ELIZABETH STOYANOVICH

Conductor, Educator, Music Director and Student

What is your professional background?

I’m a professional musician and veteran teacher

with 35 years of experience as a conductor and educator. I have worked on the staff

with prominent orchestras such as The Cincinnati Symphony, the Pacific Symphony

Orchestra and taught in education programs for K-12 and college in public, charter and

arts magnet schools including Palisades Charter Highs School and Colburn Academy in

LA. I have three degrees from the University of Michigan: Master of Music in

Conducting, Master of Music in Oboe Performance and Bachelor of Music Education

Instrumental, I was a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center and studied conducting

with Leonard Bernstein at the American Academy of Music in France. Thru music

performance, I have traveled extensively performing in Europe, Canada and the US. My

interest has always been to engage musicians so that the intentions of composer’s can

be shared with the global community at-large. With a particular interest in

contemporary music, I have helped bring to life many new compositions and premiere

performances as a player and conductor of the works primarily of my husband, Patrick

Stoyanovich, who is a professional composer and pianist. I believe that music can bridge

gaps in culture and diversity if we learn the vocabulary of each other’s musical language

and listen and appreciate one another.

Professional Background

  • Conducting

  • Teaching

  • On stage

  • Oboe

Why did you choose to pursue this program?

I have always considered myself as a life-

long learner and student. Often times, when introducing myself at the beginning of a

semester I tell my students that I hope not a day goes by without all of us learning

something new- which I truly believe. Years ago, I was accepted to study at Indiana

University at Bloomington, but at the time they would not offer any scholarship

assistance. I had been out working for about 2 years after my last Master’s and did not

have the resources to pay full tuition. At the same time, I auditioned for the Central

Kentucky Youth Orchestra Music Director position and won the job. Having to choose

between making a modest living or going into debt, I chose to work. That path took me

me to many wonderful musical and educational experiences ultimately to where I am

today. Prior to Covid, I took classes online thru the UCLA to receive my CTE

endorsement and since Covid and teaching online for about two years, I began thinking

more and more about returning to the classroom myself, not just to teach and conduct,

but to learn more about the educational process. Though I am fortunate to teach and

work with students and families that are by and large comfortable economically, I still

am intrigued about the process that students’ go thru to acquire information. Music is a

field where we spend a great deal of time by ourselves analyzing our playing, dissecting

small details, building thru repetition and sheer work while learning new forms of

patience. As an artist I was drawn to music because of its beauty and expressive quality,

but as I was educated, I learned even more about the construction of music and

appreciation of it at a very deep level. The discipline of musical artistic growth has not

changed, but the type of student in today’s classroom is much different. I am interested

in pursuing this degree to better understand the current process of learning so that I can

offer my students the best possible environment to grow as human beings in my

classroom.

Pursuing this program

  • Pali Graduation

  • Music remote in 2020

  • Performing

  • Coaching with the pros

What are your personal and professional goals?

My husband, Patrick and I, have two

daughters: Antonia who is a professional photographer the Director of Peter Fetterman

Studio in Santa Monica and Sophia who is beginning her Doctoral in Violin Performance

at City University of New York. My interest is to continue emotionally and

psychologically supporting all of the artists in my family as they grow and share their

talents with this world. We are fortunate as a family to be very close personally and to

share in each other’s triumphants and disasters. Often times, when I am working with

families in my programs, they ask me “how did you get your kids to practice, or study?”

My answer is always the same- “ …you continue to be part of their lives from inception

thru every part of their days as much as you can. Together you figure out their task,

how to accomplish it, then you tell them your expectations and you make sure they

accomplish what was set out at the onset”. People think that at x age they can “stop”

parenting- which is simply not true, parenting just takes on a different form of support.

It can mean taking a kid to day care, making them complete their music theory over the

summer months or listening to them on the phone when they are emotionally hurting

and in despair. The biggest mistake I see is that parents want to walk away from their

job at a certain point to ‘live their own life”. I don’t see it that way, personal goals mean

that I am invested in my immediate families’ future as well as my own and I find a way

to set examples and balance time to make these dreams and desires to come true.

My professional goals include: growing the orchestral program at Pali especially thru

recruiting young string players before they enter high school, seeking funding to build

the new VAPA performance complex at Pali, expanding the ensembles at Colburn

including the Wind Ensemble and Concert Band- adding a chamber program and

intermixing with the orchestra program, seeking performance networking in the greater

LA area including collaborations with new music and premiers and of course- completing

my USC Doctoral in Education program on time!

Professional goals and beyond

  • At home

  • Photography

  • In the family

  • And during my free time