Grand Rapids Community College issued the following announcement on Aug. 6.
For Kevin Dobreff, director of GRCC’s Music Department, summer break mean it’s time to add to his repertoire.
Dobreff -- who already plays the trumpet in addition to performing as a vocalist – decided to learn the Irish bouzouki for his wife, Caren. A dietitian at Spectrum Health Hospitals, she loves Celtic music and has devoted 12 years to learning the Irish flute and pennywhistle.
“I decided to learn to play the Irish bouzouki so that I could better understand Caren’s devotion to the genre,” Dobreff said. “The bouzouki is traditionally a Greek instrument, but Celtic musicians adopted it many years ago as primarily an accompanying instrument.”
For Dobreff, there’s never a need to take time off from music.
He grew up in a family that loves music and knew by high school that he wanted to somehow make a living in it. When he entered Bowling Green State University, where he later received a bachelor’s in music education, he planned to focus on the trumpet and voice performance. But he soon discovered that he had a passion for music education.
Dobreff, who has a Master of Fine Arts in Choral Conducting and Literature from Marshall University, worked for two years in a small K-12 district in Illinois, and then decided that he preferred working in higher education.
He has since spent 36 years in higher education, starting at GRCC in 1991 – the year the college separated from Grand Rapids Public Schools and changed its name from Grand Rapids Junior College to Grand Rapids Community College.
He has taught music theory, voice and music history, in addition to directing choral ensembles. Now that he heads the department, he focuses on aural comprehension (music literacy).
“I love to instill a passion for artistic music creativity through better understanding of musical structure,” he said. “I also love watching our students grow during the learning process and then begin to take ownership of their musical growth – becoming their own best teacher.”
Dobreff points with pride to the fact that GRCC’s Music Department has been accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music since 1977 -- the only community college in Michigan to receive this distinction. Students can earn an Associate of Music in Music Education, Performance and Recording Technology.
But he emphasizes that you don’t need to be majoring in music to participate: The department offers many options for non-majors to perform with ensembles. He knows from his own experience that music can come into your life at any time: His son Nick loved music growing up but had a greater passion for baseball. He began his career working with professional baseball in media and promotions.
“After spending nine years in professional baseball, he was courageous enough to once again embrace music and now works for the Colorado Symphony!” Dobreff said.
Original source can be found here.
Source: Grand Rapids Community College
Alerts Sign-up