Crowden Music Center

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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.

10/10/2026

Last time, our Head of Music, Kevin Rogers, shared some of the thinking behind our ensemble choices.

Now, step inside our classrooms to see it in action!

Five ensembles in one morning, with plenty of moments of collaboration, contrast, and musical discovery.

And we’re only halfway through rehearsals! Our students are busy preparing for their November 6 performance.




10/09/2026

Inside Ensembles | Part 2

What are Crowden students exploring in their ensembles this fall?

Kevin Rogers, Crowden’s Head of Music, continues our Inside Ensembles series with a closer look at the music our students are preparing for the Fall Concert on November 6.

In Part 2, Kevin introduces works by Beethoven, Mahler, Rhiannon Giddens, and Joan Jeanrenaud, highlighting the remarkable range of music our young musicians are exploring.

From Beethoven’s dramatic String Quartet No. 4 to contemporary works that challenge traditional approaches to ensemble playing, this year’s repertoire brings together different musical eras, voices, and perspectives.

🎻 Join us on November 6 to hear our students bring this music to life!

Four extraordinary musicians and three boundary-pushing works - all in one remarkable evening!Meet the Four Radicals, op...
10/08/2026

Four extraordinary musicians and three boundary-pushing works - all in one remarkable evening!

Meet the Four Radicals, opening the 2026-27 Crowden Presents season on
Monday, November 2

🎻 Owen Dalby - Crowden alumnus, acclaimed violinist, and Crowden’s inaugural Artist-in-Residence

🎻 Alexi Kenney - Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, celebrated soloist, and adventurous musical collaborator

🎻 Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt - award-winning violist and founding member of the GRAMMY-nominated Dover Quartet

🎻 Oliver Herbert - Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient and internationally acclaimed cellist

For one night, these four artists come together as a string quartet for a program that moves from the exhilarating energy of Crowden alumna Gabriella Smith’s Carrot Revolution, through Alfred Schnittke’s history-bending Third String Quartet, to Beethoven’s monumental Op. 130 with the Grosse Fuge restored as its finale.

FOUR RADICALS
Monday, November 2 • 7:30pm
Crowden School, Berkeley

General admission: $45
Students: $20 with code STUDENT20
Ages 18 and under: FREE with code YOUTHCOMP

🎟️ Tickets at the link in our bio.
FB: crowden.org/crowden-presents

10/03/2026

A very special masterclass at Crowden today 🎶

Our students welcomed acclaimed artists Yacouba Sissoko, master kora player, and Mike Block, cellist, composer, and educator, for an afternoon of music, rhythm, culture, and discovery.

Students were introduced to the kora, a West African string instrument with deep roots in Mali’s musical and storytelling traditions, and explored rhythm, improvisation, and making music beyond the written score. Mike even brought along his 3D-printed cello to demonstrate!

More than a masterclass in technique, the morning opened up a wider conversation about how music carries culture and history, connects us to one another, and shapes the way we experience the world.

An inspiring morning of listening, experimenting, and making music together.

This masterclass is part of a series of special events curated by Crowden’s 2026-27 Artist-in-Residence, Owen Dalby.

🔬 Science Spotlight: Wind, Water & Changing Land!What happens to land when wind and water move across it?Our 1st and 2nd...
10/02/2026

🔬 Science Spotlight:
Wind, Water & Changing Land!

What happens to land when wind and water move across it?

Our 1st and 2nd graders have been exploring just that with Sarah Ludwig - building their own landscape models and investigating how wind and water can reshape the land.

Through hands-on experimentation, students could observe those changes happening right in front of them - testing their ideas, seeing the results, and discovering how landscapes change over time.

10/02/2026

How do kindergartners explore music?
With their whole bodies! 🎶

In Music and Movement with teacher Kim Agnew, Crowden kindergartners are discovering a ca****la music-music created with voices, without instrumental accompaniment. Through listening, guided movement, and imaginative play, they connect sound and movement in a joyful, embodied way!

09/29/2026

Just a few weeks into the school year, Crowden’s Advanced Orchestra is already finding the pulse of Tegere Tulon by Malian singer and composer Hawa Kassé Mady Diabaté.

Arranged for strings by Jacob Garchik, the piece draws on the call-and-response handclapping songs Diabaté remembers from her childhood in Mali-music shaped by language, counting, movement, and dance.

This Friday, our students will continue that exploration in a special masterclass with Malian master kora player Yacouba Sissoko and cellist Mike Block-the first event curated by Crowden’s 2026-27 Artist-in-Residence, Owen Dalby!

Noe Music
Owen Dalby
Mike Block
Kevin Rogers
Yacouba Sissoko

09/27/2026

What does it take to become an orchestra?

This week marked a Crowden first: the very first rehearsal of Camerata, our new K-2 orchestra and Crowden’s first large ensemble created especially for our youngest musicians!

Rebecca Reed Lunn led the orchestra alongside cello teacher Soyoon Park, with piano accompaniment by Kevin Rogers. Through an open-string sequence set to a samba rhythm, the students practiced watching, listening, and playing together-finding a shared pulse and experiencing the joy of making music as one ensemble.

Every orchestra begins one note and one beat at a time. 🎻

Community Music Day is almost here!Come celebrate with us on Oct 4th.Join us for a free day of music, creativity, and fa...
09/25/2026

Community Music Day is almost here!
Come celebrate with us on Oct 4th.

Join us for a free day of music, creativity, and family fun with opportunities for children and families to listen, play, create, and discover music together!

Explore:

🎻 Our Instrument Petting Zoo
🎶 Interactive, kid-friendly concerts
✏️ A musical Composition Station
🎨 Instrument-making, arts and crafts
🎭 Live performances, face painting, games, and prizes

New this year, children ages 3+ can try the violin or cello in a hands-on demonstration with Crowden’s professional music faculty. Families interested in Crowden’s K–8 Day School can also meet our Co-Principals and learn how strong academics and daily music education work together.

Admission is free, but RSVP tickets are required. Space is limited for the strings demonstrations, so reserve your session in advance!

đź“Ť Crowden School, 1475 Rose Street, Berkeley
🎟️ Register through the link in our bio.
FB:https://www.crowden.org/community-music-day/

MusicEducation

09/17/2026

MUSIC AT CROWDEN | Inside Our Ensembles
Frank Bridge to Miles Davis!

What goes into choosing repertoire for our student ensembles?

Kevin Rogers takes us inside the thinking behind one ensemble’s repertoire and how contrasting musical styles can challenge students in very different ways.

The ensemble, coached by Crowden cello faculty member Ben Davis, begins with Miniatures by English composer Frank Bridge, whose music brings together influences from the English musical tradition and continental composers such as Debussy. Bridge was also the teacher of Benjamin Britten, and Kevin hears a musical thread connecting the two composers.

Originally written for violin, cello, and piano, the work has been arranged for this Crowden ensemble of two cellos and piano.

Then, they’ll shift gears entirely with Miles Davis’s “All Blues,” from his landmark 1959 album Kind of Blue giving each student the opportunity to explore blues, jazz, and improvisation alongside their classical chamber music playing.

Two very different musical traditions with one ensemble to look forward to! 🎻🎹

Address

1475 Rose Street
Berkeley, CA
94702

Opening Hours

Monday 7:30am - 8pm
Tuesday 7:30am - 8pm
Wednesday 7:30am - 8pm
Thursday 7:30am - 8pm
Friday 7:30am - 8pm
Saturday 8am - 7pm
Sunday 8am - 7pm

Telephone

+15105596910

Website

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