Music professor receives Brubeck research grant

WVU Parkersburg faculty member is first to receive Brubeck research grant.

CONTACT: Dr. H.G. Young III, professor of music, 304-424-8248.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A West Virginia University at Parkersburg faculty member is the recipient of the first Brubeck Research/Travel grant awarded by the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif.

H.G. Young III, professor of music, is in residence at the University of the Pacific for several weeks this summer continuing his research on the music of American composer and jazz legend Dave Brubeck. He is utilizing the Dave Brubeck Archive in the university library's Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections.

To promote research in the Brubeck collection, the University of the Pacific Library offered a research travel grant to students, professors and independent researchers. Young is the first recipient of the grant.

The Brubeck Collection is a unique accumulation of materials representing more than fifty years in the creative life of one of jazz' most renowned practitioners. It consists of over 300 linear feet of material documenting Brubeck's entire career. The archive includes correspondence, musical scores, concert programs and reviews, photographs, audio materials, videotapes, and business papers. In addition to covering Brubeck and his groups, the collection has research potential in a variety of areas such as West Coast jazz, the civil rights movement, and the State Department's cultural ambassador programs of the 1950s.

A California native, Brubeck was identified as an important proponent of the so-called "West Coast sound," a jazz style of the 1950s noted for its restraint, lyricism and use of devices borrowed from classical and world music traditions. Brubeck is a graduate of the University of the Pacific.

Young's research is also being supported by a 2006-07 Fellowship from the West Virginia Humanities Council.

Earlier this month, the WVU Parkersburg music professor attended a performance of Brubeck's "The Gates of Justice" at Washington National Cathedral with the composer at the keyboard.

Young received his bachelor of science degree from West Virginia Wesleyan College; two master's degrees from WVU, and his Ph.D. from the University of Florida. He has been a member of the WVU Parkersburg faculty since 1975.

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For additional information, contact:
Connie Dziagwa
WVU Parkersburg
Executive Director
Institutional Advancement
Office: 304-424-8203
Fax: 304-424-8315