Crowden Music Center

We're so excited for the first concert of the school year! Crowden School 3–5 graders will take the stage tonight for the Lower School Fall Concert. Our young musicians have been hard at work rehearsing a varied program of beautiful and collaborative music. 🎵

The classroom is all around us—Crowden School students had a wonderful time visiting the Peralta Community Garden! We learned all about the many benefits a community garden offers to the neighborhood, practiced our scientific drawing skills, and marveled at the tempting tomatoes, monarch habitats, and the seed library. Special thanks to our garden docents for sharing their time and knowledge. 🌱

Alumni Alert 🎻 Jay Campbell (Class of '03)—featured musician in our upcoming Sundays @ Four Concert—will be performing with JACK Quartet at San Francisco Performances this Thursday. The concerts are a testament to Jay's wide artisic range as both a leading contemporary musician and equally at home in historical performance practice, like he'll perform November 12 at Crowden.

SFP | JACK Quartet “Our leading new-music foursome,” is simply and clearly how The New York Times describes the JACK Quartet. Through close collaboration with today’s most exciting and sought-after composers, JACK inspires and infuses new works with tremendous energy and riveting attention.

Enjoying the sunshine at recess after this weekend's rainy weather 🌤

Alumni Alert 📢 Excited for Anaís Azul's Berkeley Symphony Chamber Series this November 19! The Peruvian composer-performer, Fulbright Scholar, and teaching artist is also an alum of Crowden's John Adams Young Musicians Program. Their artistry engages with music as a tool for community building, cross-genre collaboration, and collective healing.

California Festival: A Celebration of New Music ➡️ https://www.berkeleysymphony.org/.../california-connections/

Berkeley Symphony honors and celebrates by highlighting one of the Hispanic composers featured on this season's Chamber Series.

Peruvian immigrant Anaís Azul (they/them) is a California based composer-performer, Fulbright Scholar, and teaching artist. Their artistry engages with music as a tool for community building, cross-genre collaboration, and collective healing. Their songs are bilingual (Spanish and English) and about mental health, queerness, facing harsh realities and finding inner peace in spite of chaos.

Learn more about Anaís ➡️ anaisazul.com/

Hear their “Cascades and Canyons” — a “...fun piece with a Latin dance feel” (San Francisco Classical Voice) on November 19th, as far of the California Festival: A Celebration of New Music ➡️ https://www.berkeleysymphony.org/event/california-connections/

California Festival: A Celebration of New Music Anaís Azul San Francisco Classical Voice Visit Berkeley Berkeley Chamber

We're so excited to welcome Crowden School alumni cellist Jay Campbell ('03) back to the Crowden stage for our next Sundays @ Four concert this November 12! Jay will be joined by special guest Eric Zivian for a masterful program of Beethoven accompanied on an historic pianoforte. 🎹 🎻 Learn more and get tickets at https://campbell-sundays.eventbrite.com

At the Crowden School for grades 3–8, joy in playing music together fuels our students’ passion to question, explore, create, and grow. Our project-based academics are filled with collaboration and creativity, and small classes ensure that every student is seen, known and needed.

Learn more and get to know our remarkable community at an upcoming admissions event—including Q&As, info sessions, open houses, school tours, and concerts. Get started at crowden.org/visit.

Community Music Day is underway! Come join the musical fun—free for all ages 10am–2pm

See you this Sunday at Community Music Day! Our FREE annual musical carnival includes musical performances, instrument petting zoo, instrument making, face painting, and much more fun for all ages 🎵 10am–2pm 🥁 See the full schedule at crowden.org/community-music-day

Thanks to our incredible event partners San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale, Harmony Project Bay Area, Berkeley Symphony, Multicultural Music Fellowship

Crowden School ensembles have been busy rehearsing for this year's first concert later this month. We can't wait to hear all the pieces they've been working on!

To start the year off right, the Crowden School fifth grade class co-developed a list of shared values and expectations as a way of cultivating shared responsibility. While being supportive, kind, honest and building helpful habits will start in the classroom, it will be carried out to the school community and beyond without a doubt. 🌎

Community Music Day has tons of music for kids, by kids. In addition to performances by our Crowden students, we're excited to welcome musicians from Harmony Project Bay Area to our stage this October 8! The Oakland organization works with local communities to provide free and comprehensive instrumental classes, performance, and musical mentoring to children in under-served communities. 🎵 See all the Community Music Day fun at crowden.org/community-music-day

Enjoying some fantastic and varied Catalyst Quartet performances featured on Arizona PBS this week. We're excited to be welcoming Catalyst Quartet back to the Crowden stage for our Sundays @ Four Chamber Music Series and extraordinary 40th Anniversary Concert this spring! Check out the details at crowden.org/40 🎻

The String Quartet: From Haydn to Today This week, the Catalyst Quartet guides us through musical innovations, including 11 brand new works by living composers performed at GCMF.

Community Music Day is packed with free musical discovery for the whole family, including activities and a whole day of performances this OCTOBER 8 from 10am–2pm. Our friends at San Francisco Chamber Orchestra are returning for the crowd-favorite Very First Concerts—repeat performances of "Mixed Nuts: Winds, Brass, and Strings" will illuminate the varied sounds of the violin, bass, flute, clarinet, trumpet, trombone. 🎺 We hope to see you in the audience! 🎻

🎵Learn more at crowden.org/community-music-day

Happy Monday! Here's to another week of playing, listening, and learning together.

What a treat to welcome members of the Baumer String Quartet to The Crowden School this Friday! They gave our students some musical advice, alumni Nathan Olson (’00) and Aaron Requiro (‘95) talked about their Crowden days, and gave us a sneak peek at their program for the almost sold-out Sundays @ Four performance. 🎵 Don't miss the chance for or our season-opener with Baumer Quartet baumer-sundays.eventbrite.com

Thanks to everyone who came out to visit and to spread the joy of music at Solano Stroll this weekend! Our Crowden School students, parent volunteers, staff, and faculty made the day special for our local community 💟

Join us at Solano Avenue Stroll today for some neighborbood fun! We'll be at Solano and Colusa until 3pm with our mobile instrument petting zoo 🎵

📢 Alumni Alert: Composer Samuel Adams (Crowden School Class of '00) has a new album out today with Other Minds Records—we know what we'll be listening to this weekend! Samuel is also a commissioned composer for our 40th Anniversary Concert, with a premiere performance coming this May.

Current, by Samuel Adams 8 track album

Looking for some local family activities? Join us at the (free!) neighborhood favorite Solano Avenue Stroll this Sunday 9/10. We'll be bringing our mobile instrument petting zoo and Crowden-style musical fun. 🎵

Don't miss the opening of our exciting 40th Anniversary Season! We're proud to present the Baumer String Quartet September 17, featuring three globally acclaimed Crowden alums: The Phoenix Symphony violinist Aaron Requiro ('95), Naumburg International Violoncello Competition winner cellist David Requiro ('99), and Dallas Symphony Orchestra co-concert master Nathan Olson ('00).

🎻 Get tickets at baumer-sundays.eventbrite.com

🎻 Meet the quartet and get a special preview of our incredible season to come following the concert at our 40th Anniversary Launch Party!

🎻 Youth 8–18 attend free!

Sundays @ Four: Baumer String Quartet Crowden presents the extraordinary and award-winning Baumer String Quartet in concert, followed by its free 40th Anniversary launch party.

Have you checked out our thrilling 40th anniversary season yet? We're showcasing alumni, faculty, and friends from across the decades with sublime performances, original commissions, and a new chamber music festival and so much more. The season kicks off this September 17 with Sundays @ Four: Baumer String Quartet and a 40th Anniversary Launch Party previewing the excitement to come.

🎉 Join the celebration at crowden.org/40 🎊

We're excited to be welcome students back through these doors for the first day of the Crowden School. Looking forward to another year of learning and growth, collaboration, and music-making!

Nothing beats the fun of making music together! Crowden's Youth Chamber Music program fosters collaborative music skills, strengthens technique, and heightens artistry and interpretation. 🎶⏰ Theres still time to join this fall: crowden.org/youth-chamber-music

Bring your creative ideas to life in Crowden's John Adams Young Composers Program! Our expert faculty of professional composers and network of professional musicians, ensembles, and alumni offer aspiring composers of all levels a launching pad for artistic expression. ⚡️ Learn more and enroll for fall at crowden.org/compose

Great news from our friends at San Francisco Chamber Orchestra: Congrats to their new principal conductor, Jory Fankuchen (Crowden School Class of '91)! We're excited for all the incredible music you'll make together 🎶

Our 2023-24 Season Announcement is coming soon — but we couldn't wait to share some major highlights!

🎉 After an incredible SFCO debut, Jory Fankuchen returns as Principal Conductor for the SFCO!

4️⃣ Four Main Stage concerts including two world Premieres with support from the NEA, Schubert and Mendelssohn Symphonies, Florence Price, Shostakovich and so much more!

🎄 Our annual Nutcracker Sweet with the Puppet Company returns Thanksgiving weekend!

🥇Very First concerts in Berkeley, San Francisco and Menlo Park!

📍Our Main Stage venues for the entire season are St Mark’s in San Francisco, First United Methodist Church in Palo Alto, and First Church of Berkeley

Crowden Music Center St. Mark's Lutheran Church First Church Berkeley

Great interview with our friend Jeremey Cohen on learning violin with our founder Anne Crowden, and his Raymond Scott Reimagined project on Violinist.com. Jeremy and Quartet San Francisco performed some of Raymond Scott's iconic music at Crowden's March Sundays @ Four Concert 🎻

Interview with Violinist Jeremy Cohen: Raymond Scott Reimagined July 31, 2023, 6:09 PM · Violinist Jeremy Cohen was hooked, the minute he heard the music of the 20th-century American composer and band leader Raymond Scott. It's energetic and jazzy, full of complex rhythms and riffs, yet all with a wink of humor.

Ensemble playing is the heart of a Crowden education. Our Chamber Orchestra and Youth Chamber Music programs nurture collaborative playing, artistic, technical, and musicianship skills in young musicians ages 9+ in an inspiring and supportive community environment. 🎵 Learn more and register for fall at crowden.org/community-education

Happy ! We're celebrating all the wonderful friendships made at Crowden through the poser of music. Have fun with your bestie this weekend 💛

We can't wait for our 2023 Chamber Music Workshop student concerts tonight and tomorrow! These young musicians have worked hard over the past two weeks to bring every piece on the program to life with both excellent technique and sensitive artistry. Hope to see you there 🎵

☀️YPSO Musician's Summer😎
Greta Graham(violin), Grace Liao(violin), Noa Marvit(violin), Henry Stroud(violin), Aaron Seo(cello), and Claire Topper(cello) will perform in the Chamber Music Workshop concerts on THU (7/27) & FRI (7/28), 6:30pm at Crowden Music Center in Berkeley. Each day has a different concert program and the students play for at least 3 chamber groups. 🎻For the past 2 weeks, they've had a full day of chamber music coached by internationally acclaimed faculty including Telegraph Quartet, members of Delphi Trio, and Alexander String Quartet.

Crowden is proud to offer financial aid to make music education accessible at all ages. Applications for our fall community programs are due August 1—don't forget to submit at crowden.org/financial-aid

Be sure to get out and have some fun in the sun this weekend!

The stage is set—join us for some masterful performances starting tonight! Our Chamber Music Workshop faculty and students will step into the spotlight for some of our favorite events of the summer. All three concerts are free in our Hoefer Auditorium. 🔥🔥

Young beginners will have a blast learning to make music at Crowden! Our Beginning Violin Class and Suzuki Strings Program are designed to develop music fundamentals while exploring the joys of playing music, building a strong foundation for a lifetime of musical enjoyment, learning, and play. 🎻 Enroll for fall at crowden.org/community-education

Enrollment is open for our fall programs! At all levels and ages, Crowden teachers help their students to become the best musicians they can be—from private lessons to chamber music, aspiring composers, very beginners to seasoned adults. 🎵 Financial aid is available. 🎵 Learn more and register at crowden.org/community-education

We're making lots of music and new friends—summer camps are in full swing at Crowden! 🌞🎵

Don't miss out on the unique items and experiences left in our Silent Auction, concluding on Wednesday, June 28 at 11:59pm (PST)! All proceeds support student scholarships and music education at Crowden, where . Together, let's make this final push for our annual fund a resounding success.

🎵 See more and bid online at https://crowden2223.ggo.bid

Crowden Music Center At Crowden, music changes everything!

Crowden combines music and education to nurture, develop, and inspire students of all ages, and to provide essential support to the musical life of the community.

We spent the last day of school celebrating our graduating eighth graders. Congratulations to the Crowden School Class of 2023! 🎓 These bright and energetic students have inspired us with their creativity, collaboration, friendship, and incredible dedication to their musical endeavors. We're amazed at all the ways they've grown during their time at Crowden, and can’t wait to see what they do next! 🎵🎉