Michelle Batty Stanley is Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies for the College of Liberal Arts and Professor of Music (flute) at Colorado State University. She currently teaches graduate students in flute for the School of Music, Theatre and Dance in addition to her work for the College of Liberal Arts.

Michelle is a performer of solo, chamber and orchestral music and has been praised for her “fine breath control and offers subtlety in playing and a strong sense of the long, lyrical lines" . She is a regular international artist and has enjoyed giving performances and masterclasses fthroughout the U.S., Russia, Japan, China, France, England, Scotland, Italy, Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary, and Russia. She has been on the faculty of the Interharmony Music Festival in Italy for several seasons.

Michelle is a regular performer in the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, and is principal flute for the Pro Musica chamber orchestra and the Colorado Bach Ensemble and Festival. She was the second flutist/piccolo player with the Colorado Ballet Orchestra from 2008-2013. She has presented and performed for the National Flute Convention (2022, 2021, 2020, 2019 in Salt Lake City, 2018 in Orlando, 2017 in Minneapolis, 2016 in San Diego, 2012 in Las Vegas, 1999 in Atlanta), College Music Society Regional and National Conferences, Colorado Music Educators Association conference (2010, 2013, 2018, 2019), and Music Teachers National Association State and National conferences. She has performed at the Berkeley Early Music Festival, and spent five seasons as the second flutist with the Colorado Music Festival orchestra.

She has commissioned and premiered more than 30 works from composers throughout the United States. Her first CD of newly commissioned chamber music was released by Centaur Records in 2006 and her second recording of French flute music was released by Navona records in 2018. Michelle is the flutist in Quatra Duo, a flute and guitar duo released an album contemporary flute and guitar which was released by Navona records in September of 2020.

In addition to her active performing career, Dr. Stanley is the author of an online music appreciation textbook published by Great River Technologies called Music Appreciation: Successful Listening in All Music. This text is used at CSU for more than 3,000 students each year.

A strong advocate for the arts, Dr. Stanley was one of the founding creators of the LEAP Institute at Colorado State University. LEAP (Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Advocacy and the Public) is an interdisciplinary program that offers an undergraduate minor and a master’s degree in arts management where she was Director from 2018-2023. Michelle was also program head for the Music Department within the School of Music, Theatre and Dance for the 2022-2023 academic year.

Michelle received a M.M. and D.M.A. in flute performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder and received a B.A. in Music from the University of New Hampshire. She also attended Trinity College of Music in London where she studied with Anne Cherry.