MU Summer 2024
James William Stamm
Instructor, School of Music
Education and career background:
• Marshall University Class of 2018, dual degree in Guitar Performance and Theory and Composition B.F.A.
• Joined Marshall in Spring 2023, teaching Music Technology as an adjunct professor, then hired as a full-time faculty member in Fall 2023
What do you do?
I like to refer to my position as the jack-of-all-music. My primary function is to educate and direct audio technologies in the School of Music. This involves directing music event productions, post-productions, archives and curricular development on audio technologies and engineering. Otherwise, I have been a pinch-hitter, teaching music theory, guitar and orchestration courses, as well as mentoring video production students on film audio production and post-production.
What do you hope is the impact of your work?
The biggest impact I strive to make is to establish audio production and technologies programs and standard operating procedures for all events and studio sessions. This will provide our students with resources to record and produce music for professional development and enable our school to offer industry-centric degree programs such as audio engineering, music production and multimedia composition, among others. These are essential skills for the modern musician and, with the support of the College of Arts and Media administration, I plan to make it happen.
What do you love about your job?
Generally, being surrounded by music and wonderful musicians, the camaraderie from serving our students and community and the opportunity to continue learning. Serving my students may take the cake. But overall, being a professor of music is so much more than sharing prescribed knowledge; there are genuine, cosmic and human elements of sharing music and passions that are indescribable, and I am thankful for those moments every day.
Some favorite Marshall moments?
As a student, I traveled with the Chamber Choir on a tour to Spain circa 2016. The cultural immersion that we experienced in the Andalusia region was humbling and life-changing. Between the music, the people, language, food, way of life, architecture, etc., I was electrified! It is a powerful experience to visit a foreign place in which everyday experiences feel new again but are ultimately tied to our human relations and needs. And sharing music is one of those great nexuses where humans can communicate and appreciate regardless of language barriers.
Our France tour this year rekindled a lot of these thoughts as I was swept up again, and this time in the beauty of the French people, their language and history, cathedrals and monarchical indulgences from before the revolution. The experience of sharing music as a foreigner, in Gothic cathedrals from the 13th-15th centuries, was just as awe-inspiring this time around. Being exposed to these types of experiences unlocks an intelligence about people and life that many don’t get the chance to fathom.
When I relate my experiences as a student to my time in France as a faculty member, it’s like life has come full circle. It’s this feeling that all of my hard work and dedication has paid off and a new chapter in my life has officially begun. I can’t express the elation in words. And to share the stage with such talented students makes me all the more proud of them as a mentor. I thank Marshall and those in the College of Arts and Media who make these trips possible. These are Marshall moments I’ll keep with me forever.
Based on your work, what do you know that you wish everyone knew?
Stop trying to control your future. Let yourself be guided by your passions, interests and excitements. Learn to enjoy the journey as much as the destination.
Quell fears surrounding your life decisions with the intent to better yourself and those around you. Keep things light and easy, but consistent. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Learn to accept your mistakes as honorably as your achievements. Above all, be kind to yourself no matter how you navigate any of the above.
