Mr. Stanley Spottswood, a Good Counsel graduate from the Class of 1981 and GC’s amazing choir director, has recently been nationally recognized as the My Score Composer of the Month. He has had an incredible career, pulling his inspiration from his own passion for music. 

J.W Pepper, an incredibly popular music distributor, releases a section of their publication each month called My Score, featuring independent composers and artists. After years of teaching and composing music, Mr. Spottswood earned the honor of being recognized as the Composer of the Month.

We sat down with Mr. Spottswood to talk to him about his career, his accomplishments, and his passion for music and composing.

Mr. Spottswood got his start in music at a very young age. He started playing the piano at five- years-old, when his mother bought one. “I was the youngest of six, and I was the only one that was interested in learning how to play it.” He continued playing music in college, and tried all different types of instruments – he stuck to piano though, and his love for the instrument is evident in the incredible arrangements he creates for the GC choir. “As a music major, you have to dibble and dabble in all sorts of different things in case you teach a band.”

Mr. Spottswood got his start teaching in what he calls “a fluke.” After being asked to be a substitute teacher by his friend, he fell in love with teaching his craft to the next generation of musicians. After several teaching positions, he began teaching here at Good Counsel in 2005. He says that his favorite part about teaching music at Good Counsel is “seeing the satisfaction on the students’ faces after a performance.” 

We hope you will join us in congratulating our very own award-winning composer, Mr. Spottswood. It’s clear that he has so much passion for music and teaching it, and we can’t think of someone who deserves this award more. 

Note: On December 1, 2023, Mr. Spottswood received Good Counsel’s XBSS Theodore James Ryken Award.  Congratulations Mr. Spottswood!