Irvin Brusletten

Irvin "Buzz” Brusletten (1931-2010) was an American composer and educator. He showed an early interest in music, visual art, and Native American culture, all of which became defining elements of his life. As a young adult Buzz started playing tenor saxophone in a local professional big band. After he earned a bachelor of music from the University of Montana in Missoula, he went on to complete a master of music in theory and composition at the Cincinnati Conservatory. In 1958 he embarked on a one-year Fulbright fellowship to Rome where he studied music composition with Goffredo Petrassi and Luigi Dallapiccola and became fluent in Italian. Once he returned to the U.S., he was awarded music fellowships at MacDowell and Montalvo Arts Center. He taught at the Music and Arts Institute of San Francisco and with Karin, his wife, spent 12 years in Italy. He was hired as a music teacher at a number of schools and colleges, including Villa Schifanoia, a graduate music and arts institute, and American study abroad programs in Florence, Bologna, and Siena, teaching opera, early music, music history, American musical comedy, and other subjects. A return to the U.S. meant teaching music theory, composition, chorus, and ensembles at Northwest School, a newly-formed private school emphasizing arts, humanities, and environment on Vashon Island, WA. After leaving Northwest School, he taught at Olympic College, Tacoma Community College, and University of Washington Tacoma, focusing on world music styles from Native America, Africa, Europe, Central and South America, Asia, and India. After his retirement, Buzz taught saxophone and clarinet privately to students out of his home.

MacDowell

MacDowell NYC

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Monday Music

Irvin Brusletten

Studios

Monday Music

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