Voices Taking Space: Collaboration and Identity through Music
This spring CMC proudly participated in a choral collaboration in celebration for in an affirming celebration of identity, joy, and resilience featuring an intergenerational mix of professional, community, and youth singers. In partnership with 21V, a professional treble ensemble of soprano and altos of all gender identities and their pilot Transgender Youth Choir Project, 10 young […]
The Mission District as a Stage for the World
Interview with Delina Brooks, Co-Producer of the San Francisco International Arts Festival. Delina Brooks grew up in the Mission District, and as an Afro-Filipina artist and Co-Producer of the San Francisco International Arts Festival, Delina carries the neighborhood in the way she thinks about art and about who deserves to be on a stage. This […]
Ten Years of Field Day: A Celebration That Keeps Growing
Development Director Elenka Refsell looks back on a decade of music, community, and tuition support at CMC When San Francisco Community Music Center launched its first Field Day Performathon ten years ago, nobody really knew what to expect. Development Director Elenka Refsell had seen similar fundraising models work for organizations like the AIDS Walk and […]
Gather Together: Music of Connection and Collaboration CMC Concert Hall | Sunday, April 26 at 3 pm
This year’s Juliet McComas Keyboard Marathon, Gather Together: Music of Connection and Collaboration, grew out of a simple but meaningful idea: strengthening connection within our piano faculty. During an October faculty meeting, several members expressed a desire to build more connection across the department and to involve colleagues who had not participated before. From that […]
“The Nerves Feel Like Excitement”: A Conversation with Sophia Welte Ahead of CMC’s Open Mic Night
If you’ve ever talked yourself out of performing somewhere because the room just didn’t feel right, Sophia Welte gets it.The singer-songwriter and pianist has played at both of CMC’s Open Mic Nights — and she’ll tell you straight up what makes this one different from every other open mic she’s been to. “At other open […]
CMC Musicians: Submit Your Music to Bay Beats
If you make original music and live in the Bay Area, here’s an opportunity worth knowing about. San Francisco Public Library’s Bay Beats platform — a digital collection dedicated to local music — is now accepting submissions through May 31, 2026. And CMC has a history with it: faculty members Larry Dunn and Rita Lackey […]
Ten Years of Field Day: How a Single Idea Became a CMC Tradition
This May 31, we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Field Day performathon. A full day of live music, community, and fundraising that has become one of the most beloved events on CMC’s calendar. To mark the occasion, we sat down with Program Director Sylvia Sherman to look back at how it all started — […]
A Night to Remember: CMC’s 2026 Spring Gala
On Saturday, March 14, Community Music Center brought together friends, supporters, and musicians for its most well-attended Spring Gala yet. Held at the Ritz-Carlton San Francisco, the evening was a celebration of everything CMC stands for: the belief that music belongs to everyone, regardless of background or means. Guests arrived to the sound of the […]
Jazz Manouche: Exploring Music of Collaboration and Cultural Exchange
In the smoky clubs and dance halls of 1930s Paris, innovative styles emerged from music in diaspora—flourishing in the lively atmosphere of post-war exuberance, where jazz music was on the rise. One of the most lasting styles today remains jazz manouche (often referred to as sinti jazz, gypsy jazz, or hot-club-style jazz because of its […]
The Retraction: A Musical Warning from the 1662 Witch Trials
In the small town of Auldearn, Scotland, in 1662, a peasant woman named Isobel Gowdie was caught in the gears of a brutal legal system. Unlike many of her peers, whose stories were lost to time, Gowdie’s trial left behind a chillingly detailed paper trail. This April, her words return to the stage at CMC […]