Located in a beautiful Sonoma County redwood grove, Cazadero Music Camp has inspired tens of thousands of young musicians since its founding in 1957 by Robert and Beth Lutt.
Originally, Cazadero Camp was leased to the City of Berkeley by Judd and George Montgomery in 1927 for $150 per year. The purchase of the 50-acre campsite was negotiated in 1929 for the sum of $25,000 and the camp was formally dedicated on June 15, 1929. Cazadero Camp was originally designed to meet the needs of family campers, but declining enrollment led to the discontinuation of the family camp in 1956.
The idea of a music camp was proposed by Robert Lutt, Director of Bands at Berkeley High School. The pilot program in 1957 was an immediate success. Two years later, two sessions were reserved for the music camp. By 1961, over 300 campers were attending the popular music program. In 1964, the music program was extended to four 12-day sessions, and Cazadero Music Camp served 600 young musicians every summer.
In 1975, Bob Lutt moved his program to a camp near Mendocino, under the name of Mendocino Music Camp. The program then moved to the Athenian School in Danville, and finally to the San Domenico School in Marin County, where it became known as Meadowood Music Camp. Bob Lutt retired his summer music camp operation in 1986.
Eight years later, Bill Lutt, son of Bob and Beth, and an ex-Cazadero staffer himself, gathered a group of 50 Cazadero alums to see if they could restart the camp at it’s original location in the Cazadero redwood grove. They formed a non-profit corporation, Cazadero Performing Arts Camp, negotiated a long-term lease with the City of Berkeley, and got to work. By the Summer of 1996, Caz was able to welcome 323 young campers and Cazadero music camp was reborn.
Caz has been lucky finding directors and staff. Those first summers after 1996, the camp was managed by Caz-lovers, Kent and Patty Stewart. From 2001-2021, Jim and Anita Mazzaferro (both former campers) took the reins as Camp Director and Head Chef, respectively. Under their care, Caz flourished as a program able to provide young musicians a safe and nurturing place to grow and learn. Caz has also inspired many campers and staff to become music professionals with careers as musicians, educators, and administrators. Two of those prior staffers are now our current Executive Director Emily Wainacht and Camp Director Carolyn Niehaus-Owen.
From 1957 to today, Cazadero has inspired generations of young musicians, and is one of Northern California’s most popular summer youth music camps. By offering two complementary youth music programs: Summer Music Camp and JumpStart in Music, Cazadero now serves a diverse student body of over 1,400 young musicians every year—ages 9-18 from across the Bay Area and beyond.
In 2021 a new 25-year lease was negotiated with the City of Berkeley, guaranteeing that Caz will be able to keep serving our musical community for decades to come. Our program continues to have a lasting impact on the youth we serve, inspiring an often-lifelong connection to the camp. Our Board of Directors, of which over a third are Cazadero Music Camp alumni and over half are parents of alumni, work to ensure that the Cazadero experience will continue to reach and inspire young musicians for the next 65 years and beyond!
