About
Meet Stan
Stan Pethel has been composing and arranging music for over 50 years, which includes decades as a musician and teacher.
PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
A Career in Music Education & Composition
Dr. Stan Pethel is Professor of Music Emeritus at Berry College near Rome, Georgia, where he taught from 1973 until his retirement in 2016, serving as Chair of Fine Arts from 1994 to 2013.
He holds a Bachelor of Music and Master of Fine Arts from the University of Georgia and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Kentucky.
He's a widely published composer and arranger with over 1,500 works in print across 29 publishers, writing for choir, piano, organ and piano duet, symphonic band, jazz ensemble, orchestra, handbells, solo instrument and piano, and chamber ensembles.
He's a regular recipient of the ASCAP Standard Award, and has served as a part-time minister of music for several churches in Northwest Georgia.
Stan is married to Jo Ann Pethel, a pianist and music educator. They have three children and six grandchildren.
starting young
How it began
Stan started on piano at six. In high school he picked up the trombone and added guitar, mandolin, and harmonica along the way.
He’s played in marching bands (University of Georgia), symphonic band, orchestra, brass ensembles, jazz ensembles, a rock band in college, gospel quartets as a singer and pianist, and church choirs, along with just about anything else the occasion called for.
He started writing music in high school for his own high school band and never stopped.
MOMENTS OF NOTE
Career Highlights
43 years as a Professor of Music at Berry College, plus one year as a middle school band director
Performances across Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States
Annual recipient of the ASCAP Standard Award