Stephanie Gregoire Joins UIC as Clinical Assistant Professor of Music Education


“I’ve been training for this job my whole life.”

Stephanie Gregoire doesn’t just teach music—she builds spaces where students belong.

This fall, she joins the University of Illinois Chicago as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Music Education, bringing with her a decade of experience that spans middle schools, community programs, and university classrooms. For Gregoire, music education is inseparable from questions of identity, equity, and inclusion. “All of my experiences point to the humanization of teaching,” she said. “You’re teaching the people, not just the music.”

Originally from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Gregoire moved to Chicago in 2014 to join the Chicago Children’s Choir (now Uniting Voices) as a conductor. “I grew up in a small, close-knit town with very little diversity,” she said. “Chicago was the opposite—big, expansive, and incredibly diverse. But what I learned working in neighborhood schools was that every school, no matter where it is, is a reflection of its community.” Performing across the city—from the Art Institute to national conferences—Gregoire deepened her belief that music is a vehicle for connection and representation.

Gregoire is currently completing her PhD at Northwestern’s Bienen School of Music, where her research focuses on gender, sexuality, and intersectionality in choral spaces. She explores how collective identity shapes who feels welcome in music classrooms—and who doesn’t. “We join choirs to sing, but also to belong,” she explained. “So what happens when people don’t see themselves in the way choirs are structured? My research asks how we can build more inclusive choral models.”

At UIC, she sees an opportunity to help build a music education program that reflects and serves the city. “When I read the job description, I thought, ‘I’ve been training for this job my whole life,’” she said. “Every part of my journey—musically, educationally, personally—has led to this moment of preparing teachers to teach in urban schools like those in Chicago.”

Gregoire is especially excited about UIC’s collaborative, interdisciplinary approach. “Music educators need to be ready for everything—from teaching a choral warm-up to managing a musical theater production,” she said. “I want to help build a program that disrupts the norm, that fuses students’ life experience with their school experience. We need programs that challenge the status quo and ask future teachers to think critically about who they are and who they serve.”

With 40% of UIC’s undergraduates coming from Chicago Public Schools, Gregoire sees the program as uniquely positioned to shift the national music education landscape. “We can change the pipeline,” she said. “Most music educators in this country are still white, and most teacher training programs are designed around traditional models. But at UIC, we’re building something new. We’re preparing students to be both great musicians and transformative educators.”

That mindset is also central to how Gregoire teaches. “I want my students to walk away with curiosity and critical thinking skills. I want them to feel mentally prepared—not just musically trained—to build programs that are excellent and responsive to their communities,” she said. “To do that work well, they have to bring their whole selves into the classroom, and make space for students to do the same.”

Head of Music, Brent C. Talbot is “beyond thrilled to welcome Stephanie to our music department!” Dr. Gregoire brings the energy and expertise to complement the skillsets of our other hires like Dr. Tiffanie Waldron. Stephanie’s years of experience teaching in Chicago and the deep connections she has forged with school administrators will be a huge asset to our students and our music degree program. With Stephanie Gregoire, Tiffanie Waldron, and me at the center of our music education program, along with our team of dedicated faculty and staff and community partners, we have rapidly positioned UIC to become a national leader in urban music education. In the next few years our goal is to create visible change in the city of Chicago and the field of music education.”

When she’s not teaching or researching, Gregoire finds balance on the ice. A former hockey player, she returned to the sport this year by joining the Evanston Tigers women’s league. “It’s been transformative,” she said. “Playing hockey gives me a space completely outside of music and academia. It demands my full physical and mental focus, and that separation actually helps me show up better at work. It’s all about setting boundaries and protecting joy.”

Starting in Fall 2025, Gregoire will help usher in the next generation of Chicago music educators at UIC.