Message from Steve Anderson

Welcome to the Brubeck Institute!

I am pleased to welcome you to the web site of the Brubeck Institute and hope that you will take time to explore the many important and exciting programs and opportunities we offer. As you have read on our opening page, our mission is to build upon Dave Brubeck’s lifelong dedication to music, creativity, education, and the advancement of important social issues through our five core programs that include the Brubeck Archive, Brubeck Festival, Brubeck Outreach Program, Brubeck Fellowship Program, and the Summer Jazz Colony.

The Institute is still young, but our record of accomplishment is quite significant. You will read about the Brubeck Archive, an extraordinary collection of Dave and Iola Brubeck’s professional documents, musical materials, programs, photographs, and other important archival material, that is available for research by interested scholars. The Archive also contains the papers of the great Paul Desmond.  The Brubeck Festival is an annual event that celebrates the musical, intellectual, and philosophical ideas of Dave Brubeck, as well as his influence on the world of music and ideas.

The Brubeck Outreach Program is also in its early stages, currently consisting primarily of performances by the musicians in the Fellowship Program that are presented locally, regionally, and throughout the country. However, this program is going to grow significantly in scope in the near future. The Fellowship Program is an intensive program in jazz performance for five high school graduates that takes place during the academic year, and has already produced some of the most exciting young performers imaginable. And finally, the Summer Jazz Colony is an intensive one-week program in August that is designed to provide a focus on jazz performance for a small and highly select group of high school musicians.

With Dave Brubeck as its Chairman, Clint Eastwood as Chair of the Honorary Board, a committed and involved Advisory Board, the dedicated staff of the Holt-Atherton Special Collections in the Library, wonderful educational and artistic leadership, outstanding visiting artists and clinicians, and the commitment of the University of the Pacific and the Conservatory of Music, the Brubeck Institute has an extraordinary future. We hope that you will take the opportunity to be a part of it. Welcome!

Steve Anderson
Director