Robert Breithaupt is a veteran of over 40 years in music, as a performer, arts administrator, educator, author, musical contractor, entrepreneur, and visionary in the arts.
Breithaupt has performed in diverse solo, small ensemble and orchestral settings and has appeared with a virtual “Who’s Who” of great jazz talents and scores of other noted artists. As drummer/percussionist for trumpet virtuoso Byron Stripling, Broadway star Sandy Duncan and other artists, he has performed with dozens of professional orchestras throughout the United States and abroad.
As Executive Director of the Jazz Arts Group of Columbus from 2001 until 2012, Breithaupt’s vision helped to shape the nation’s oldest not-for-profit jazz organization into a comprehensive, working model for performance, education, and community engagement. He developed the concept for the unique JAG Jazz Academy, a 5,000 square-foot facility dedicated to instruction of jazz and American music for all ages.   In 2011, JAG received the Columbus Foundation Award as the top non-profit organization in Columbus, and the first performing arts organization to have ever received this distinction.
In 1981, Breithaupt was a co-founder of Columbus Pro Percussion, Inc., recognized today as one of the nation’s top comprehensive retail percussion outlets; he served as Vice-President until 2006. He is also Past-President of the Percussive Arts Society, the world’s largest percussion membership organization. He has been a musical contractor for over 20 years, and is the President of RBMusic, Inc.
Breithaupt is recognized internationally as one of today’s leaders in percussion education, and has conducted workshops and clinics throughout the world on the subject. He is Professor of Music and Department Chair of Performance Studies at Capital University, and since 1978 has built what is viewed as one of the nation’s top undergraduate percussion programs. Breithaupt is the author of The Complete Percussionist (Barnhouse), one of the standard textbooks in percussion education, and the instructional DVD Snare Drum Basics (Hudson).
The recipient of numerous honors and awards, Breithaupt received Bowling Green State University’s Outstanding Graduate Award, was a fellow in the Jefferson Academy for Leadership and Governance, participated in the Stanford Graduate School of Business’ Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders in the Arts and was the founding chair of the Columbus Cultural Leadership Consortium (CCLC). He is currently a member of the board and executive committee of Experience Columbus, where he represents the viewpoint of the arts community in dialogue surrounding the role of arts and culture in economic development and civic value.
In this episode, Bob talks about:
Traveling to Beirut, Lebanon for a drum workshop
The way young students consume information
Recognizing the drum-set as a “folk instrument”
What lead to Bob teaching at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio
Creating and managing a diverse workload
Leveraging your skills into a lifetime career
How his teaching has evolved and changed over time
Drawing from your experiences when teaching
The love of teaching
Bob endorses: Yamaha Drums, Sabian Cymbals, Remo drum heads and Innovative Percussion sticks