Derek Stoll obtained a Bachelor of Music degree in Composition from the University of Calgary. He studied jazz and brass performance at the Banff Centre. He was commissioned to compose and arrange for the Canadian Brass, trumpet virtuoso Jens Lindemann, and the Calgary Stampede Grandstand show.

He has been teaching jazz piano at Mount Royal University in Calgary since 2001, and has taught jazz theory at the University of Calgary. He is in constant demand as a performer with Alberta jazz ensembles, and performed regularly with Verismo, the Prime Time Big Band, Terrain, small ensembles under his own name, and on countless 'casual' performances and studio sessions. He has performed with dozens of ensembles backing up world-class singers and instrumentalists. He was guest conductor for the Calgary Civic Symphony on several occasions and has been employed as an ‘extra’ with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra.