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 […]
Bringing the Music Home: David James Honors His Father’s Legacy in the Mission District
After years of research, reflection, and musical exploration, San Francisco composer, singer, and guitarist David James created Mission Rebel No. 1: Looking for Rev. Jesse James — a deeply personal work examining the life of his father, Rev. Jesse James, a preacher and activist in the Mission District. What led him to center an album […]
From the Classroom to the 50-Yard Line: Irene Giovannetti’s Super Bowl Moment
It is a long way from a quiet music lesson to the center of the biggest sporting event in the United States. For Irene Giovannetti, a music teacher and graduate student at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, that distance closed in an instant earlier this month. Giovannetti, who teaches group piano classes and trumpet […]
Ready to Jam? CMC’s Summer Jazz Workshop Returns
For local musicians looking to sharpen their improvisation skills, CMC is bringing back its popular Summer Jazz Workshop. Designed for adults and high school students, the workshop focuses heavily on small group playing, pulling students out of the practice room and onto the bandstand. Max Yoshimoto, a student from a previous year, knows the feeling […]
Game On: CMC Launches First-Ever ‘Pianolympics’ for Young Musicians
Piano lessons often make people think of quiet recital halls and serious solo performances. But this Sunday March 8, CMC is changing that with the first-ever Pianolympics. The event will take place in CMC’s new Piano Lab and will turn music theory into a fun, high-energy game. It’s designed especially for beginners ages 8 to […]
Make Music, Make Friends: Summer 2026 Starts Now!
It’s almost that time of year again! The classrooms of our Mission District Branch are about to fill with the sounds of tuning violins, rhythmic drumming, and young voices finding their range. While school doors close for the summer, our doors at 544 Capp Street open to a world of musical possibility. We provide a […]