Category: News

February 22,2022

On April 4, CMC is launching (Re)Imagine: 100 New Works from Cava Menzies & Community Music Center to commemorate 100 years of music for everyone. This project is in collaboration with artist, composer, and educator Cava Menzies and will result in 100 new works—50 created by Menzies in collaboration with international and local musicians and 50 created by YMP and MDYMP. These works will be shared digitally from April 4 to May 23 with an in-person event on May 14. 

(Re)Imagine emerged from collaborative pieces that Menzies made during the earliest days of the pandemic. Menzies, who has been a music educator for nearly 20 years with a long affiliation with Oakland School of the Arts (OSA), began remote collaboration videos with her students soon after shelter-in-place started. These short pieces were powerful moments of self-expression and creative responses to landmark moments during 2020, including the murder of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. These videos spread quickly on social media, resulting in collaborations with other artists, OSA alumni, and international artists. 

In the (Re)Imagine project, Menzies is further developing these impactful compositional methods under the overarching theme of “reimagine.” For Menzies, this theme speaks to a world slowly reemerging from an unprecedented pandemic. As Menzies shared, “We’re reimagining what collaboration looks like, what connection looks like, what community looks like, especially as we’re seeing all the different ways that people have been impacted by the pandemic.” 

Menzies, who has been an artist-in-residence with YMP and MDYMP since January, is providing a framework for the youth to explore three topic areas: cultural identity, critical community issues, and world music/culture with an emphasis on student-centered learning, inquiry, and self-expression. As Cava said, “It actually doesn’t matter what your skill level is or where you’re at on your journey as a musician. Music has a healing quality as a tool to comment on what’s going on in your life and in the world.” 

For Menzies, working with the young musicians has been revelatory. “I love the genius of young people,” said Menzies. “I think there’s magic in them. Just to be able to tap into how young people are thinking about the times right now—that’s a message that we all have to listen to and take the time for.” The residency concludes in March. 

The (Re)Imagine project is a powerful tool to creatively respond to a world that is struggling to find balance. “We’re all grappling together,” said Menzies. “None of us know the outcome. None of us know how this is all going to unfold. The idea that we would embark on something together with the unknown and infuse it with beauty, creativity, and thoughtfulness is a beautiful representation of humanity.”  

Watch your email box in the coming weeks for an invitation to receive daily videos from the (Re)Imagine project, bringing musical inspiration to your day!

 

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An inside look at the (Re)Imagine residency

YMP and MDYMP students are developing a wide range of work from exploring concepts related to racial division in the U.S and gentrification, to invoking thankfulness despite loss “Gratitud y perdición,” to “CMC Feelings” about the joy of music at CMC, to exploration of the traditional music from the heritage of students in the program. Cava Menzies and the faculty have been helping the young musicians identify what musical concepts can best express their reflections and creative ideas, as well as providing feedback throughout the process.

Miguel Govea, MDYMP faculty:
“The project and composition process has been fascinating and fun. Mainly, I wanted each student to play within their comfort level on their instrument and to focus on conveying emotion rather than exhibiting proficiency. It only took a few weeks to get them used to playing without written parts, to trust their ears, and to believe in their own abilities.”

Gian Velasquez, MDYMP student, age 17:
“I was inspired by ‘Mambo Mongo,’  a Latin jazz/funk piece by Mongo Santamaria. I liked it because it takes music from different cultures and brings the music together into a cultural melting pot. In our group, we are creating a similar kind of piece. My idea was to take Latin music and fuse it with American bebop— two seemingly separate genres that are African at their core. Having this experience for me and for the group is beautiful. I’m experiencing what it would be like to become a professional musician, since we’re learning to start a song from scratch. It’s super empowering.”

 

CMC’s Chamber Music Ensemble Program has been growing by leaps and bounds. Since the Fall Quarter, the program has blossomed from three students to 22. The program still offers standard classical music groups, but has opened up the formation of groups based on the musical interests of the applicants. This has resulted in folk and blues chamber ensembles, along with the classical groups the program is known for.

For Katrina Wreede, Chamber Music Program Coordinator, the goals of the program are to get CMC students playing music together, playing the music they are most interested in playing, matching them with compatible musicians, and finding inspiring chamber music coaches from the CMC Faculty who have expertise in the genre. Chamber group configurations right now are duos and trios to limit possibilities of COVID exposure. Groups are limited to older teens and adults, and require a short Zoom audition.

It’s not too late to join a group this quarter!

Learn more about the program at the link below, and then fill out the chamber music inquiry form to get started. Tuition for group classes is reduced by 50% with concurrent enrollment in private lessons. (Limit one group class reduction per private lesson enrollment).

Chamber Music at CMC

December 17, 2021

By Grace Huenemann and Tregar Otton

Two highly successful projects from last year, “CMC Sessions,” from the cultural traditions department, and “Spotlight Seminars” from the piano department, are joining together in an exciting collaboration funded by a CMC Faculty Partnership Grant.

CMC Sessions: Traditions Moving Forward will begin in January 2022, and will showcase the talents of ten CMC faculty members from diverse classical and non-classical traditions. The online presenters will use video, audio, and lecture-demonstrations to illustrate the influences and musical education that shaped them, and to highlight how their unique interests impact their teaching and performing at CMC. Their personal stories illustrate the breadth of talent among CMC’s teachers and show some of the ways the school is creatively adapting historical traditions to inspire and guide the musicians of tomorrow. These presentations by our fantastic faculty are going to be fascinating. Be sure to tune in!

The free series will be broadcast live through Zoom on Thursdays from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. Students, faculty, and friends of the CMC community are welcome. The participants and topics are listed below.

Meet these talented and inspiring faculty:

January 13 Jennifer Peringer A CMC Teacher’s Musical Journey of Multicultural Explorations, Creative Expression, and Community Engagement

January 27 Larry Dunn How Jump Swing Influenced My Music Making

February 10 Tregar Otton Classical Foundations, Popular and Traditional Performance and Pedagogy

February 24 Omar Ledezma Jr. The Music of Pacific Mambo Orchestra: A Percussionist’s Perspective

March 10 Jon Jang One Day American, One Day Alien: Black & Brown Artists Who Made the National Anthem Their Own

March 24 Evelyn Davis Beginning Improvisation

June 9 Joshua Saulle Vocal Traditions and Choral Innovations

June 16 Michaela Overall Teaching and Supporting the Neurodiverse Piano Student

June 23 Lilia Zheltova Traditions of the Russian Piano School and Their Implementation in Today’s American Teaching

June 30 Martha Rodríguez-Salazar Bridging Cultures and Creating Communities: How My Binational Experience Shaped My Musical Perspectives.

RSVPs for this series at the above links. 

As the year comes to a close, CMC’s Older Adult Choir Program is excited to celebrate the season with a return to in-person performances with festive concerts during the month of December. The concerts take place at CMC and around the city. These year-end performances feature songs in many styles and languages: from jazz standards to traditional folk songs from Latin America and the Philippines, to showtunes and oldies, these songs are sure to bring holiday cheer.

Due to public health restrictions, some concerts are not open to the public unless by performer invitation. Please note health and safety rules for each venue.

Older Adult Choir December Concerts:

Friday, December 1o at 2:00pm – CMC Solera Singers of Mission Neighborhood Center at Mission Neighborhood Center, 362 Capp Street. Audience by participant invitation only.

Saturday, December 11 at 5:00pm – Parol Lantern Festival Sing-Along with performances by CMC Bayanihan Equity Center Older Adult Choir at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 710 Mission Street

Monday, December 13 at 2:00pm – CMC Castro Older Adult Choir at Community Music Center Concert Hall, 544 Capp Street. Audience by participant invitation only.

Wednesday, December 15 at 1:30pm – CMC Bernal Heights Older Adult Choir at Community Music Center Concert Hall, 544 Capp Street. Audience by participant invitation only.

Wednesday, December 15 at 5:00pm – Caroling with CMC IT Bookman Older Adult Choir at San Francisco Civic Center. More details to be announced.

Stay tuned for more performances to be announced!

 

November 18, 2021

Erick Peralta, pianist and CMC faculty member (Beginning Jazz Ensemble/piano), found his musical home at CMC at a young age. He grew up in the Mission District under the creative influence of his father, who was the bandleader of a salsa band. Erick would attend rehearsals when he was as young as three, where he would sit on his dad’s lap at the piano. Not surprisingly, Erick showed musical promise early on. Pianist, trumpeter, and CMC faculty member Marco Diaz was in his father’s band at the time and was also a CMC student. He recommended that Erick study music at CMC.

As a six-year-old, Erick started with Music for Children, and after one class it was clear that he was ready for private piano lessons. He studied classical music at CMC from age six to 12, and again later in his teens. Erick credits CMC with his foundations in technique and theory.

“CMC was a wonderful opportunity for me,” said Erick. “It provided me with what I needed at the time, which was musical education and accessibility. There’s nothing like it.”

He left the piano for a few years, but came back to it. This time, he explored other genres, such as popular, jazz, and Latin, and began playing professionally. After high school, Erick studied biology and nursing at USF, but his heart wasn’t in it. He took some time off to play music, and was encouraged to apply to the Berklee School of Music where he got a scholarship.

On a summer break, when Erick was performing at Mission Carnaval, Sylvia Sherman, CMC Program Director, saw him play. When she learned Erick was a former CMC student, she suggested he stay connected to CMC, which he did after college. Erick found his way back to CMC when he applied to teach on the piano faculty and was hired in 2016. 

Erick loves the diversity of the students he teaches and enjoys sharing musical knowledge. He sees the many benefits of CMC’s programming.

As Erick said: “I see a lot of youth come through CMC. Not only do the students of today get the musical side of things, but also a sense of home and a support system. It feels like a home to me, not only musically, but how it fits into the Mission District community.” 

Peralta has performed with multi-Grammy winners Luis Enrique, Susana Baca, and Alejandro Sanz. Along with performing, Erick composes and arranges jazz, pop, and Latin music.

Study with Erick

September 15, 2021

Marco Diaz’s commanding presence in the Bay Area music scene has its foundations in the scholarship program at Community Music Center. For this trumpet player and pianist, who is the bandleader for Cuban singer Bobi Céspedes and a central member of the John Santos Sextet, Diaz’s love of music began in public school. 

“I heard the trumpet for the first time when I was in fourth grade,” said Diaz. “I knew it was the instrument I was going to be playing.” 

This passion for music was nurtured and developed through the scholarship program at CMC taking Diaz through his high school years in the early 1990’s and preparing him for studying music at San Francisco State. 

“I started taking piano lessons at CMC in the eighth grade,” said Diaz. “In my first year of high school, I auditioned for a scholarship, and I was awarded piano lessons, trumpet lessons and jazz theory. That blew everything open for me. That was it. I was hooked.”

The encouragement to pursue music and sports activities was also given by Diaz’s family. 

Diaz said: “They would tell us: ‘We want you to have a way to express feelings that you have but that you may not have words for.’” 

As an educator, Diaz provides similar encouragement to his students. As a faculty member at CMC in MDYMP and Campamento CMC / Camp CMC this past July, Diaz nurtured spaces of safety and artistic expression for the youth.

Diaz explained: “With all that’s going on in the world, in addition to just being a teenager together with all that turmoil, music is a place where you can be yourself and not feel like you’re being judged. It provides a great place for kids to have a healthy dialogue with each other and also to get to know themselves. I think that’s pretty amazing.”  

See Marco Diaz perform in-person in a solo piano performance, “Journey through the Americas and the Great American Songbook”on Monday, September 20 at 2pm at Flower Piano in the Celebration Garden. Learn more about the concert and get tickets HERE.