On an overcast morning last December, construction crews were still busy at the Community Music Center. The tang of fresh paint and the comforting smell of sawdust hung in the air as Executive Director Julie Steinberg, Program Director Sylvia Sherman and I carefully avoided extension cords and dodged canvas tarps while tromping up and down staircases, navigating around working crews. Though the renovation and expansion of the historic Capp Street campus was still in process, the improvements were readily evident, as was the pride and excitement emanating from the two women.
“There are so many design features we’ve built in to maximize use of the space,” Steinberg said, pointing out a studio’s angled wall that helps buffer sound spillover to nearby spaces. A new brick porch on the west side of the main building transformed an improvised outdoor space that became a crucial gathering point during the first two years of the pandemic, Sherman said.
After the year-old project, the CMC’s Mission District campus officially opens Wednesday, Feb. 21, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, offering the public a good look at how the campus significantly increases the organization’s capacity (the CMC also has a campus in the Richmond).
Dedicated to providing music classes in a wide array of traditions and idioms, the CMC has a long track record of both introducing new players to instruments, and propelling talented and ambitious young musicians.
“Three students were accepted into the SFJAZZ High School All Stars,” Sherman said, crediting bass star Marcus Shelby, a longtime CMC faculty member, with fostering a supportive classroom environment. “He gets students to mentor each other.”
The campus expansion comes at a time when “the jazz program has blown up,” Steinberg said. And under Maestro Curtis, the keyboardist, producer, educator and leader of the Curtis Family C-Notes, the CMC Black American music program is thriving.
Also, “We’ve got a new mariachi program, and we’re already working with San Francisco school district on creating a new Latin American folk ensemble,” Steinberg said.
Renovations have made the campus fully accessible. The main entrance is now located at the southeast corner, where an ADA-accessible ramp leads to the front door. An elevator provides access to the reception/registration area and classes on the third floor, with ADA-accessible pathways throughout the campus. It’s also far more secure, while maintaining the historic building’s charm, “We used many of the original doors,” Steinberg said.
There’s a new piano lab equipped with seven electric Yamaha Clavinovas, and the new Cottage Studio, which is designed to handle the volume generated by larger ensembles. An electronic-music program is slated to open in the fall, along with a studio program to teach recording and production skills. And the freshly painted concert hall, with new acoustic curtains and other improvements, is a newly polished gem that will showcase the CMC faculty and other artists. “We’re looking forward to it being used by lots of groups,” Steinberg said.
If you haven’t checked out the CMC, there are plenty of opportunities coming up. The monthly CMC Sessions Saturdays opens Feb. 24 with Allison Lovejoy’s Embodied Piano Playing. The free CMC Celebrations Concert Series runs through March, kicking off March 1 with a triple bill featuring the Stone Foxes, La Familia Peña Govea and a solo set by Vetiver’s Andy Cabic.
Recital hall at the newly expanded Community Music Center in San Francisco. Photo by Henrik Kam Credit: HENRIK KAM PHOTOGRAPHY 
3. Interior photo of rehearsal space at newly expanded Community Music Center in San Francisco. Photo by Henrik Kam Credit: HENRIK KAM PHOTOGRAPHY 
Chiu-Dains Concert Hall at Community Music Center. Photo by Henrik Kam Credit: HENRIK KAM PHOTOGRAPHY
Dance Mission Theater
Berkeley-based Bras Arte, the Bay Area’s essential outpost of Afro-Brazilian culture, presents the Yemanjá Arts Festival Saturday at the Casa de Cultura, Sunday at Dance Mission Theater, and Feb. 25 at 418 Project in Santa Cruz.
Inspired by the Festa de Yemanjá celebrated in Bahia, Brazil, Bras Arte’s event highlights the resilience of African spiritual practices across the Americas, bringing together master artists and young performers from across the Bay Area, Brazil and Cuba. At its heart, the festival honors the Yoruban deity/orixá representing the ancient, essential and mutable nature of water, a goddess known as Yemanjá, Lemanjá, Yemoja or Yemayá.
Created by choreographers Rosangela Silvestre and Nildinha Fonseca from Bahia, the works encompass popular, folkloric, contemporary and spiritual traditions. This year’s festival also features new works by guest performer Elisio Pitta, from Salvador de Bahia by way of Seattle, and performances by Arenas Dance Company, a company dedicated to Afro-Cuban traditions.
The San Francisco International Art Festival here
We’ll be taking a closer look at the San Francisco International Art Festival’s move into the Mission in the coming weeks, but leading up to its first extended foray into venues and spaces around the neighborhood May 1 to 12, SFIAF continues to present the Last Supper Party Spoken Word & Performance Series. Curated by Kimi Sugioka, the free event returns to Medicine for Nightmares Bookstore & Gallery on Wednesday, Feb. 21, with the poets Ayo Khensu-Ra, Kevin Dublin and Cadence Myles (registration required).
New York koto explorer and sound sculptor Miya Masoaka returns to the Bay Area for a performance Friday at The Lab, where she’ll be joined by Hans Tammen, who’s known for his texturally acute work on prepared and microtonal guitars, Buchla Music Easel, Blippoo Box chaos synthesizer, and software of his own design. Presented by the Wattis Institute, the evening’s theme is the Anthropocene, the biological and physiological response of plants to human and non-human environments. In addition to koto, Masaoka performs on electronics and electric monochord.
Sudamericanto at the Red Poppy
Over at the Red Poppy on Saturday, Sudamericanto represents the Art House’s penchant for presenting ensembles that blend a variety of kindred musical traditions. Featuring Madeleine Zayas on vocals and hand percussion, Peruvian bassist David Pinto, Brazilian keyboardist Marcos Silva and veteran percussionist Michaelle Goerlitz, the quartet blends Brazilian jazz with an array of South American and Caribbean currents.
Thank you Andrew Gilbert and Mission Local. Your publication sets the bar high for everyone else. Wonderful story.
So glad to read this about the Community Music Center. Our neighborhood is such a source of wonderful music and arts! Thank you to Marcus Shelby – you do so much for our local children in Jazz education. And nice shout out to Red Poppy Art house. The best smallest venue in town. It’s refreshing to read such nice news in the neighborhood.