After a 47-year journey as steward of CU-Boulder鈥檚 Glenn Miller Archive (GMA) at the American Music Research Center, Alan Cass will retire as curator on July 1.
Cass spent much of his career building and maintaining the significant repository of big band musician Glenn Miller (A&S ex 鈥�26, HonDocHum 鈥�84) memorabilia.
As the archive鈥檚 founder and longtime curator, Cass reviewed and accepted photographs, artifacts and memorabilia, and gave upwards of 50 Glenn Miller presentations yearly.
听鈥淭he archive has grown beyond any conceivable expectation,鈥� said Cass. 鈥淭his has occurred not simply because of my love for Glenn鈥檚 music, but because of the passion shared by what has become an immense worldwide cadre of enthusiastic individuals and organizations who have supported me and the GMA over the past nearly five decades.鈥�
Most of the 56 collections that have been entrusted to the Glenn Miller Archive are a result of the close relationships that the Casses developed with musicians, broadcasters, producers, collectors, friends and music lovers from around the world.
鈥淎lan Cass is the reason there is a Glenn Miller Archive,鈥� said Thomas Riis, director of the at the CU-Boulder College of Music. 鈥淚t began with his personal interest in the Miller family and the popularity of the Glenn Miller Orchestra during the 1930s and 鈥�40s, Miller鈥檚 musical leadership in the Army Air Force during World War II and its tremendous aftereffects.鈥�
The archive was built upon the solid foundation nurtured by Cass from a simple Glenn Miller display at the University Memorial Center in 1969 into today鈥檚 well-known archive, serving scholars, students and the public with numerous initiatives, including a robust internet footprint and far-reaching broadcasting presence.
鈥淏ecause Miller鈥檚 music was heard 鈥榬ound the world at such a fraught time in our history,鈥� Riis said, 鈥渋t powerfully affected the 鈥済reatest generation,鈥� and others. Alan has worked tirelessly for most of his life in Boulder to get the message out that Glenn Miller鈥檚 home and heart were in Colorado and at CU. We need to appreciate this fact and help to preserve Alan鈥檚 work and the music of the Big Band era.鈥�
An important recent acquisition by the Glenn Miller Archive was one of the most significant collections of Big Band Era recordings and memorabilia. The Ed Burke Collection contains some 2,400 reel-to-reel tapes containing hundreds of hours of live radio programs featuring nearly every musician of major importance during the Big Band Era.
Cass attended CU in 1959-63. In addition to being curator of the archive, he also was director of the Coors Events Center and served as public address announcer for the Buffs and the Broncos.
Cass and his wife Sue recently attended the Glenn Miller Birthplace Festival in Clarinda, Iowa. This was their 40th excursion, and coincidentally, this was the 40th anniversary of the festival.
鈥淧reserving a legacy of this stature and relevance to the University of Colorado has been the most joyous and fulfilling undertaking of my life,鈥� said Cass. 鈥淭he relationships that have resulted go beyond friendship. We are a vast 鈥榝amily鈥� who now have the singularly important task of imparting respect and care to the individuals into whose hands we place our opus.鈥�
