Anthony Stanco

ABOUT

Anthony Stanco is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, and educator from Southeast Michigan.

A product of Detroit’s rich musical heritage, Stanco spent his early years studying under local heroes such as Marcus Belgrave and Rodney Whitaker. He enrolled in the Manhattan School of Music to continue his education with world-famous brass pedagogue Laurie Frink and transferred to Michigan State University to finish his undergraduate and master’s degree. While completing his education, he won the International Trumpet Guild’s 2013 Jazz Improvisation Competition.

Stanco leads The Crucial Elements, a nationally-recognized 5-piece ensemble who have served multiple tours with the US State Department’s “American Music Abroad” program. This is made possible through a partnership between American Voices and the U.S government’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs. They’ve represented the United States in more than a dozen different countries around the world (including South Africa, Namibia, Indonesia, and Jordan) and have performed at leading international venues including the Java Jazz Festival, Cairo Jazz Club, and the Windhoek Jazz Festival. Stanco’s ensemble consistently receives rave reviews about their engaging live performances and equally captivating record titled “The Crucial Elements.” He continues to have an active recording career and has released his second record titled “You Know The Feeling” on the Detroit Music Factory label.

It has been important for Stanco to develop a significant amount of credibility as a composer and arranger. He has penned many of his own compositions including a five movement suite, select tracks on his records, a commissioned big band work for The Ohio State University’s 40th anniversary of their jazz festival, as well as a studio orchestra arrangement celebrating the life of jazz legend Charlie Parker. He has composed and arranged for many current projects including Micheal Dease’s Posi-Tone release “Give It All You Got.”

As someone who benefited early on from talented and passionate mentors, it’s only natural that Stanco would be drawn to become an educator himself. He has been a guest artist with Denison University, UofD Jesuit High School, Cheboygan Area High School, and has adjudicated multiple jazz festivals in the midwest. Stanco joined The Ohio State University faculty in 2015 and became the Director of Jazz Studies at Broward College in 2019.

Stanco joined the MSU College of Music Faculty in 2021.