Longtime fine arts faculty Jack Budrow passed away on Wednesday, Sept. 4, at the age of 79. 

Budrow was born in New Haven, Connecticut, where he and his six siblings were raised by his mother and stepfather. He spent his youth in New Haven as an altar boy at a local Catholic church and began playing the double bass during his senior year of high school. He went to Bowling Green State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in music and met the love of his life, Marilyn, to whom he was married for 54 years.

Budrow went on to have a prolific performance career as a double bassist with the Houston Symphony, American National Opera Company, Boston Ballet Company, Santa Fe Opera Company and the North Carolina Symphony, where he was principal bass from 1977 to 1995. 

While being a full-time performer, he also began teaching part-time at Ravenscroft as an Artist in Residence, working with Marilyn, who established the school’s strings program. In recognition of their years of outstanding service to the school, fine arts alumni and their families established the Jack and Marilyn Budrow Strings Endowment Fund upon the couple’s retirement in 2011.

Faculty in the Fine Arts Department reflected on the impact he made on them as well as the countless students he mentored and fellow professional musicians he performed with during his career. 

“As an artist, when/if the muse deems you worthy, you are put in contact with a force that changes your approach to how you want to view your art within the context of performance. Jack Budrow was such a force,” Director of Fine Arts David McChesney remembered. “I met Jack as a professional bassist. His joy for the work, the collaboration and sharing with the audience, was so enthusiastic that you had to stop and say ‘I want to do that!’ I was able to reconnect with Jack — and Marilyn — on the faculty here at Ravenscroft in 1999, where the collegial collaborations would continue on and off campus until their retirement.”

“I first met Jack in 1981 when I was a graduate student in music at UNC-Chapel Hill, and my first memory is of his big smile and his amazing energy. Over the years, Jack and I became colleagues through performances with the North Carolina Symphony,” Director of Strings Pamela Kelly, who took over the program upon Marilyn Budrow’s retirement in 2011, said. “Jack was a revered musician, colleague, mentor, teacher, friend and leader to musicians and music lovers around the world. In combination with the passion he exuded for his bass, his natural magnetism drew people into his personal and professional sphere.”

“Jack and I performed in the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle together for many years,” strings teacher Tasi Matthews said. “We sat on opposite sides of the stage, and I always had a clear view of the bass section. Jack was an amazing leader of that section, and I can still envision his big smile, playful demeanor and remember how frequently he offered words of encouragement to the other musicians around him. He was an amazing musician and will be greatly missed!”

Budrow also taught at the University of Houston, UNC-Greensboro, UNC-Chapel Hill, East Carolina University and Michigan State University, where he was co-chair of the strings department. He presented masterclasses throughout the U.S. and served on the board of directors for the International Society of Bassists. He was awarded Michigan’s 2014 String Teacher of the Year by the American String Teachers Association and received the International Society of Bassist’s Special Recognition Award for Teaching in 2017. For 41 summers he was on the faculty at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. 

He was preceded in death by his wife, Marilyn, in 2019. He is survived by his daughter, former Upper School math teacher Kat Belk; her husband, Dusty; and their children, Bo ’24 and Harper. 

“Jack will be remembered for his booming laugh, zest for life, kind words for all and corny jokes,” his family shared in his published obituary. “One of his favorites, even in his final days: ‘Why did the strawberry fall in love with the banana? Because it had appeal.’ Rest in peace, Papa Jack!”