Anthony Stanco

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 such local heroes 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 before returning to Michigan State University for his master's degree in 2014. While completing his education, he won the International Trumpet Guild's 2013 Jazz Competition.

Stanco leads The Crucial Elements, a nationally-recognized 5-piece ensemble who have served multiple tours with US State Department's “American Music Abroad” program. They've represented the United States in more than a dozen different countries around the world (including South Africa, Namibia, Indonesia, and Jordan). The Crucial Elements are wildly popular abroad for their ability to combine jazz with the traditional music of the local cultures, proving the viability of jazz as a global art form.

As someone who benefited early on from talented and passionate mentors, it's only natural that Stanco should be drawn to become an educator himself. He returned to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's Civic Jazz Program (the very program that nurtured his love of the music as an adolescent) in 2011 as a mentor and jazz combo director. He's also taught at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, the Michigan State University Community Music School, and the Manhattan School of Music's Music Arts-In-Education Outreach program.

Most recently, Stanco joined The Ohio State University School of Music as a Lecturer and Instructor of Jazz Trumpet. He also teaches at Oakland University.