pittsburgh Symphony, a progressive string trio of guitar, violin, and cello modeled on the String Trio of New York's, and a weekly "laboratory" for alternative string exploration.
Stanley's international performances include engagements at the Academy of Music in Zagreb, Croatia, the Academy of Music in Lubriana, Slovenia, and a special jazz program for an audience of German music teachers at the Hoeschulle in Hanover, Germany. In the states, he has presented concerts at the Eastman School's Kilbourne Hall, Carnegie Mellon University, and the Krannert Center, in Champagne, Illinois. He has premiered his own music at the Pleshakov Music Center in Hudson, NY, the University of Wisconsin, and Bucknell University. In the Pittsburgh area, near his home, he is often heard with Eric Susoeff and Dave Pellow.
Stanley has taught on the faculties of Central Michigan University, Allegheny College, Hendricks College and Indiana University of Pennsylvania where he is currently Chair of the String Department. He attended Hart College of Music and received the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree as well as the coveted Performer's Certificate from the Eastman School of Music. He studied violin with John Celentano and Raphael Bronstein.