Oakland Public Conservatory of Music

11/14/2024

🎤 **Love to Sing? Join Our After School Jazz Vocal Program!** 🎤

Ever dreamed of singing with a live band? Here’s your chance!

Join our After School Jazz Vocal Program led by , who has shared the stage with stars like Usher, Stevie Wonder, Robert Glasper, and Esperanza Spalding!

🌟 **Program Highlights** 🌟

- Learn vocal techniques from an experienced professional
- Develop your confidence and stage presence
- Perform with a live band and make new friends

📌 **No prior experience needed!**

Sign up today and unleash your inner jazz star! 💫

**Go to OPCMUSIC.ORG for more details**

Spaces are limited, so reserve your spot now!

10/24/2024

Mark your calendars for November 2nd! 🗓️ Join us in celebrating Oakland’s very own Amina Scott and her debut album, “Where the Wild Seed Grows,” at the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music (OPC) 🎉🎶 Experience an unforgettable evening of jazz and a whole lot of heart as Amina takes the stage.

Doors open at 6:30 PM for General Admission, and the show starts at 8 PM sharp. Tickets are selling fast, so don’t miss out on this incredible experience.

Meet the band:
* Amina Scott - bass ()
* Oscar Rossignoli - piano (.rossignoli)
* Stephen Lands - trumpet ()
* Peter Varnado - drums ()

Secure your spot now, and let’s give Amina, OPC’s alumni, a warm Oakland welcome as she shares her musical journey with us all on November 2nd. See you there!

📍470 9th Street, Oakland, CA 94607 📍
Secure parking available!
Entry on 10th St between Broadway and Washington

nd to tell a friend!

10/23/2024

When I created the Carolina Chocolate Drops with Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson it happened after the Black Banjo Gathering in Boone, NC in 2005. I met Rhiannon for the first time at the gathering and then met Justin when I moved to North Carolina later that fall. The original group was never a concept at the black banjo gathering because we didn’t know each other before we arrived and we came from different musical backgrounds. I was invited to the black banjo gathering by my friend Sule Greg Wilson, American Griot and while there I met scholars from every part of the banjo’s story who were coming together to share ideas and start a new conversation on Black, African and Caribbean roots of this highly prized instrument. Inspired by meeting Joe Thompson, Mike Seeger, Bela Fleck, Tony Trischka, Algia Mae Hinton, Don Vappie, Cheick Hamala Diabate, Daniel Jatta and a host of others, I came back to Phoenix with the notion to relocate to North Carolina and follow the music which was pulling at my heart strings.

Once I moved to NC, I started to go to Joe Thompson’s house on Thursday nights with Rhiannon and Justin where we would sit for a few hours sharing stories and playing music. A few months into playing with Joe we began to do our own jam sessions on the side and then started to work on our own material. Before I left Phoenix, Sule had given me a VHS copy of the movie Louie Bluie, a documentary about the Black fiddler/mandolinist Howard Armstrong and I showed it to Rhiannon and Justin with the idea in mind that we could form our own version of “The Tennessee Chocolate Drops”. After seeing the film we talked about wanting to create that same level of excitement and the three of us decided to name our group The Carolina Chocolate Drops. The rest is history.

Now that 20 years have passed since the first moment that myself, Rhiannon, and Justin have performed together as the original Carolina Chocolate Drops there’s a lot to celebrate. We were able to accomplish many wonderful opportunities because of all the fans, promoters, the media, nonesuch, and our team throughout the years. We put out our first album “Dona Got a Ramblin Mind” on the Music Maker Foundation label and that was the catalyst to launch us further. I’m thankful to Tim Duffy at Music Maker who took a chance on us and helped get us started on our way in the early years. Thanks to Nonesuch Records and David Bither for releasing our GRAMMY winning album “Genuine Negro Jig” and our second album “Leaving Eden” which received a GRAMMY nomination. Through the many people we met around the world I am thankful and grateful for the opportunities we were given in our peak touring years.

Most importantly, the three of us created a legacy that has extended to a new generation and I saw from the beginning that when I shared the stage with Rhiannon and Justin it would change the world of music.

This is why I am looking forward to performing at the Carolina Chocolate Drops reunion at the Biscuits and Banjos Festival in Durham, NC in April 2025.

It’s been a long time and now there will be a chance to hear the three of us play music once again.

It’ll be great to see everyone there! More coming soon!

10/08/2024

Catch Valerie Troutt’s captivating performance LIVE at OPC, 7pm October 17th!

📍Oakland Public Conservatory of Music -
Community Space : 470 9th Street Oakland, Ca 📍

Tickets and Parking available.. check our bio for more details.

Come early for refreshments and live music, as well as groove to our Resident DJ.. keeping the vibes flowing. Don’t miss out on a night filled with soul, passion, and unforgettable music!

09/29/2024

Odetta Holmes, known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, lyricist, and civil rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals.
In a career of almost 60 years, Odetta sang at coffeehouses and at Carnegie Hall. She became one of the best-known folk-music artists of the 1950s and ’60s. Her recordings of blues and ballads on dozens of albums influenced Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Janis Joplin and many others.
She found her own voice by listening to blues, jazz and folk music from the African-American and Anglo-American traditions. She earned a music degree from Los Angeles City College. Her training in classical music and musical theater was “a nice exercise, but it had nothing to do with my life,” she said.
She moved to New York in 1953 and began singing in nightclubs like the storied Blue Angel, cutting a striking figure with her guitar and her close-cropped hair, her voice plunging deep and soaring high. Her songs blended the personal and the political, the theatrical and the spiritual. Her first solo album, “Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues,” released in 1956, resonated with an audience eager to hear old songs made new.

09/29/2024

https://theconversation.com/us-music-education-has-a-history-of-anti-blackness-that-is-finally-being-confronted-207796

The predominantly white European field of music education in the US is changing radically these days as schools confront anti-Black histories.

09/27/2024

Start your day with this beautiful spirit. Prince on music, the industry, music education, and much more.

09/27/2024

Next up at Live at OPC the amazing Valerie Troutt. Tix available at opcmusic.org.

09/16/2024

FREE BLACK BANJO BEGINNING WORKSHOP - SEP. 17TH

Are you interested in playing the banjo?

Join renowned educator, multi-instrumentalist, ethnomusicologist, and advocate for Black string band music, Joe Z. Johnson, for a fun, informative, and beginner-friendly banjo workshop. Discover the fascinating African and African American roots of the banjo, an instrument created by enslaved Africans and their descendants in the Caribbean and colonial North America.

Classes will be held at the OPC 9th St. Location in Old Oakland

To receive the exact location and register for the workshop, please sign up on our website or contact us directly. No Drop-Ins.