The Voice of Brubeck – VOLUME 2

The Voice of Dave Brubeck delivers world-class performances and professional recordings of Dave Brubeck’s celebrated and yet previously-unrecorded choral and orchestral works, works that Brubeck regarded as among his finest. It offers a unique opportunity for audiences to experience and learn about Dave Brubeck’s music and for that music to be preserved for future generations of music lovers.  

Dave Brubeck had a transformative impact on American Jazz and his legacy continues to influence jazz musicians to this day. The classical music of Dave Brubeck, however, remains mostly unknown, remaining in the shadow of his prolific jazz output. After serving in Patton’s 3rd Army in WWII, Brubeck returned to the United States to study classical music composition, with Darius Milhaud in California. Although he found early and sustained success with his career as a jazz pianist and composer, he continued to create serious works of the highest quality, often inspired by his deep faith and devotion, right up until his passing in 2012. Not that long ago, Dave Brubeck’s jazz compositions were widely performed, but young audiences today are generally unfamiliar with Brubeck’s music. Through this project, audiences can gain access and appreciation for both his classical and jazz works. 

Presented by the Lago Vista Community Concerts Foundation and led by producer Arthur Gottschalk and executive director Aleks Savitski, the Voice of Brubeck results from collaboration between the Brubeck Brothers Quartet, the Grammy-Award winning Houston Chamber Choir, the Paul English Quartet, the saxophonist and composer Horace Alexander Young, and the recoding label Navona Records, while engaging local orchestras and some of Houston’s finest freelance musical talent. The collaborative work encompasses new arrangements of Dave Brubeck’s compositions, public performances of those works, education workshops and lectures, and recording sessions.

Brubeck! A Celebration, our inaugural performance with just under 1000 people in attendance, was a roaring success by any standard. The concert took place on June 1, 2024, at Stude Concert Hall of Rice University, and was received with great enthusiasm by the audience and by local media. It demonstrated that the musical brilliance of Dave Brubeck’s jazz and orchestral works, paired with the superb musicianship of Houston performers and our collaborators, can result in a unique artistic experience celebrating American music, transcending spiritual boundaries, and enriching audience on a personal level. The program was professionally recorded, and officially released by Navona Records, distributed by Naxos Records, on August 30, 2024.

Volume Two of the Voice of Brubeck will open with a performance on March 21, 2025 at the Moores Opera House of the University of Houston. The Moores School of Music Symphony Orchestra (dir. Franz Anton Krager) and will share the stage with Chris Brubeck (Dave’s son), the Paul English Quartet, Horace Alexander Young, and other soloists to present some of Dave Brubeck’s largest scale orchestral and choral works. Like its inaugural edition, the program will then be professionally recorded and released later that year on Navona Records. Volume Two will feature some of Brubeck’s freshly arranged sacred vocal music, a few of his jazz masterpieces, and a five-movement orchestral tour-de-force, Theme and Explorations, commissioned by Andre Previn for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, creating a unique opportunity for the listener to experience Brubeck’s versatile and complex musical narrative unrestrained by stylistic boundaries.

Supporting the programming of the Voice of Brubeck includes educational opportunities such as master classes, guest artist talks, and Q&A sessions. During these sessions, students and audience members will be able to ask questions, engage in a conversation with Chris Brubeck and the other project principals, and hear more about Dave Brubeck’s music and the Voice of Brubeck initiative. Lastly, holding the performance at a university campus makes it convenient for students to attend the concert. Admission will be free for university students.