Agency Details:

Oakland Public Conservatory Of Music

The Oakland Public Conservatory of Music (OPCM) is a program of Music Is eXtraordinary (MIX), a 501(c)(3) based in Oakland, California. OPCM opens the world of music to all through access to quality music instruction and performances in a nurturing environment. OPCM provides affordable training in a variety of musical arts. OPCM values rigor, innovation and scholarship in its quest to preserve the musical traditions of Oakland.

Description:
OPCM currently offers classes for youth and adults in its downtown Oakland studios. Music clinics, master classes and performances have included world-renowned Count Basie Orchestra, two-time Grammy winner and NEA Jazz Master Slide Hampton, Sam Burtis and Sonny Bravo (of the famed Tito Puente Latin Jazz Ensemble), trombonist Steve Turre, legendary Brazilian percussionist Airto Moreira, Zimbabwean master Ronnie Daliyo, former Harry Belafonte vocalist Branice McKenzie, and many other professional musicians that live in the Bay Area. Over 2,500 Oakland residents came through the doors of our school to attend weekly lessons, summer arts camps, master classes, performances, and community panels.

OPCM has been featured in several local publications, touting the success of the organizations programs and initiatives. OPCM and Director Angela Wellman were featured in articles in the Oakland Tribune and Oakland Magazine. Reviews of OPCM’s concerts and programs such as “The Music She Wrote” concert have been featured in the Oakland Tribune. In addition the organization was recognized at the West Coast Blues Hall of Fame Awards as the “Best Non-Profit of the Year.”

History:
Music Is eXtraordinary (MIX) has provided music education programs and professional development for teaching artists in Oakland for 7.5 years. MIX was established in 2001 and has since served over 800 students and their families in public schools in Oakland. With the mission to provide quality music education programs for people in urban environments, MIX partnered with schools to design music education programs that reflected each school’s cultural richness. Recognizing the diminishing opportunities Oakland citizens have to study music, MIX founder, Angela Wellman, sought to up the ante by becoming incorporated and received tax-exempt status in 2004 and has been doing business as the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music (OPCM) ever since. Now in its fifth year as a community music center, OPCM offers private and group instruction in vocal and instrumental music, concerts, summer youth programs, and other music-related activities and events for the citizens of Oakland-from early childhood to seniors. The work of MIX is to develop a community music education teaching and learning environment that creates avenues to music education for the under-served populations of Oakland and engenders equality and community building through music.

Presently, OPCM is the only public conservatory in the country. OPCM brings the rigor, intensity and high quality music education of a traditional conservatory with a curriculum grounded in the myriad musical cultures of the people of Oakland. OPCM’s goals are to: provide the underserved with access to professional musicians and music learning in a beautiful facility; illuminate the musical cultures of Oakland; and create a safe place where authenticity and diversity can thrive.

Contact people:

Sandra Noriega, Co-Director, (phone), (email) Zigi Lowenberg, Administrative Assistant, (phone), (email)

Address:

1616 Franklin Street Oakland, CA 94612 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.opcmusic.org

Directions:

Nearest Metro/Subway Stop: BART 19th Street ,   Walk distance (in minutes): 3 min.   Nearest Bus Stop: multiple AC transit lines, 3 min. minute walk

Last updated on September 5, 2009