Dr. K Marie Stolba, an internationally-acclaimed musicologist, music historian, violinist, music educator and composer who taught music at Grace College in the 1970s, died Wednesday, May 18 in Fort Wayne, IN.
A professor emerita of Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, she had also served as a visiting professor and lecturer at universities and musicologists meetings all over the world. A prolific author, she was best-known for her book “The Development of Western Music: A History,” which enjoyed wide usage as a college text.
A native of Burlington, Iowa, she earned her B.A. magna cum laude from Monmouth College, IL; her M.A. from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley; and her Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. In 1990, Monmouth College conferred on her the Doctor of Humane Letters degree.
She was a member and elder at Grace Presbyterian Church in Fort Wayne, where she served as choir director from 1995 to 2004. At her death, she was serving her third term as president of the Board of Directors of the Bach Collegium-Fort Wayne. Service is 11 a.m. Monday at Grace Presbyterian Church in Fort Wayne.