Simeon John Trudeau Jr. (February 26, 1927 – November 3, 2008)[1] was an American musician who expanded the music department at Portland State University and helped co-found the outdoor Britt Festival of performing arts in Jacksonville, Oregon, the first of its kind in the Pacific Northwest.
[2] Together with Sam McKinney they established the Britt Festival in 1963 as a two-week-long celebration of music in Jacksonville, described by The Oregonian as "a picturesque former gold-mining town in southern Oregon".
[2] The only such festival on the West Coast of the United States when it was created, the stages were constructed with plywood and canvas, with lights set inside tin cans.
By the time of Trudeau's death in 2008, the event had grown to a four-month-long performing arts event from June into September, featuring top names in classical, dance, pop, rock and musical theater and inspiring dozens of other festivals throughout the West.
[3] Starting as an instructor, Trudeau spent 32 years at Portland State, rising to full professor, and was later appointed department chairman and ultimately dean of the School of Fine and Performing Arts.