Bio
John Thomas Brobeck is a native of Philadelphia, PA. He holds a B. Mus. Degree magna cum laude from Westminster Choir College (1976), a Ph.D. in the History and Theory of Music from the University of Pennsylvania (1991), and has undertaken post-graduate studies in choral conducting, organ, and harpsichord. He came to the University of Arizona in 1988, and has coordinated its music history program since 1992. The principal focus of Prof. Brobeck's research is French music and musical patronage during the 15th and 16th centuries. Publications include substantial articles in Musica disciplina (1993), The Journal of the American Musicological Society (1995), and The Journal of Musicology (1998); 9 articles for The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, rev.ed. (2002); 4 articles for Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, rev. ed. (2003 ff.); and an article for Epitome musicale (forthcoming). Thanks to travel grants from the College of Fine Arts and UAMARRC he was able to conduct archival and manuscript research in England and France during the summer of 2008, and presently is preparing articles on the dating and provenance of Pepys 1760 (an early-16th century French court music manuscript), and musical patronage at the court of King Henry II of France (r. 1547-59). He also is working on an edition of the complete works of Mathieu Gascongne (fl. c. 1511-35). He is past president of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the AMS and presently serves as the Board Member for Musicology of the Pacific Southwest Chapter of the CMS.
He has taught a wide variety of graduate and undergraduate music history and musicology courses at the U of A, including doctoral seminars in Baroque oratorio, Symphonic literature, the music of Bach, the music of Beethoven, and Baroque performance practice, and has served on over 200 graduate student committees during the past 4 years. Thanks to a U of A research and technology grant in June 2008 he was able to prepare a fully online version of Music 330a (a one-semester survey of early music to 1750 that is required for U of A music students), and he will be preparing a complementary online version of Music 330b (1750-present) during the summer of 2009.
Professor Brobeck directed the Collegium Musicum of the university from 1989-2004, during which time the group performed works ranging from the Machaut Mass through Bach's St. John Passion. He also holds an appointment as Organist and Assistant Director of Music at Northminster Presbyterian Church, Tucson, where he has conducted the Mozart Requiem and accompanied a wide variety of major choral works. He is active locally as an organ recitalist and accompanist. Professor Brobeck lives in Tucson with his wife Sue and their three children, Philip, Marie, and Jenny.
