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Dave Brubeck to Receive Berklee Honorary Doctorate

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NEA Jazz Master Dave Brubeck, designated a Living Legend by the Library of Congress, will be presented with an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of Music at the 52nd Monterey Jazz Festival, held on September 18 - 20, 2009. The presentation will be made on the Jimmy Lyons Stage in the Arena on Sunday, September 20, at approximately 8:00 p.m., just prior to the Dave Brubeck s Quartet s set - celebrating the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking album Time Out.

Dave Brubeck is one of the most active and popular musicians in both the jazz and classical worlds. With a career that spans over six decades, his experiments with odd time signatures, improvised counterpoint, polyrhythm and polytonality remain hallmarks of innovation. For more information on Dave s life and career, visit the official Dave Brubeck website.

It feels fitting to make this presentation to Dave for his many contributions to jazz, orchestral and sacred music, and to education, with the Brubeck Institute at the University of the Pacific, and at the Monterey Jazz Festival, where he has so many strong connections and associations, said Roger Brown, president of Berklee College of Music. The 50-year anniversary of the release of Time Out also seems like a perfect moment to thank Dave for all he s done for the world, and the world of music.

The Berklee Honorary Doctorate of Music was first presented in 1971, to Duke Ellington. In subsequent years, other major figures in contemporary music, among them Dizzy Gillespie, Nancy Wilson, Tito Puente, Bonnie Raitt, Sting, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Chick Corea, Quincy Jones, Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Loretta Lynn, Aretha Franklin, David Bowie, and Elvin and Hank Jones, have received the honor for their contributions to music and humanity. In 2007, Clint Eastwood became an honorary doctor of music at Monterey, for his efforts to popularize jazz through his films and film music. A longtime Brubeck admirer and friend, Eastwood is scheduled to be part of the Brubeck ceremony.

Berklee College of Music was founded on the revolutionary principle that the best way to prepare students for careers in music was through the study and practice of contemporary music. For more than 60 years, the college has evolved constantly to reflect the state of the art of music and the music business. With over a dozen performance and nonperformance majors, a diverse and talented student body representing over 70 countries, and a music industry “who's who" of alumni, Berklee is the world's premier learning lab for the music of today - and tomorrow.

The Monterey Jazz Festival is dedicated to perpetuating the uniquely American form of music known as jazz by producing performances that celebrate the legacy and expand the boundaries of jazz; and by presenting year-round local, regional, national, and international jazz education programs. The Monterey Jazz Festival is a nonprofit organization and has donated its proceeds to musical education since its inception in 1958.

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