Spark your musical imagination with CMC faculty as they delve into stories about the inspiration and influences that have guided them as professional musicians and teachers at CMC. CMC Sessions: Inspiration & Influences is an eight-part on-line series hosted by CMC Cultural Traditions and Winds/Brass Departments, providing up-close and personal stories about the potent influences and galvanizing experiences that make up the “musical life.” Told through compelling demonstrations, musical examples, and creative tips, the sessions will provide participants with inspiration on their musical journeys.
Meet these talented faculty members:
Thursday, April 13, 2023 at 7pm (PT)
Online via Zoom
FREE
Susan Peña and Miguel Govea had separate and distinct formative experiences as young people learning music from older friends, family members and mentors in their communities in the 1960s and 1970s. These experiences gave them a familiarity with American folk music, country and western songs, and Mexican popular music from the revolution and the golden era of Mexican cinema. Their subsequent years as musicians in the Bay Area, coupled with their four-decades-long marriage have provided them myriad playing experiences with their two daughters as a family band and with countless musician friends steeped in ethnic and folk musical traditions of the world.
In this presentation, Susan Peña and Miguel Govea will share their influences and their particular way of making music as a duet, using their voices and a variety of instruments, including guitar, fiddle, and button accordion.
This event will be conducted online via video conferencing. REGISTER HERE to receive the link to join, emailed prior to the start of the discussion.
Miguel Govea grew up in 1960s-era Bakersfield, California. As a child, he began to seek out, learn from, and play with people in his community. He has continued this practice of study and learning since moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1970s. He began teaching at CMC in 2006 with the Mission District Young Musicians Program. He also teaches with the Mariachi program in partnership with SFUSD and as a private lesson instructor on trumpet, trombone, guitarron, accordion, and violin.
Susan Peña started playing guitar and collecting songs as a twelve year old growing up in Middletown, New Jersey during “The Folk Music Revival” of the 1960s and 70s. After moving to the Bay Area in 1976, she began to play the fiddle and to widen her repertoire of traditional American folk songs to include old-time, country, swing, Mexican, and Tex-Mex music. She teaches Mariachi music in San Francisco elementary schools as part of CMC’s partnership with SFUSD.
People who are interested in this workshop can dive deeper by exploring private lessons and group classes and ensembles.
Field Day 2023, our annual performathon celebrating musical community and raising money for scholarships, is happening Saturday, June 3rd! We want to see you on stage! Sign up to Perform solo or with an ensemble—Ensembles can be CMC classes, pick-up groups formed for the day, or your own group! Don’t miss your chance to join the festivities.
Registration for students, faculty, and friends to perform closes on April 15.
SIGN UP FOR THE PERFORMATHON HERE
Once you have signed up, make sure you have submitted your performance information form by May 1, 2023
Learn more about Field Day 2023
PERFORMATHON
Saturday, June 3 from 11am–5pm
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts
2868 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94110
What is a Performathon?
The Field Day Performathon is like a walkathon. CMC students, faculty, friends sign up to perform and ask family, friends, neighbors, and/or local businesses to sponsor them by donating. All donations go directly to CMC scholarships and tuition assistance program. Performathon participants collect donations online through their online donation pages.
Have more questions? Check out the Field Day FAQs here.
CMC is proud to partner with SFUSD Arts for the Citywide Youth Arts Festival, a compelling opportunity for San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) arts students to connect and communicate with San Francisco residents and visitors by sharing their artistic voice and vision. The SFUSD Arts Department Citywide Youth Arts Festival will consist of two major events: month-long visual art exhibitions within six different zones throughout the San Francisco from April 6–24, 2023, and a one day event that will focus on live performances in the same venues as the visual art exhibitions. April 15, 2023.
Students and faculty from CMC’s Mission District Young Musicians Program (MDYMP) will host an instrument petting zoo at Mission Cultural Center, one of the exhibit sites, on April 15 alongside several other local organizations and schools. Stop by to enjoy the artwork, try your hand at music-making, and connect with community creativity! Live performances will begin at 10am, more details TBA.
Students from the SFUSD Mariachi Program, in partnership with CMC, will also perform in the festival.
Check out more Arts Festival events and locations online
Palace Hotel
2 New Montgomery Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
Join us for a dazzling evening of music and celebration of CMC’s mission to provide music for everyone. All proceeds support CMC’s mission to make high-quality music education accessible to all people, regardless of financial means.
This year, we will present CMC’s annual Gertrude Field Community Impact Award to three champions of music education: Jake Heggie, the world-renowned composer and dear friend of CMC; Catharine Kalin, CMC’s longest-serving board member; and Rebeca Mauleón, Latin jazz pianist, composer, educator, and visionary.
Enjoy cocktails and fine dining with exceptional music, featuring Tiffany Austin, Sasha Cooke, CMC faculty and students, and more. Dance the night away at a jubilant afterparty with music by “San Francisco’s First Family of Song,” The Curtis Family C-notes! Tiered ticket prices are available to attend all or parts of the evening.
5 pm Cocktail Reception in the Garden Court
6 pm Banquet Dinner and Awards
8 pm Gala concert featuring performances by Tiffany Austin, Sasha Cooke, and more
9:30 pm Afterparty featuring The Curtis Family C-notes
Performers
Tiffany Austin, with Carl Allen, Cyrus Chestnut, Ashlin Parker, and Marcus Shelby
Sasha Cooke, with Jake Heggie
The Curtis Family C-notes
CMC Faculty and Students
Presenting Sponsor, Diane B. Wilsey
Host Committee Chair, Sharon Litsky
Afterparty C0-Chairs , Lauren Erickson & Kari Lincks Coomans
Auction Chair, Helene Nichele Sims
Learn more about the performers, auction items, and reserve tickets here.
Presenting Sponsor
Diane B. Wilsey
Evening Sponsors
Camilla and George Smith
Concert Sponsors
Fred Levin, The Shenson Foundation
Afterparty Sponsors
Thao and Jerome Dodson
Gordon Getty
Marcia and John Goldman
Sharon L. Litsky and John F. Sampson
Roselyne Chroman Swig
Flower Sponsors
Katherine and Roy Bukstein
The MOCA Foundation
Oak Hill Capital Corporation
Oliver & Co.
Event Committee
Sharon Seto, Chair
Kathy Aizawa
Katie Colendich
Nicole Cooper
Pamela Culp
Tim Eischens
Lauren Erickson
Joel Goodrich
Lin Sun-Hoffman, Ph.D., J.D.
Brooke Joseph
Ludmila Kisseleva
Patricia Taylor Lee
Sharon Litsky
Ann Ludwig
Irena Matijas
Trisha Mount
Russell Martinelli
Amanda Sargisson
Yuan Yuan Tan
Diana Whitehead
Diana Wild
Wine Sponsors
Miner Family Winery
Media Sponsors
Nob Hill Gazette
Value Culture
For questions about sponsorship, contact Elenka Refsell at 415-647-6015 x178 or erefsell@sfcmc.org.
Bay Area Dance Week, an inclusive celebration of music and dance, is returning after a three-year hiatus! The festival aspires to offer something for everyone, regardless of experience, age, or ability—from workshops, performances, classes, open rehearsals, and more, free of charge.
Join award-winning Faculty Sonja Riket for a free participatory Beginning Tango class at part of Bay Area Dance Week 2023.
Monday, April 24, 2023
Mission District Branch Auditorium (544 Capp Street)
6:30–8:00pm
FREE
Beginner/Advanced Beginner Argentine Tango: with the basic Beginners steps of the Argentine Tango, we will learn how to feel the music in our bodies and express it through our movements in an improvised Tango dance. This class is best for those who want to learn Beginning Argentine Tango technique or already have some experience but want to review the basics.
No partner necessary. Please wear low heeled shoes with leather or suede soles (no sneakers).
To attend this free class, please RSVP at least 24 hr prior to class with your name and contact info by phone (415) 661-1852
Learn more about Tango Dance classes at CMC here. Learn more about the instructor at IntimateEmbraceTango.com
Masks are strongly recommended but not required at CMC. Thank you for helping to keep our community safe and healthy!
Spark your musical imagination with CMC faculty as they delve into stories about the inspiration and influences that have guided them as professional musicians and teachers at CMC. CMC Sessions: Inspiration & Influences is an eight-part on-line series hosted by CMC Cultural Traditions and Winds/Brass Departments, providing up-close and personal stories about the potent influences and galvanizing experiences that make up the “musical life.” Told through compelling demonstrations, musical examples, and creative tips, the sessions will provide participants with inspiration on their musical journeys.
Meet these talented faculty members:
Thursday, April 27, 2023 at 7pm (PT)
Online via Zoom
FREE
Join Jon Jang in sharing his journey in becoming a changemaker. Leading Tones, tells the stories that make up Jon Jang’s lifelong pursuit of racial equity and social justice through his chosen “instrument” of musical expression. Influenced profoundly by the revolutionary politics of the Black Arts Movement and the nascent Asian-American Consciousness Movements of the 60s and 70s, Jang has integrated artistic creativity and community organizing in order to advance messages of resistance and healing in the face of complex challenges of our society from the Reagan/Bush eras to today. Using musical examples, historical narrative, and personal reflection, Leading Tones will provide attendees with a sense of Jon Jang’s shared value and practices. Jang may give a short performance to ground the presentation in how he has engaged with “the work” of change-making.
This event will be conducted online via video conferencing. REGISTER HERE to receive the link to join, emailed prior to the start of the discussion.
For four decades, the trajectory of composer-pianist Jon Jang’s work mirrors the development of a multiracial democratic New American Majority from his unique perspective. Inspired by the music from the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s, Jang has collaborated with Max Roach in their work SenseUs (1990). “Eleanor Bumpurs” (1993) and “Can’t Stop Cryin’ for America: Black Lives Matter!” (2017) represent Jang’s works in response to the legal lynching of Black Americans. Jang’s Reparations Now! Concerto for Large Ensemble and Taiko (1987) pays tribute to the National Coalition for Redress and Reparations and shouts out a clarion call for reparations for Black Americans.
Jang also explores Chinese American transnational history in works such as The Chinese American Symphony (2007), a work that pays tribute to the Chinese immigrant laborers who built the first transcontinental railroad in the United States. Jang, a grandson of a paper son, composed “Island: The Immigrant Suite No. 2” for the Kronos Quartet about the Chinese immigrants who were incarcerated on Angel Island in San Francisco during the Chinese Exclusion Act era.
Jang has toured with Max Roach, James Newton, David Murray, Jiebing Chen and Min Xiao-Fen in Europe, China, South Africa, Canada and the United States.
People who are interested in this workshop can dive deeper by exploring private lessons and group classes and ensembles.
“Those who wish to sing always find a song” (Swedish Proverb)
The CMC Voice Department is thrilled to present a first-of-its-kind collaboration of voice faculty and students for a joyous afternoon of song, featuring solo, small ensemble, and choral performances in a wide variety of musical styles. More program details TBA soon!
Students interested in participating should sign up by the end of March—talk to your voice teacher or use the invite link in your email.
Contact Voice Department Chair Ellen Shea with any additional questions.
Sunday, April 30, 2023 at 4:00pm
Congregation Sha’ar Zahav
290 Dolores St, San Francisco, CA 94103
Free (donations gratefully accepted)
Masks are strongly encouraged but not required for all attendees. Thank you for helping to keep our community safe and healthy!
Sha’ar Zahav is a fragrance-free environment. Please do your best to follow these guidelines when you visit our synagogue building:
For more information on this subject, including why it’s important and a list of Fragrance-Free products, visit eastbaymeditation.org
The 19th annual Community Music Center Juliet McComas Keyboard Marathon presents “Masterpieces from Folk Traditions,” an exploration of works inspired by folk music from many cultures and regions of the world. Each year CMC faculty performers explore the richness and range of the keyboard repertoire through a unique lens in both educational and highly entertaining concerts. This year’s wide-ranging program will reveal how composers continue to draw from the beauty and energy of folk music and transform it to create their own expression. The thread of folk inspiration runs through both classics and new pieces, with selections from Ahn, Albéniz, Bartók, Brahms, Cervantes, Chopin, Dvořák, Esmail, Grainger, Grieg, Jang, Jianzhong, Lecuona, Liszt, Say, Schubert, Turina, and Yannatou.
This year, the event will take place as part of the Old First Concerts, with in-person and online viewing options.
Juliet McComas Keyboard Marathon: Masterpieces from Folk Traditions
Sunday, May 7 at 3pm (PDT)
Old First Concerts
1751 Sacramento St, San Francisco, CA 94109
Tickets:
$25 General Admission / $15 Seniors / $10 Youth (12–18) / Kids under 12 attend free
Livestream broadcast with donation
Featuring performances by CMC Piano Faculty and special guests:
Christopher Basso, Esther Chan, Jaqueline Chew, Lauren Cony, Paul Dab, Maria Rosi Garcia Plaza, Grace Huenemann, Jon Jang, Allison Lovejoy, Tony Martinez, Hadley McCarroll, Erick Peralta, Matylda Rotkiewicz, Betty Wong, and Shirley Wong-Frentzel
With music by:
Jean Ahn, Isaac Albeniz, Béla Bartók, Johannes Brahms, Ignacio Cervantes, Frédéric Chopin, Antonín Dvořák, Reena Esmail, Percy Grainger, Edvard Grieg, Jon Jang, Wang Jianzhong, Ernesto Lecuona, Franz Liszt, Fazil Say, Franz Schubert, Joaquin Turina, and Savina Yannatou.
Spark your musical imagination with CMC faculty as they delve into stories about the inspiration and influences that have guided them as professional musicians and teachers at CMC. CMC Sessions: Inspiration & Influences is an eight-part on-line series hosted by CMC Cultural Traditions and Winds/Brass Departments, providing up-close and personal stories about the potent influences and galvanizing experiences that make up the “musical life.” Told through compelling demonstrations, musical examples, and creative tips, the sessions will provide participants with inspiration on their musical journeys.
Meet these talented faculty members:
Thursday, May 11, 2023 at 7pm (PT)
Online via Zoom
FREE
Diane Grubbe will present a session about her earliest beginnings, learning the recorder in third grade and the trajectory that inspired her to continue on to other instruments. She will share the important moments that motivated her to pursue a career in music. She’ll focus on her professional work as a flutist (orchestra, opera, casuals, Quinteto Latino, contemporary music) and her career as a music teacher.
This event will be conducted online via video conferencing. REGISTER HERE to receive the link to join, emailed prior to the start of the discussion.
Diane Grubbe is an active performer and teacher, with a special renown in contemporary music and new techniques of performance on flute, piccolo, alto and bass flutes. She is a long-time member of Quinteto Latino, a wind quintet focusing on contemporary music from Latin America and Latinx-Americans. In the Bay Area, she has appeared with the Stockton Symphony, Symphony Silicon Valley, Lamplighters Music Theater, Festival Opera, Pocket Opera, and many others. She often performs with the avant-garde ensemble sfSound, and has been a guest artist with Earplay, the Eco Ensemble, Santa Cruz New Music Works, and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players. She earned degrees in flute performance from San Francisco State University and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
People who are interested in this workshop can dive deeper by exploring private lessons and group classes and ensembles.
Spark your musical imagination with CMC faculty as they delve into stories about the inspiration and influences that have guided them as professional musicians and teachers at CMC. CMC Sessions: Inspiration & Influences is an eight-part on-line series hosted by CMC Cultural Traditions and Winds/Brass Departments, providing up-close and personal stories about the potent influences and galvanizing experiences that make up the “musical life.” Told through compelling demonstrations, musical examples, and creative tips, the sessions will provide participants with inspiration on their musical journeys.
Meet these talented faculty members:
Thursday, May 25, 2023 at 7pm (PT)
Online via Zoom
FREE
Becca Burrington, Winds/Brass Department Chair, will share her approach to trombone using a “singing style” in her teaching and playing. She will recount formative moments in her education and the influences which have supported her focus on the “singing style” approach. She’ll highlight her family experiences, education, and professional work both as a singer and trombone player.
This event will be conducted online via video conferencing. REGISTER HERE to receive the link to join, emailed prior to the start of the discussion.
Becca Burrington graduated in trombone performance with honors from Oberlin Conservatory, where she received the Conservatory Dean’s Talent Award. She also studied at Interlochen Arts Center and received the Governor’s Scholar and Outstanding Brass Performance award. An active freelancer on trombone and voice, Becca has performed with the Silk Road Project with Yo-Yo Ma, Santa Rosa Symphony, California Chamber Symphony, Women’s Philharmonic, Aspen Festival Orchestra, Montclair Women’s Big Band, Electric Squeezebox Orchestra, and Erik Jekabson’s Vista Nonet. She has also performed and toured with early music groups such as Trinity Wall Street, California Bach Society, Apollo’s Fire and the Dark Horse Consort. She is a founding member of Solstice, an award-winning female vocal septet. She has sung with a wide array of artists including Bobby McFerrin, Sufjan Stevens, Meredith Monk, Andy Williams, and John Zorn. Becca has been featured on numerous recordings including the Bernstein Mass (with the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester), four CDs by Solstice, the Montclair Women’s Big Band, and the San Francisco Sinfonietta.
Becca teaches students starting at age 10 and also teaches adults. She focuses on establishing good playing habits with a focus on sound and technique while tailoring each lesson to the strengths and interests of the individual student. Becca’s students have played in the Oakland Youth Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, Young People’s Symphony Orchestra, Berkeley Youth Orchestra, have attended major conservatories, and have gone on to play in professional orchestras and ensembles.
People who are interested in this workshop can dive deeper by exploring private lessons and group classes and ensembles.
