Born into a family that sows music into their lives, Wichita State University graduate student Stephanie Patterson is now reaping the benefits.

Patterson, who is pursuing a Master of Music in bassoon performance at WSU, was raised in Lafayette, Calif., with a family that included one cousin who plays saxophone, another cousin who plays trumpet on a riverboat and a grandfather who plays tuba in a Dixieland band near San Francisco.

Patterson left Lafayette for Oberlin, Ohio, in 2002 to attend Oberlin College and Conservatory, where she studied music performance and Russian.

“Stephanie is an amazing student,” Kuster said. “She’s curious, and that’s the best kind of student to have. She gives a lot of herself. She’s just incredible.”

Kuster encouraged Patterson to consider WSU’s Master of Music program and the opportunity given to its graduate students to perform in the Wichita Symphony Orchestra. Patterson kept in touch with Kuster and later applied to Wichita State.

In 2005, Patterson traveled to Austin, Texas, for the Meg Quigley Vivaldi competition, which was designed and created by Kuster to inspire young female bassoonists in a male-dominated field.

While in Austin, she met renowned jazz bassoonist Paul Hansen. He was in a jam session when she walked up and introduced herself, and he was kind enough to let her practice with him. Patterson learned a great deal during their time spent, so much so that she said it was reminiscent of being in school.

“It was kind of like being in a sixth grade jazz band,” she said. “I truly respect him as a player.”

Kuster has enjoyed having Patterson in the classroom and playing beside her in the Wichita Symphony Orchestra since first meeting her as a freshman at Oberlin.

In addition to performing for the WSU Symphony and in the Wichita Symphony Orchestra, Patterson has also performed on invitation at Friends University and Bethel College.

She plans on completing her master’s degree in May 2009 after which she will either pursue a doctorate at the University of California-San Diego or begin looking for a position in a symphony.

“Music is important to me because it’s like a job I really love to do, and if I can do that for the rest of my life it would be amazing,” she said.