Since 1921, Community Music Center has remained steadfast in the mission of making high-quality music accessible to people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities, regardless of financial means. Join us in celebrating a century of music for everyone as we honor the past, celebrate the present, and reimagine the future.
Greetings From Julie Donate100 Years & Growing is the story of CMC as a home for arts access now and in the future. The film follows three people from the CMC community who share their first memories of CMC and their hopes and wishes for CMC’s future. The film is an invitation to be hopeful for the future of arts access in the Bay Area as CMC breaks ground on its Campus Expansion Project.
Making History is about the beginnings of three of CMC's foundational tuition-free programs: Children's Chorus, Young Musicians Program, and Mission District Young Musicians Program, which were established between 1973 and 2006. The story illustrates CMC as a leader in the field of arts access, where it provides the largest tuition assistance program of its kind in the country.
"More Than Music: Changing Lives & Strengthening Communities" is about the dynamic impacts of CMC's music programs on the lives of students, faculty, and the communities that CMC serves.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 6:00 PM
Julia Morgan Ballroom
Join us for an evening of music and celebration reflecting on CMC’s historic legacy providing music for everyone and looking forward to the next century of arts access.
Honoring Roselyne Chroman Swig, La Doña, Betty Wong, and Shirley Wong-Frentzel with the 2022 Gertrude Field Community Impact Awards.
Enjoy performances by Sean Jones with the Marcus Shelby Trio, Pene Pati and Amina Edris, the Alexander String Quartet, the John Santos Trio, and more.
APRIL 4–MAY 23
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.
SATURDAY, APRIL 23, 1:00 PM
Yerba Buena Gardens Festival
Community Music Center, celebrating its Centennial, presents “A Song of Triumph: The History of Black Music,” a new work by Maestro Curtis, featuring Maestro Curtis Ph.D, the Curtis Family C-Notes, and special guests, including Bishop James Adams, James Henry, Pastor Gerald Gordon, Ken Little, Larry Douglas, Ricardo Scales,Tony Bolivar, Neil Stallings, and Dorothy Morrison. The concert is an extension of CMC’s Black Music Studies Program, offering a journey of Black roots music and triumph through song, including hymns, field songs used to distract enslaved Africans from rigorous work, songs and culture created in the safe haven of the church, to music that the world enjoys today.
In addition to our Centennial events, we offer a variety of events that happen throughout the year. Check our dedicated page to see all upcoming events!
All EventsYou are the community. Please post a memory, a photo, video, story, or testimonial about Community Music Center. Follow the link below to post or simply enjoy the journey of reading the memories and stories that our alumni, students, staff, donors, faculty, and friends have posted.
Get StartedFor 100 years, CMC has inspired joy and community through music and has responded to the needs of our community, creating culturally responsive programming and making music accessible to all. In the last ten years, we launched three tuition-free programs: the Older Adult Choir Program, New Voices Bay Area TIGQ Choir, and the new Black Music Studies Program. Help us to reimagine the future of Bay Area music access by becoming a supporter today.
Donate
Community Music Center was founded by Gertrude Field in 1921 with the mission of making music accessible to all people regardless of financial means.
Our History“In a word, we are devoted to an ideal – the love of the beautiful in music, which, we think, is the greatest and most comprehensive course that can be devised for the development of human intelligence. It embraces every element involved in the process of education, besides giving articulate expression to the emotional side of our nature.” — Gertrude Field
