what amy offers
Decades of Experience
Amy has been playing music professionally since her teens, collaborating in bands that she started and with other artists to support them live and in the studio. In 2011, she pressed pause on playing live after completing the Orchestration for Film and TV program at Berklee to score her first film, Kadoma. On the heels of the awards that Kadoma won, she found her home writing music for other adventure documentaries and shorts. Many of those films and shorts won awards at film festivals like 5 Point, Mountainfilm and Banff Mountain Film Festival along with several regional film festivals.
The authenticity of this kind of storytelling appealed to Amy as an avid lover of the outdoors and as one who marvels at the internal drive and work ethic of professional athletes.
About Me
MY NAME IS amy
I started piano lessons when I was five years old and taught myself to play guitar starting around ten years old, figuring out songs by ear that I heard on the radio. I took formal guitar lessons in my late teen years then continued my studies as a music major in college in the Midwest, all the while playing in bands. I left to attend a music school in Los Angeles that focused more on pop and rock music.
After graduation, I moved to Seattle, where everything was happening, and played in more bands through the 90’s. In 1998, I had a whacky idea to start an all-female AC/DC tribute band (guitarist Angus Young was a hero of mine) where I played the female counterpart to his iconic lead guitarist in a very successful band that we called Hell’s Belles. After a few years of equal parts fun and drama touring the western US and Canada, I chose less drama in 2002 and started teaching private and group music lessons as well as collaborating with other artists on their material and supporting them on stage as a multi-instrumentalist.
In 2007 I released a solo album where I wrote, sang, engineered, mixed and played all the instruments. It gave me a lot of confidence to use all of my skills, but I slowly realized that I was reaching a burnout playing live.
I found a new way to use all of my skills writing and recording music for visual media starting in 2011 and since then, I’ve been working with amazingly talented clients writing original music for their projects while maintaining a roster of music students.
Testimonials
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“Amy Stolzenbach is one of the most important music teachers I’ve ever had. I came to her with so many hang-ups about my own abilities (or lack thereof) and she helped to rebuild my confidence. Her teaching style takes some of the pressure off learning and makes playing your instrument FUN. In fact, she made it so much fun for me that I ultimately made music-making my full-time career. I am grateful to Amy, not only for teaching me so many of the important basics on guitar, but for helping me to see what I was capable of. I can’t recommend her highly enough!”
“I love “full circle” stories! This is one of my personal favorites. My two children had the wonderful experience of taking guitar lessons with Amy during their high school years. That was about 10 years ago. Wow....time flies! Amy’s fun and unique approach was inspirational for not only my children but for me too! My son got married a year ago. And I was wracking my brain for the perfect “mom” wedding toast. Even though I am not the most musical person, I decided to perform a Beatles song with my ukulele. But one hitch, I had no idea how to play the uke. And then a lightbulb moment! Even though I had not seen Amy for such a long time, I knew she would be the perfect musician to lead me on this new journey! Long story short....I have had a wonderful time learning a new instrument, reconnecting with Amy, charting new waters, and sharing a wedding toast that was a surprise and brought life beautifully full circle once again! Thank you, Amy!!!! ❤❤❤❤”