Who is Ms. Hancock?

Contact me via email: stolaf (at) pacificu (dot) edu (Change at to @ and "dot" to a period.)
 
Education:

 -- Graduated with honors from Marshfield High School in Coos Bay, Oregon.
-- Attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, from August 2004 to December 2005. Majored in Music Education and Spanish.
-- Graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Vocal Music Education from Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, May 2008.
-- Graduated with a Master of Arts in Teaching from Pacific University in May 2009.

Biography:
I was born in Grants Pass, Oregon. My family moved around a lot when I was growing up...we didn't live in the same house for more than two years, but we always lived in Southern Oregon, and at one point, we were homeless. Through hard work, perseverance, the support of my family and friends, and some very generous scholarship donors, I was able to attend and graduate from college. (Thank you, everyone.)

When I was little, I wanted to play professional football and fly fighter jets. I got to teach my fifth grade class a lesson about the different zones in the ocean, and from then on, I knew I wanted to teach. Of course, I thought about having other jobs, but none of them felt right. My high school choir director once said, "You should only be a professional musician if you can't imagine yourself doing anything else." And I couldn't, so here I am!

I started taking violin lessons at the age of 5, when we lived in Ashland. We moved out of the area when I was 7, and I didn't get to keep taking lessons. I joined my school orchestra (in Grants Pass, at that time) in fourth grade, and played violin there until we moved out of the district during my 7th grade year.
I started playing the upright bass (sometimes called the double bass) about two years ago and played it in the Pacific University Orchestra for three semesters. While I was a student at St. Olaf College, I also played bass handbells in a handbell choir.

I've been a member of at least one choir--and sometimes as many as seven!--since March 2004, when I transferred to Marshfield High School, and have had the honor of singing under the direction of some really fantastic conductors, including Sigrid Johnson and Anton Armstrong.

My first conducting gig was for a community theatre production of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods. In addition to conducting, I have also "played" the role of Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors. (I was the puppeteer!) For my senior project at Pacific, I chose to put together a choir of peers and friends and involved the musical contributions of twenty people other than myself. We rehearsed once a week for about fifteen weeks and sang five pieces, and a couple of them were even hard! Haha!

I love to read, write, to make and listen to music, cook, bake, laugh, and be around people.
I am always willing to listen to anything awesome or to whatever might be troubling you; the fdoor to my figurative office is always open. If you are more of a writer (I certainly am...), you can email any time.