Spring Quarter Enrollment Is Now Open!

Mission Statement

Mid-City Community Music is dedicated to changing lives through the power of art and music in San Diego’s Mid-City neighborhoods
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Our Story

Since its inception as the House of Strings in a craftsman bungalow in 1974 the organization that would become MCCM has been a torchbearer of traditional music. Through various incarnations (House of Strings, Acoustic Expressions, Old Time Music, New Expressions Music), MCCM has been host to San Diego Folk Song Society, San Diego Bluegrass Society, San Diego’s Old Time Jam, the New Expression Mandolin Orchestra, San Diego Songwriters Meetup, and various other San Diego folk music groups.  In 2013, the retail portion of the business closed and MCCM became a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to serving those who may have no access to music education, community music making, or live music performance.

Today MCCM offers performance workshops, group and private lessons, weekly jam sessions, quarterly community concerts, online instruction and a robust teen program serving urban teens at half a dozen sites (see more about our teen programs below).  Events are offered 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.

Youth Programs
 
Since 2017, MCCM has been providing free year-round art and music workshops to teens in San Diego’s urban Mid-City neighborhoods.

Juvenile Court and Community Schools (JCCS)
In cooperation with the San Diego County Office of Education, MCCM offers daily art and music workshops to justice involved youth at two JCCS sites:
• Bayside Community School in Barrio Logan
• 37ECB Community School in City Heights

JCCS serves students who are either wards of the court or have been referred by social services, probation.  MCCM teaching artists provide in-school and after-school workshops in a variety of artistic disciplines including: 

• Guitar 
• Ukulele
• Bass Guitar
• Drums and Percussion
• Live DJing and Music Production
• Drawing and Painting
• Poetry and Creative Writing
• Movement and Dance
• Jewelry Making

After-School Workshops
With the support of the California Arts Council and the Parker Foundation, MCCM also offers after-school workshops for all teens in San Diego’s City Heights neighborhoods. Known as the “Ellis Island of San Diego” due to its high refugee populations, City Heights is a dense urban community of 102,000 people living within 6.5 square miles of each other. The average household income here is half that of the rest of San Diego, while the unemployment rate is double.  

Teaching artists meet with students at the City Heights YMCA and local coffeehouses to provide workshops in drawing, DJing, ukulele, and jewelry making.

Teen Performance Workshops
MCCM provides free year-round performance workshops for local teens.  Instruction is provided for students on a variety of instruments including guitar, electric bass, drums, voice, and keyboards to play together in a band. Students rehearse pieces to perform at MCCM’s quarterly community concerts. 

Youth Scholarships
In addition to group workshops, MCCM also provides one-on-one instruction MCCM teaching artists focused on developing social and musical skills for qualifying teens. Students are encouraged to prepare a piece for performance each quarter.
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Board of Directors
Mark Hill, President
Serving Since 2014
 
Catherine Clark, Board Secretary
Serving Since 2018
 
Bryan Willson, Board Treasurer
Serving Since 2018
 
Frank X. Nageotte, Attorney at Law
 Serving Since 2019

Drew Decker, Executive Director
Serving Since 2014
 
 
 
 
 
Advisory Board
Jessica Baron, MA
Guitars in the
Classroom
 
Judith Coker, J.D.
 
Fiona Chatwin, DMA
Villa Musica
 
Laurie J. Hall, LCSW
 
Jim Hornsby
Cultural Circle Poetry
Workshops
 
Howard Pratt, PhD
SAIC