(SAN FRANCISCO, CA, April 26, 2010) -- Community Music Center has received a $15,000 Learning in the Arts grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to help support three of its youth scholarship programs.
Community Music Center (CMC) is a non-profit music school and performance space that has made music accessible to San Franciscans since 1921. CMC’s Young Musicians Programs are free youth ensemble programs for middle and high school students that provide an intensive, integrated, and multi-cultural curriculum. Students participate in weekly group classes and individual private lessons, guest artist workshops and performance before an audience, and have opportunities to see great musicians through donated tickets or free performances.
This Learning in the Arts grant will help support the following Young Musicians Programs:
Comprehensive Musicianship Program: This scholarship provides current CMC private lesson students seeking more intensive instruction with advanced theory, musicianship and ensemble classes each week.
Inner City Young Musicians Program: In collaboration with the San Francisco Unified School District, this full scholarship program provides students with free private instrumental lessons as well as theory, musicianship and ensemble classes each week. Students commit to using skills acquired in this program in their public school bands and orchestras to enhance those performing groups.
Mission District Young Musicians Program: Motivated students who live or attend school in the Mission District (where CMC’s main branch is located) can enroll in this full-scholarship program, which provides a multi-faceted musical education through Latin music. Group classes take place at the nearby Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts.
The goal of NEA Learning in the Arts grants is to strengthen American educational opportunities by providing children with focused arts instruction, exposing them to legendary artists, and introducing children to artworks of the highest quality. Community Music Center is one of three dedicated music organizations in San Francisco selected for a Learning in the Arts grant.
Community Music Center (CMC) is a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization founded in 1921 with the mission of enhancing the community’s quality of life by making high quality music accessible to all people, regardless of their financial status. With branches in the Mission and Richmond Districts of San Francisco and programs throughout the city, CMC is the Bay Area’s oldest community arts organization and San Francisco's largest provider of low-cost, high quality music education. During the 2008-09 school year, 2,345 students of all ages, ethnicities and income levels enrolled in CMC programs and over 17,000 people enjoyed musical performances at no or low cost.
The National Endowment for the Arts is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established, bringing the arts to all Americans, and providing leadership in arts education. Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the Arts Endowment is the nation's largest annual funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases. For more information, please visit http://www.arts.gov.
