Oakland Public Conservatory of Music

Oakland Public Conservatory of Music "Preservation Through Music Education"

After the show.. it’s the after party! Join us for the after-party at 10pm, where OPC will host a Meet and Greet Jam Ses...
02/03/2025

After the show.. it’s the after party! Join us for the after-party at 10pm, where OPC will host a Meet and Greet Jam Session with Ruckus and Friends as the house band. Bring your instrument and jam with the legends themselves! 🎉🎵
Get ready for an unforgettable night of jazz on Feb 7th! 🎷🎺🎶 The legendary Steve Turre & Jon Faddis Quintet, featuring the incredible Roy McCurdy, will grace the stage at Piedmont Piano Co. for TWO SHOWS - 5:30pm and 8pm. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see these jazz masters live in action! 🌟

All proceeds from the event will support OPC’s “Brick by Brick, Note by Note” campaign to build a new state-of-the-art facility in Old Oakland, furthering our mission to provide accessible and diverse music education. 🎹🏫

Tickets are available for both shows and the after-party, so grab yours now and get ready to catch the vibe with Steve Turre, Jon Faddis, Roy McCurdy, and Ruckus and Friends! Check the link in our bio for tickets 🎟️

See you on Feb 7th at Piedmont Piano Co. for an unforgettable night of jazz and community! 🌃

HYBRID workshop offerings from The Black Banjo & Fiddle Fellowship start on Monday!Beginning Monday, February 3rd, BBFF ...
01/31/2025

HYBRID workshop offerings from The Black Banjo & Fiddle Fellowship start on Monday!

Beginning Monday, February 3rd, BBFF banjo fellow Patrice Strahan is teaching a new workshop “Black to the Roots: Banjo & Community Singing” both live at the and on Zoom!

This 8-week session will happen Mondays from 6:30 to 8:00 pm PST.

Attendees will engage in the living culture of Black folk music by learning clawhammer-style banjo playing, songs and stories of Black folk musicians through the centuries to the present, and the history of the banjo and its to and impact. Banjo rentals are available for local enrollees.

BBFF fiddle fellow Darcy Ford-James will be teaching “Tunes and Techniques of Black Fiddle Players,” a series of hybrid workshops, beginning February 16th.

In each standalone workshop, students will learn about the history of the fiddle as part of Black music history, and will cover one traditional fiddle tune. The workshops are open to all levels, including beginners. Students can join at any point in the workshop series.

Check comments to enroll!

Questions? Email [email protected]

01/30/2025

Attribution reads "Chamber Orchestra, January 16, 1865 (from the Jackie Napolean Wilson Collection)"
This quarter-plate tintype has three dated stamps on it reflecting payment of a tax that helped finance the Union side of the Civil War. This band is playing a five-string banjo, two violins, and a classical guitar.
These are probably traveling musicians who would perform for audiences in private homes and theatres. African American composers may have been rare during the antebellum period in the U.S., but Francis Johnson (1792-1844) was quite successful under the circumstances.
Born in Martinique, Johnson emigrated to Philadelphia around 1809. He played the Kent bugle and the violin, and wrote more than two hundred compositions of various styles, including opera music, patriotic marches, ballads, cotillions, quadrilles, and quicksteps. Johnson was one of the first African American composers to have his works published as sheet music.
He was also the first African American to give public concerts and the first to participate in racially integrated concerts in the United States. He led the first American musical ensemble to present concerts abroad and introduced the promenade concert style to America.

(Source: Hidden Witness: African American Images from the Dawn of Photography to the Civil War, Jackie Napolean Wilson, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1999; and the University of Pennsylvania Department of Special Collections)

01/27/2025

Happy Black & Fiddle Music Monday! Today we are highlighting Earl White, renowned fiddler and part of the inaugural faculty of the Black Banjo & Fiddle Fellowship.Earl is based in Floyd, Virginia and has been active in the traditional music scene for nearly 50 years. He is a founding member of the Green Grass Cloggers, which led him to picking up the fiddle. Starting out teaching clogging and folk festivals and camps, he began getting hire to teach fiddle. Of his work Earl says, “My goal in playing and getting the exposure with not so much for myself, but giving more people an opportunity to see that even black people do this music and educating them to the fact that it’s something black people have been doing for a long time.”To that end, he also gives presentations about Black Americans in old time music, combatting the historical and modern day erasure of Black people in the traditions.He currently leads the Earl White Stringband; you can hear the band in today’s featured song the old chestnut ,”Cumberland Gap,” performed live at the 2024 Minnesota Bluegrass August Festival.Check comments to see the video of this performance, and find an interview with Earl White on NPR/WMRA Public Radio’s “Folklife Fieldnotes.”

Starting Monday, February 3rd, BBFF banjo fellow Patrice Strahan is teaching a new Zoom workshop “Black to the Roots: Ba...
01/23/2025

Starting Monday, February 3rd, BBFF banjo fellow Patrice Strahan is teaching a new Zoom workshop “Black to the Roots: Banjo & Community Singing!”

These sessions will happen on Mondays from 6:30 to 8:00 pm PST.

Focusing on banjo technique and history, attendees will engage in the living culture of Black folk music making and sharing by:

Learning and practicing clawhammer-style banjo playing

Building familiarity with the songs and stories of Black folk musicians through the centuries to the present

Discussing the history of the instrument and contextualizing it’s relationship to and impact on culture

To register head to opcmusic.org!

Banjo rentals are available for local enrollees.

Due to the overwhelming response by folks wanting to attend this epic concert, a new show has been added! Buy tickets no...
01/20/2025

Due to the overwhelming response by folks wanting to attend this epic concert, a new show has been added! Buy tickets now.
piedmontpiano.com/calendar/2025/2/7/steve-turre-jon-faddis-roy-mccurdy

NEW SHOW ADDED.  8 pm Link in bio. Don’t wait. This one is sure to sell out, too.
01/20/2025

NEW SHOW ADDED. 8 pm Link in bio. Don’t wait. This one is sure to sell out, too.

Don’t miss this rare evening with three legendary jazz masters:   and  for an exclusive appearance in the Bay Area, The ...
01/16/2025

Don’t miss this rare evening with three legendary jazz masters: and for an exclusive appearance in the Bay Area, The event marks the inaugural performance of OPC’s “Catch the Vibe Concert Series,” raising funds for the “Brick by Brick, Note by Note” campaign to construct a new state-of-the-art facility in Old Oakland. Tix link in bio.

Get ready for an extraordinary night of jazz! The inaugural performance of the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music’s “C...
01/16/2025

Get ready for an extraordinary night of jazz! The inaugural performance of the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music’s “Catch the Vibe Concert Series” is just around the corner, and it’s going to be a truly unforgettable experience! 🎶

🌟 Three JAZZ GIANTS – Steve Turre on trombone & shells, Jon Faddis on trumpet, and Roy McCurdy on drums – are joining forces for an exclusive Bay Area appearance. With their incredible talent and experience, this is a performance you won’t want to miss! 🎵

🎟️ Tickets are available now at https://piedmontpiano.com/calendar/2025/2/7/steve-turre-jon-faddis-roy-mccurdy, and we expect them to sell out fast! Seating is limited, so make sure to grab yours before they’re gone. If the show sells out, we’ll add a second performance, but act quickly because that one is sure to fill up as well! 🔥

🎶 This amazing event not only brings together three legendary jazz artists but also supports the “Brick by Brick, Note by Note” campaign to build a brand-new, state-of-the-art facility for the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music in Old Oakland. 🌇

📅 Mark your calendars for February 7th at the Piedmont Piano Co, and get ready for an unforgettable night of jazz! 🎉

5:30pm Showtime

Don’t miss this rare evening with three legendary jazz masters: Steve Turre on trombone and shells, Jon Faddis on trumpe...
01/15/2025

Don’t miss this rare evening with three legendary jazz masters: Steve Turre on trombone and shells, Jon Faddis on trumpet, and drummer Roy McCurdy. These celebrated jazz musicians come together for an exclusive appearance in the Bay Area, providing a unique chance for jazz enthusiasts and historians to witness the collaboration of these iconic artists. The event marks the inaugural performance of OPC’s "Catch the Vibe Concert Series," which aims to raise funds for the “Brick by Brick, Note by Note” campaign to construct a new state-of-the-art facility in Old Oakland.

Tix and more info here. https://piedmontpiano.com/calendar/2025/2/7/steve-turre-jon-faddis-roy-mccurdy

01/13/2025

I lost my house in the Baldwin Hills fire in 1985 and still can't describe the feeling over losing everything in the blink of an eye. My heart goes out to all impacted. Music Cares is a wonderful organization always there to help.

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492 9th Street, Suite 906B
Oakland, CA
94607

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Monday 10am - 6pm
Tuesday 10am - 6pm
Wednesday 10am - 6pm
Thursday 10am - 6pm
Saturday 10am - 2pm

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(510) 836-4649

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