Mission
Mid-City Community Music (MCCM) is dedicated to changing lives through the power of art and music in San Diego’s Mid-City neighborhoods. Started in 1974 as The New Expression Folk Music Study Center by three San Diego musicians, MCCM now offers performance workshops, group and private lessons, weekly jam sessions, and free community concerts on a quarterly basis.
Group lessons, workshops, and jam sessions are provided on a low-cost, sliding-scale basis in some of San Diego's most ethnically diverse and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods to community members who would not otherwise have the opportunity to learn to play an instrument, sing and play in a group, or perform on stage.
MCCM also trains San Diego Teaching Artists to work with students in the transitory student population of San Diego County Office of Education’s Juvenile Court and Community Schools (JCCS) to reduce the risk of criminal behavior, improve emotional well-being, and boost academic performance.
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Core Programs and Services
Youth Scholarships – One-on-one instruction with local teaching artists focused on social and musical skills. Students are encouraged to prepare a performance piece for quarterly community concerts.
Teen Performance Workshops – Opportunity for at-risk and foster youth to play together in a band. Students rehearse three pieces to perform at a community concert.
JCCS Workshops – Arts and music workshops for adolescents in the Juvenile Court and Community Schools (JCCS). These students are either wards of the court, have been referred by social services, or are on probation. With training from the National Guild for Community Arts Education, our teaching artists empower students to make positive life choices through the arts.
United Way’s “Readers in the Heights” – Summer reading program for K-3rd graders in City Heights. MCCM volunteers provide free ukulele instruction to some of the 450 kids who participate in the program.
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MCCM Teaching Philosophy
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MCCM Local Impact Report - 2018
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