About Me
Stan has been a musician his entire life and playing specifically percussion for the past 14 years. He has performed with numerous ensembles including the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, Redlands Symphony Orchestra, Livermore Valley Opera, California Symphony Percussion Ensemble, SF Composer Chambers Orchestra, SF Golden Gate Band, SF Symphony Youth Orchestra, Debut Orchestra, Theatreworks, Golden States Pops Orchestra, Oakland Municipal Band, Redwood Symphony Orchestra, Prometheus Orchestra, Berkeley Community Orchestra, Air National Guard Band, Intercollegiate All-State Honor Band, and was the principal timpanist with the New Millennium String Orchestra from 2002-2005. Stan was also the resident percussionist for the San Francisco Conservatory's Summer Music West Composer's program in 2005, and a timpanist for Stanford University's Mozart Festival in 2006.
He has recorded as a percussionist for several film scores written by up and coming film composer Robert Litton. On Robert's website you can hear him playing on "Negotiations" along with Peter Erskine on drums and a full orchestra recorded at Warner Brothers Studios. He has also recorded at Capitol Records ("Gerald's Last Day") and in Firehouse Studios of Pasadena, where he dubbed all of the percussion for the films "Love in the Summertime", "Fox and Calf", and "Table for Two" (also on Robert Litton's website above).
Stan recently received a Professional Studies Certificate at the Colburn Conservatory of Music. Termed by many as the 'West Coast Curtis', Colburn not only offers an education free of tuition, but also provides room and board giving a student the freedom to really hone their skills without financial burden. In addition to performing with the Colburn Orchestra, Stan played with famed new music sextet 'eighth blackbird' (who reviewed him favorably on their blog ), LA Phil percussionist Perry Dreiman, and under the batons of James Conlon, Itzhak Perlman, and others. At Colburn, Stan also took numerous orchestra auditions and was a finalist in the Jacksonville Symphony's Principal Percussion audition and the Hyogo Performing Arts Orchestra Section Percussion audition. His teacher was Jack Van Geem, principal percussionist of the San Francisco Symphony.
In February of 2009, Stan flew to Toronto to record marimba on a NAXOS label CD with violinist Danielle Belen. The CD features works by composer Lawrence Dillon as well as performers pianist David Fung and violist Juan Miguel Hernandez. Stan recorded a duet with Danielle at the CBC in the Glenn Gould Studio.
Throughout high school and college, Stan was also involved with the drum and bugle corps activity for five years as a pit percussionist playing with the Blue Devils 'A' and 'B' corps and the Japanese drum corps Yamato. As a member of Blue Devils 'B' he toured Japan and was a finalist in Drum Corps International Division II. Studying with famed pit instructor Jeff Lee, he was part of the Blue Devils 2000 mallet section and played the famous accelerando run (also written by Jeff Lee ). Check out the video of that entire show. It earned a bronze medal in the Drum Corps International Division I Championships. The accelerando run is a little over 3/4ths of the way through. This same year, the Blue Devils also did a three week tour in Europe.
Blue Devils 2000
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Choruses he has played timpani and percussion for include Schola Cantorum of Mountain View, Schola Cantorum of San Francisco, Palo Alto based Oratorio Society, and the Contra Costa Chorale. Musical and operatic productions he has taken part in include Marriage of Figaro; Tosca; Madame Butterfly; Into the Woods; Oklahoma; Transformations; Stop the World, I Want to Get Off; Children of Eden; Evita; and South Pacific.
Artists Stan has played with include Gordon Goodwin, Michel Legrand, Catherine Michel, Sue Raney, Las Ondas Marteles, and the late Nathan Rubin. Batons he's had the honor of playing under consist of Michael Tilson Thomas, Alasdair Neale, Andrew Mogrelia, David Ramadanoff, Edwin Outwater, Sean Newhouse, and Case Scaglione. Performance spaces encompass Davies Symphony Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Segerstrom Hall, Ambassador Auditorium, Yoshi's, the Osher Salon in San Francisco, Hellman Hall, Walter Hall in Toronto Canada, Livermore Performing Arts Center, Mountain View Center for Performing Arts, and the Beverly Hills Hilton International Ballroom.
As a founding member of the New Century Percussion Ensemble, Stan played in the BluePrint Festival for new music in San Francisco, including a ravely reviewed performance of John Cage's Third Construction. The San Francisco Classical Voice wrote, "The four players — Chris Breeden, Brian Calhoon, Jamie Drake, and Stan Muncy — breezed through a variety of melodic, metallic instruments and drums with no sign of effort in coordination. It all sounded as natural as mother's milk. Technical security and refinement abounded from this talented quartet, showing that there's more musical worth to such pieces than mere banging away at musical instruments."
Stan has also premiered numerous compositions including the world premieres of two of Elinor Armer's pieces Trout for percussion trio (commissioned by both himself and Jamie Drake) and Ringing In for percussion quartet (commissioned for the gala opening and inauguration of the new Osher Salon in San Francisco). A performance at Walt Disney Concert Hall featured a world premiere by film score composer Felix Brenner (The Death of Salvador Dali). He also had the privelege of playing in a Finnish/American ensemble for a stunning performance of John Cage's First Construction (In Metal).
Having an undergraduate degree in composition as well, Stan has written several works for percussion ensemble, string quintet, and other duets between percussionists/instrumentalist/vocalists. He has also arranged numerous pieces for high schools, middle schools, drum corps, and jazz ensemble.
As a jazz vibraphonist, Stan has toured Europe with the Cal State Hayward Jazz Ensemble; soloed at the Reno Jazz Festival; been a founding member of the Got Jazz Trio; been a band leader for the Hayward Theatre Production of Thurber Carnival; and performed with the Erik Jekabson Trio for the San Francisco Sketch Comedy Group Killing My Lobster.
Also an educator, Mr. Muncy has given master classes at Cal State Hayward and various high schools; instructed high school, middle school, and summer camp percussion ensembles; subbed in college level basic percussion courses; taught children's percussion classes; performed educational shows for elementary schools; and maintained his own private studio of percussionists and pianists.
After obtaining his M.M. degree at the SF Conservatory of Music in 2006 studying with Jack Van Geem and receiving the percussion department award, Stan participated in the first annual Toronto Summer Music Academy Festival with legendary percussion quintet NEXUS. He has also participated in the Music Academy of the West summer festival in Santa Barbara. Stan received his B.A. in both percussion performance and composition at Cal State Hayward in 2003, magna cum laude, studying with freelance percussionist Artie Storch and composer Frank LaRocca.
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