The Jazz Arts Group makes people very excited about being “from” Columbus. More and more individuals are finding entertainment here that they did not know existed — and have brought a new audience to reveal their discovery. The message is also reaching audiences and organizations from outside Columbus — JAG and the Columbus Jazz Orchestra have received grant and foundation support, as well as financial assistance from corporations and individuals that we have never heard from before. Both the National Endowment for the Arts and The Aaron Copland Fund have recently recognized JAG for artistic programming and innovative infrastructure by providing project and operating support.

The Jazz Arts Group brings many new initiatives, including collaborations, projects, recordings and many other important contributions to our cultural scene. Please help us in any way that you can: through financial support, by bringing a new audience member to a show, by spreading the word about all that we do, and, perhaps most importantly, by bringing a young person to our concerts. No matter if it is a child, grandchild, neighbor or friend…the future audience for jazz must be developed to support a lively and diverse culture in our city, and for the continued vitality at both our big band and small group jazz performances.

Please feel free to stop by our offices, at 930 North High Street, located in one of the new developments in the exciting Short North district.

Robert Breithaupt, Executive Director
Jazz Arts Group

About Robert Breithaupt

Robert Breithaupt enjoys one of America’s most diverse musical careers.

Leading the Jazz Arts Group (JAG), one of America’s leading non-for-profit jazz organizations, as Executive Director since 2001, Breithaupt has also served as the drummer of JAG’s Columbus Jazz Orchestra since 1980. As a consultant and spokesperson, he promotes the organizational structure and mission of JAG as a model to be replicated by other communities.

In over 30 years of concerts and tours, Breithaupt has performed in diverse solo, group, and orchestral settings and has appeared with a virtual “Who’s Who” of great jazz talents such as Terry Gibbs, John Pizzarelli, Kirk Whalum, and dozens of other notable artists. He regularly performs with many of the nation’s finest orchestras along with trumpet virtuoso Byron Stripling and Broadway star Sandy Duncan.

Breithaupt is considered one of the nation’s leaders in percussion education. He is Professor of Music and Department Chair of Performance Studies at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. Since 1978, Breithaupt has developed one of the most recognized undergraduate percussion programs in the United States, producing students that are successful in performing, teaching and the music industry. He is the co-founder of the Summer Drum Set Workshops, the author of the textbook The Complete Percussionist, the DVD entitled Snare Drum Basics, presents clinics and seminars worldwide and is a past-president of the Percussive Arts Society.

Breithaupt is an artist/endorser and consultant for the Yamaha Corporation, Sabian, Ltd., and Remo, Inc.; he has his own signature drum stick line, produced by Innovative Percussion. As a businessman, Breithaupt was one of the founders of Columbus Pro Percussion, Inc. and served as vice-president for twenty-five years.

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 prestigious Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders in the Arts, a joint program of National Arts Strategies and the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and was the founding chair of the Columbus Cultural Leadership Consortium.