Descriptive Summary
Administrative Information
Biography
Scope and Content
Indexing Terms
Related Archives
Related Works
Descriptive Summary
Title: Ernest T. Kretschmer Archive,
Date (bulk): 1927-
Collection number: MS 93
Creator:
Kretschmer, Ernest T.
Extent:
10 boxes
10.5 linear ft.
Repository:
University of California, Santa Cruz.
University Library, Special Collections & Archives
Santa Cruz, California 95064
Abstract: This collection includes programs, posters, and ephemera related to the Cabrillo Music Festival, Santa Cruz Symphony, Cultural
Council of Santa Cruz, the Crown College Concerts at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Watsonville Concert Association,
Barati Ensemble, and Santa Cruz County Arts Commission, as well as material dealing with the proposed Wingspread performing
arts complex. Also includes personal correspondence from composers, conductors, and soloists; music organization documents;
and personal items related to Mr. Kretschmer's school, college, and military years.
Physical location: Collection stored offsite at NRLF: Advance notice is required for access to the papers.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and
their heirs. For permission to publish or to reproduce, please contact the Special Collections & Archives Librarian.
Preferred Citation
Ernest T. Kretschmer Archive, 1927- , MS 93, Special Collections & Archives, University Library, University of California,
Santa Cruz.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Ernest T. Kretschmer.
Biography
Ernest T. "Bud" Kretschmer is a philanthropist and civic leader particularly prominent in the support of classical
music organizations in Santa Cruz County, California. He was born and raised in Saginaw,
Michigan, and studied the piano throughout his youth and during his first two years of
college. After receiving an associate of fine arts degree in 1935 from Aquinas College
in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Mr. Kretschmer continued his education at Michigan State
University in East Lansing, where he earned an A.B. degree in business in 1938.
After his graduation, he operated a wholesale frozen-food business until 1941, when he
enlisted in the U.S. Army. That same year he met his wife-to-be Jean while attending an
Army Medical Technician's course. For the next four years he served with hospital units
in Iceland and in the New Hebrides. He and Jean were married in Salinas, California in
1942, in between his overseas assignments. Having advanced to the rank of captain by
1945, Mr. Kretschmer then left the Army to join his brother in the family's wheat germ
business back in Michigan.
Two years later, at the Army's request, Mr. Kretschmer rejoined and, after the U.S. Air
Force was established as a separate branch of the military, he requested to be
transferred there in 1949. While in the Air Force, he attended the Graduate School of
Business at Columbia University, earning an M.S. degree in 1951, and served with the
Armed Services Medical Procurement Agency in Brooklyn, the Surgeon General's Office in
Washington, D.C., and the Alaskan Air Command in Anchorage. In 1959, he was assigned to
administer the Beale Air Force Hospital in Marysville, California, a post he held until
his retirement at the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1962.
Immediately following retirement from the military, Mr. Kretschmer moved to Santa Cruz,
and for the next two decades operated nursing homes in central and southern California.
He also became actively involved in the cultural, and particularly the musical affairs
of the community. A list of the arts organizations he has been affiliated with in
executive capacities or as a board of directors member would include: the Cabrillo Music
Festival, the Santa Cruz County Symphony, the Watsonville/Pajaro Valley Concert
Association, the Cultural Council of Santa Cruz County, the Santa Cruz County Arts
Commission, UCSC's Crown Chamber Players, and the Barati Ensemble.
Mr. Kretschmer has a particular love of music for the piano, and is known for having
established permanent music scholarships, subsidizing many concert presentations and
performances, facilitating the appearances of many pianists, and working unceasingly to
enrich the musical lives of both the Santa Cruz and Grand Rapids, Michigan, area
communities.
Scope and Content
The collection includes personal items related to Mr. Kretschmer's school, college and military years. Also included are materials
related to Mr. Kretschmer's interest in music and its performance, especially for the piano, musicians, and composers, both
locally and in his home state of Michigan. Highlights include material related to his involvement with the Cabrillo Music
Festival, the Santa Cruz Symphony, UCSC's Crown College Chamber Players, the Henry J. Mello Center in Watsonville, the Barati
Ensemble, and the Santa Cruz County Arts Commission.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this
collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Kretschmer, Ernest T. ,1914-
Barati, George, 1913-
Musical Groups--California--Santa Cruz County.
Other Indexed Terms related to this collection.
Harrison, Lou, 1917-
Masselos, William
Lorenz, Philip
Wingspread Beach
Related Archives
- Cabrillo Music Festival, MS 64
- George Barati Archive, MS 94
- Lou Harrison Archive, MS 132
Related Works