As the Rubenstein School community looks ahead to UVM’s May 2016 Commencement, we are excited to announce the speaker for the School’s ceremony to be held on Sunday, May 22 at the Sheraton Burlington Hotel and Conference Center. 

The Rubenstein School speaker, Victor Wooten, is an American bass player, composer, author, producer, and recipient of five Grammy Awards. He is a professional affiliate of the Rubenstein School’s new Master of Science concentration in Leadership for Sustainability, an ardent environmentalist, and a skilled naturalist.

Victor Wooten redefines the word musician. Regaled as the most influential bassist since Jaco Pastorius, Victor is known for his solo recordings and tours and as a founding member of the Grammy-winning group, Béla Fleck & the Flecktones. He is an innovator on the bass guitar, as well as a talented composer, arranger, producer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist.

A loving husband and devoted father of four, Victor is the youngest sibling of the amazing Wooten brothers (Regi, Roy, Rudy, and Joseph) and the bassist in their famed family band since the age of five. He has taught dozens of bass players at his acclaimed annual Music and Nature camps at the Wooten Woods Center for Music and Nature in Tennessee. He is writing the sequel to The Music Lesson, his first novel about life and music.

Victor is also a student in the martial art of Wing Chun and the nature survival skill of tracking and a master magician.  Learn more about Victor at VictorWooten.com.

The Rubenstein School Commencement Ceremony in the Sheraton’s Exhibition Hall starts at 1:30 pm. Doors open at 11:00 am for a reception, with a 1:00 pm line-up time for graduates.