Mr. Robert Baca
Growing up in Lockport, IL, Bob Baca decided to go into music the first time he heard Adolf Herseth perform Mahler's Fifth Symphony with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. After attending Indiana University he toured with Buddy Rich, Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme and Tony Bennett before getting married and settling in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Soon after, a dream came true, moving to Wisconsin almost thirty years ago to teach at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire where Robert teaches trumpet and is the director of Jazz Studies. His students and ensembles have been highly acclaimed recording twenty-one CD's all with critical review, as well as receiving two Grammy nominations and the Down Beat Award for Best College Jazz Ensemble eight times. The New York Times cites UW-Eau Claire as having "one of the most well-regarded jazz studies programs in the country." Without a Jazz degree, as the Jazz Area expanded, Robert founded Eau Claire Jazz Inc., which among performing many civic activities, organizes one of the nations’ largest jazz festivals.
http://www.eauclairejazz.com . Eau Claire Jazz Inc. acts as a bridge to the community with fifteen community board members, twelve interns and one hundred and ten engaged jazz students.
Robert has also received the first, “Career Excellence in Teaching Award” presented by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, the WMEA Michael G. George Distinguished Service Award by the Wisconsin School Music Association and was runner up for teacher of the year in the University of Wisconsin System.
Outside of Eau Claire, Robert played as a member of Garrison Keillor's beloved "The Guys All Star Shoe Band" on his “A Prairie Home Companion” radio show on National Public Radio. He has also toured with the group Blood Sweat and Tears and performed over one hundred Broadway shows as well as countless supporting artist shows and recording sessions. As a soloist, Robert has performed in China, London, Costa Rica and Europe as well as the United States.
He is a past executive board member for the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) as the United States Representative as well as an advisory board member for the Edwin Franko Goldman Band.
Robert Baca loves to help students of any age reach their whole potential through performing concerts, conducting honors groups and speaking in schools, at teacher in-service workshops, conventions and his trumpet workshops. As a result, thousands of students are enjoying music as performers, teachers, listeners and supporters. Recently, he conducted the National High School Honors Jazz Ensemble for the National Association for Music Education at their national convention in Nashville, Tennessee. Robert has been happily married to his wife Jodie for over 35 years and has two children, Alec and Nicole and a dog named Chewy.