Fabric of the Community / The Drake Gives
UPFRONT PLACES | PERSPECTIVES | HAPPENINGS
The Power of Music
ALEC GLASSER , FOUNDER OF THE DRAKE RESTAURANT , AIMS TO GIVE ORANGE COUNTY ’ S UNDERSERVED YOUTH A SHOT AT SUCCESS WITH DONATIONS FOR INSTRUMENTS AND INSTRUCTION THROUGH HIS NONPROFIT , THE DRAKE GIVES .
By ASHLEY RYAN
Alec Glasser , founder of The Drake Gives , which helps promote the importance of music
F rom an early age , Alec Glasser ’ s passion for music permeated his life . As part of a program to desegregate schools , he spent nearly 40 minutes each day on a bus to Queens , New York . “ I was just an average-sized white Jewish kid ,” he notes . “ I couldn ’ t make a lot of the sports teams . So I went into the band .”
Glasser started learning saxophone in middle school during a time when public campuses had ample funding , ensuring that it was part of the daily curriculum rather than an after-school program . “ What I want is for kids to have the same access to music that I had in public school ,” he shares .
Glasser says that playing instruments in school ( he also learned to play clarinet and flute ) allowed him to break out of his shell . “ It helped me socialize with other kids in the band and , through music and through the connection of playing music , … get to know them ,” he explains , noting that he has also experienced cognitive and emotional benefits from playing music .
He later started a garage band , performing at Sweet 16 parties and bar mitzvahs around the region as well as at resorts in the Catskill Mountains in the summertime . During high school , Glasser ’ s father helped him secure a job as an elevator operator at the Drake Hotel , where his love for music grew as he rubbed elbows with big names like John Coltrane and Miles Davis .
Glasser went on to study political science and Russian at the University at Buffalo with the intention of becoming a foreign diplomat but , upon graduation and in light of the political turmoil over the Vietnam War , he headed west to attend law school at USC instead . But , roughly four decades later , a full circle moment occurred when he opened The Drake restaurant here in Laguna in 2019 .
“ The Drake Hotel had a dining room with a grand piano in the middle and all the tables were around it . And they had very , very high-level cuisine with music integrated into the experience ,” Glasser recalls . “ Just simply having a restaurant didn ’ t appeal to me . But copying what the Drake did — which is bring high-level food together with high-level music in a really cool , intimate , New York [ - inspired ] setting — that ’ s what I wanted to do . Without the music , it just wouldn ’ t work .” Around 20 to 25 different performers now take the stage at The Drake each month .
But his vision didn ’ t end there . A year after the restaurant opened , he founded The Drake Gives , a nonprofit dedicated to providing underserved youth with musical instruments and education . Through fundraising events , donations to Save The Music Foundation and a partnership with a nearby university , Glasser is making his dreams come true by helping keep music alive .
COURTESY OF THE DRAKE
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