Stephanie started formal piano lessons at the age of five, in Tucson, AZ. She briefly played the violin, but when she turned ten, she was seduced by the saxophone and began her band career. In high school she played oboe in the Tucson High Magnet School marching, jazz, and concert bands, and also served as drum major. As a high school senior, Stephanie was honored with first in the state in the All-State band competition, and played in the saxophone section in the All-State jazz band. She was also a saxophone soloist with the All-State orchestra, and was featured as a soloist with the Arizona Symphonic Winds.
Stephanie earned a degree in Jazz Studies at the University of Arizona, where she intensely studied oboe, flute, piccolo, clarinet, as well as the saxophone. She played in numerous wind ensembles and jazz bands, as well as marching in the Pride of Arizona marching band and pep band. In 1997, she was chosen for the Disney-Grammy All-American College Orchestra, and lived at Disney World for a summer as a musician. That same year, Stephanie had a successful saxophone quartet called SaxMania, which won a 1998 Downbeat Magazine award.
In 1999, Stephanie began her graduate studies in saxophone at the Hartt School of Music and studied with jazz legend Jackie McLean. It was there in Connecticut that she began playing in the Rob Zappula Big Band and in pit orchestras for musicals. Stephanie became a New Yorker in 2003, and enjoys being a freelance jazz and woodwind player. She's played for dozens of regional theaters in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, and holds a regular summer gig at the Monomoy Theater on Cape Cod.
Stephanie has been teaching saxophone, flute, clarinet, and piano for over fourteen years, and loves every minute of it. The only thing that matches her love of teaching is performing, which she does most often with her groundbreaking quintet, BIPOLAR, regularly seen at the Metropolitan Room in New York City. You can find BIPOLAR's newest album, Euphrates, Me Jane, on iTunes, or at www.bipolarjazz.com.