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Sten Höstfält Music Educator Sten Hostfalt is an initially auto-didact composer-musician, come first-generation academic holding BM, GD, MM, and EdM degrees with awards, scholarships, and honors from Berklee College of Music, New England Conservatory and Columbia University. He is a recent to current, as in past 25 years instructor, lecturer and faculty member of leading academic institutions Columbia University's Teachers College, The City University of New York*, New World School of the Arts, FL, and The Royal College of Music, Stockholm. He carries a pedagogic legacy as a facilitator of individually translated pragmatic creative applications of knowledge with a 21st-century view on music education. This based on an internationally documented four-decade active contribution to creative music, art, and education alongside some of the most prolific musicians and artists of our time, on recordings, and at leading venues. As a composer, 6, 8 and 12-string guitarist, bassist, electronic music performer, band-leader, producer, record label proprietor, theorist, researcher, and educator, associated with leading press/media featured creative contributions to the music scene since 1995. Mr. Hostfalt's original work is, in the words of Jazz Review's Don Williamson referred to as genuinely innovative, and may be considered groundbreaking (2005). Showing just how far an instrument can be altered to meet experimental, adventurous needs, taking you on a journey to a place where rules quite simply don't exist and anything is possible, according to John Kelman of All About Jazz (2004), and has been compared to the contemporary composed works of iconic composer John Cage and described as one of the most riveting explorations of the microtonal world ever recorded by Larry Cosentino for Signal to Noise (2005). A NY State K-12 certified music teacher for the NYC Department of Education, having contributed to the DOE in various roles since 2006. And a music instructor at Columbia University's Teachers College, having taught at the institution since 2020. Mr. Hostfalt's contribution to, and membership of New York City's creative music community since 1994, activity on the U.S. East Coast scene since 1989, and internationally since 1981. Represents both informal and formal education, and multiple cultural traditions as manifested in a wide range of formats. From urban street performances, to the DIY progressive arts culture of the late 1970s and early 1980s, on to the world's most famous concert halls, and most prestigious academic institutions for education and the arts. Since first being introduced to the teaching profession in 1977, through a junior high school vocational apprenticeship program, he has served as a guitar instructor at The Royal College of Music, Stockholm, at Queensborough Community College, CUNY the City University of New York*, and as a lecturer at New World School of The Arts, Miami FL, Berklee College of Music, New England Conservatory of Music, and with Guillermo Klein's band at Colegio Ward and Centro Cultural San Martin, Buenos Aires, Argentina. In addition to teaching for New York Jazz Academy since 2009, at East Village's First Flight Music 2007-2015. And in 2022 as a NYC Department of Education teaching artist for Midori & Friends, an organization supported by The New York Council on the Arts, New York City Cultural Affairs, and the National Endowment of the Arts. * DISCLAIMER: Neither Sten Hostfalt's Brooklyn NY registered proprietorship Sonus Rex, nor Sten's NYC Guitar Studio are affiliated with Queensborough Community College, or the City University of New York CUNY. |
Educator Philosophy Statement
Despite, or perhaps due to the rapidly amassed,
increasing public access to information in the
21st century, much of current education favors
itemization and commodification of content,
with a metric-quantitative focused mindset,
and in essence, the cerebral. Ironically so,
often by seeking validation through exploitation
of collective, inclusive, inter-disciplinary,
and holistic concepts. With ideals in a
sales pitch for knowledge as merchandise,
and interactions valued according to currency
concepts. Meanwhile our thoughts, ideas,
imagination, and real-time experiences
remain true, resonant, and crucial for
communication, understanding and
development.
Alma Maters
Columbia University Teachers College
Master of Music Education Degree
Internship at Fordham University
at Jazz at Lincoln Center JALC
Music in Early Childhood with
Lori Custodero, College Teaching
with Jeanne Goffi-Fynn,
Electronic Music Technology in
iEducation with James Frankel
City University of New York
Post-Masters Advanced Certificate in
Music Education awarded by CUNY BC
with NYC Department of Education,
New York State K-12 teacher
certification in Music Education
New England Conservatory
Master of Music Degree, Jazz Composition
Graduate Diploma, Jazz Guitar Performance
NEC Honors Jazz Ensemble Member
Berklee College of Music
Bachelors Degree, Professional Music
Cum Laude, Berklee Performance Dept.
Outstanding Musicianship Award
Students
Through the private studio, or
other schools or organizations,
for the past thirty years,
instructional assistance has
been provided to students
enrolled at academic
institutions including:
Juilliard School of Music
Columbia University
NYU New York University
Rockefeller University
Royal College of Music, Stockholm
Fiorello LaGuardia High School
for The Performing Arts
City University of New York
Mannes School of Music
Brown University
Boston University
Berklee College of Music
Students have been accepted
into performing arts programs at:
Manhattan School Of Music
Eastman School of Music
The New School for Social Research
SUNY Purchase
State University of New York
University of Michigan School of Music
The Special Music School at
Kaufman Center New York City
Bard College
Frank Sinatra High School for the Arts
The Jazz Academy at JALC
Jazz at Lincoln Center, NYC
Western Illinois University WIU
Berklee College of Music
Publications featuring/representing
Sten Hostfalt's pedagogical work:
* Fresh Music: Explorations With The
Creative Workshop Ensemble For
Musicians, Artist and Teachers. by
Jon Damian, YO Publications 2015.
ISBN 978-0-9863105-0-8. Library of
Congress Control Nr. 2015901154.
* Dictionnaire des musiques microtonales
(1892-2013) Franck Jedrzejewski,
L'Harmattan (France), 2014.
Professional Membership:
UFT United Federation of Teachers
NAfME New York State United
Teachers National Association
for Music Education
NYSSMA New York State School
Music Association
MEANYC Music Educators
Association New York
AFM, American Federation of
Musicians, Local 802 Associated
Musicians of Greater New York
Guitar Foundation of America,
AES, Audio Engineering Society
Society for Research in Music
Education
SMT, Society for Music Theory
JFA, Jazz Foundation of America
BMI, Broadcast Music Incorporated.
Collaborative Work, Recordings
and Live Concert Appearances
Jimmy Giuffre, Paul Bley,
Bobby Shew, Rob McConnell,
Gary Burton, Peter Erskine,
and Clare Fischer.
Shared Concert/Festival Events
Johnny Griffin, Ray Brown,
Phil Woods, Tower of Power,
Woody Herman Big Band,
Niels-Henning Orsted-Pedersen,
MOBY, Keith Murray (Def Squad)
Lunachicks NYC, Therapy? (IR)
Principal instrument taught:
JAZZ GUITAR:
guitar/plucked string
instruments in improvised
formats including 6, 8 and
12-string guitars in standard
tuning, open (folk) tunings,
and microtonal tunings,
left-hand techniques for
interpretation of microtones,
two-hand (tapping) techniques,
prepared guitar techniques,
guitar with digital computer
-processed electronics, including
looping and guitar synthesis.
Familiarity with traditional and
modern forms of Jazz, Pop/Rock,
Metal, Funk/Soul/R&B, Reggae,
Folk, Progressive, Avantgarde,
Microtonal & Beyond Category,
Secondary instruments taught:
classical guitar
electric bass guitar
electronic/digital music production
(Pro Tools, Logic, Ableton, Reaper,
Harrison Mixbus, Universal Audio LUNA,
and Steinberg Wavelab. Knowledge
of ext. digital processing applications
include TC Electronics, SSL, PSP,
Universal Audio, HOFA, and Eventide.
Tertiary instruments taught:
mandolin
ukulele
piano/keyboard,
percussion/drums, voice,
WOODWINDS alto saxophone,
clarinet, flute and recorder.
Additional rudimentary
instrument understanding:
violin, viola, cello, trumpet,
trombone, recorder, oud.
Additional subjects or topics taught:
composition, arranging, music theory,
ear training, transcription techniques,
ensemble, improvisation, music history
and musicology, music notation (Dorico),
fundamentals of running an independent
record label, producing and publishing.
Composing-arranging for ensembles,
creative development of repertoires,
and curricular outlines, are features
of Sten Hostfalt's work as a musician
and educator. As exemplified by his
Teachers College Columbia University
internship at Fordham at Jazz at The
Lincoln Center, and the leadership of
his own original projects including
the 15-piece mixed winds, brass,
strings and dance ensemble
Dimensional States. As well as the
direction of youth big bands at jazz
festivals, and in competitions during
the 1990s, all of which draws on a
decade-long membership in Jazz
orchestras led by Phil Wilson, Herb
Pomeroy, and Guillermo Klein. In
turn relating to conducting studies
with George Monseur, (a student
of Bernstein and Stokowski) and
masterclasses with 20th century
composers Toru Takemitsu, and
Györgi Ligeti.
Educator philosophy:
The representation of a longtime
membership of the international
creative music community,
collaborators, and the innovative
traditions of pioneering mentors,
means carrying a legacy of pragmatic,
experiential, and transformative
processes of individual-collaborate
creativity through improvisation
and the power of imagination.