Whether in pursuit of a higher salary, teaching position or new career, most students desire graduate degrees for similar reasons. For one UW student, however, the journey is all that matters.

“My work at the UW has been to refine myself as a classical bass player,” graduate student Bren Plummer said.

While the local musician has been involved with varying aspects of jazz and classical music throughout his life, he has been perfecting his skills on the double bass for the last several years in working towards a Doctor of Musical Arts degree.

“This degree isn’t going to help me get a job playing in an orchestra, and I probably will not become a professor after I graduate,” he said in an e-mail. “I did it to complete my educational journey as a bassist.”

Having played at music festivals around the world and performed with numerous orchestras and bands, the degree represents the culmination of a life devoted to music.

“From when I was a little kid, I’ve wanted to be in jazz — it’s as natural as breathing,” Plummer said.

Growing up in Seattle, the musician was a member of both Garfield High School’s jazz band and the Washington State All-State Jazz Band. While a member of Garfield’s jazz band, Plummer performed with the group in Europe alongside the Quincy Jones at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival, where he also met legendary musician George Clinton.

Plummer also attended Princeton High School in New Jersey, where he joined the school orchestra and became involved in the local music scene.

Plummer continued his education in the musical arts at the United States’ oldest music school, the New England Conservatory. While at the school, Plummer studied under a number of famous jazz musicians, including Bob Brookmeyer, Jerry Bergonzi and world-renowned American composer George Russell. Plummer said that Russell “took a liking” to him and requested his presence in his big band and small ensemble.

After completing his undergraduate degree in Boston, Plummer returned to Seattle to focus on his classical bass performance and went on to play with several different groups.

“I’ve played everything — jazz, funk, rock and even crazy hippie music,” he said.

Recently, Plummer has kept plenty busy, becoming a member of both the Yakima Symphony and Tacoma Symphony as well as playing with his own band, Paradigm Quartet.

The jazz group, comprised of Plummer, former UW student Aaron Birrell and local musicians Marc Hager and Guido Perla, formed five years ago and has played only a few shows throughout Western Washington.

“We got tired of playing for three beers and 20 bucks,” Plummer said.

The musician also said that instead of playing for different venues, the group has been working on refining its “approach and our music together” and should hopefully be releasing a CD sometime soon.

As a fan, Plummer’s listening preferences are diverse, encompassing many genres.

“I like a lot of things — salsa, funk and Miles Davis before 1972,” he said.

A final doctoral recital tonight will be one of the last steps towards Plummer’s graduate degree. Plummer said that the program will feature both classical and jazz music to highlight his belief that he has had “the great fortune” to work with the jazz and the classical sides of the School of Music at the UW for the past six years.

Noting the fact that the two pieces he will be playing were written for instruments other than his own, Plummer said that the two works were selected because of problems he found with pieces written for the double bass and how “the repertoire written for the double bass... just doesn’t measure up to the quality of works written for other instruments by major composers.”

Also performing with Plummer will be 2007 UW concerto competition winner Rie Ando — a “super dynamic musician,” said Plummer — as well as the aforementioned Paradigm Quartet.

Post-graduation, Plummer hopes to find work related to his central passions — working with his band and continuing to play jazz and classical music.

Reach reporter Julian Martin at

arts@dailyuw.com.