Emily Stoops
Adjunct Instructor of Cello
Music
Music - Instrumental
Biography
Emily Stoops began her cello studies at the age of 4 in her hometown of Davenport, Iowa. A passionate and respected teacher, she is also known as an experienced orchestral, chamber and studio musician. She has been a member of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic since 2006 and is a principal performer with the Tactus Chamber Ensemble of OKC. Prior to moving to OK, she was an active performer based in the greater Detroit area. There she taught a large cello studio, directed a chamber music outreach program in the community, worked regularly as a studio musician, and played with numerous professional orchestras and chamber groups.
Ms. Stoops holds a Bachelor’s Degree in performance from the University of Iowa where she studied with Charles Wendt, and a Master’s Degree in performance from the University of Michigan with Anthony Elliott. Additional summer studies were at the Banff School for the Arts in Canada with Aldo Parisot and Shauna Rolston, and the Encore School near Cleveland, Ohio with Richard Aaron. During this time, Ms. Stoops was a member of the Quad City Symphony and played with the Center for New Music (University of Iowa) and Brave New Works (Ann Arbor, MI) where she premiered many works.
As a teacher, Ms. Stoops has spent years pursuing extensive training in cello pedagogy. She has studied both traditional and Suzuki cello pedagogy in-depth and is certified in all ten Suzuki cello books. Her pedagogy mentors have been primarily Tanya Lesinsky Carey, Richard Mooney, and Robert Culver. Ms. Stoops teaches at the Norman School for Strings, where she has maintained a thriving precollege studio for over fifteen years. Her students have attended universities and conservatories as music majors, have sat in principal positions at All-State and in youth orchestras, and have won local and regional solo and chamber music competitions.
Prior to joining the OCU string faculty, Ms. Stoops served as Artist in Residence at Southwestern College in Winfield, KS, taught as visiting instructor of cello at both Oklahoma State University and at the University of Oklahoma, and just completed her 25th year of teaching at the Great Midwestern String Clinic in Davenport, Iowa. She has served as a guest clinician and sectional coach for countless schools and organizations over the years and has also taught at the OKC Cello Project, the University of Iowa All State summer camp and the Blue Lake Fine Arts camp in Michigan. She conducts a precollege summer cello camp in Norman, OK, where she resides with her husband Anthony, a bassist, and their two children, also string players.
