Thank you to everyone who submitted their beautiful artwork! We loved seeing how much our students love music. Judges: Dana Zimbric, C4K Artistic Director Marc Duggan, C4K Advisory Board This Art Contest honors Marc Duggan, who served on the Classics 4 Kids Board of Directors for 10 years. He continues to support Classics 4 Kids as an Advisory Board Member. He is passionate about both the visual and performing arts, and we honor his longstanding patronage of the arts!

STEAM week runs from April 24th to May 2nd in San Diego, and the week is meant to increase opportunities for students to interact with Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math. Classics 4 Kids is joining the STEAM week celebrations through our focus on the flute from David Savage, one of C4K’s music instructors. This FREE video is designed for students in grades 3-6.   David has musical experience of over 40 years and loves to share the science behind instruments. In his video, David explains the mechanisms of the flute and plays a variety of pieces, which include Syrinx by [...]

Professional Opera 4 Kids Vocalists Victoria Roberston & Bernardo Bermudez offer FREE themed Virtual Meet & Greets this April-May. Limited Availability for Title 1 Schools ONLY This program features: An interactive, educational opera performance via your preferred virtual platform Q&A session with the Special Guest Artist Social-Emotional Learning concepts Diverse music selections Each 25-minute program is tailored to the grade level of the students in attendance. Our virtual format works well in your hybrid classroom... just project your Zoom onto the wall to enjoy a virtual guest speaker! REGISTER

Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is one of the most recognizable pieces of music in human history. The music was composed from 1720 to 1723 and consists of four violin concerti, which all contain three movements following the order of fast-slow-fast. Each of the concerti (Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter) are distinct in their representations of the seasons and perfectly illustrate the Baroque period in which it was composed. In fact, many music experts consider Four Seasons to be one of the most daring compositions of the era, and point to this boldness as one of the many reasons why the composition [...]

Classics 4 Kids (C4K) and Advocates For Classical Music (AFCM) began their relationship in 2005 when the Education Vice President, Aveline von Ehrenberg, was approached by C4K for docents. Ever since this interaction, the partnership has blossomed into years of rewarding work and strong, mutual support.  AFCM is led by President Ron Bierman, and they strive to encourage young musicians and “build future audiences for classical music in San Diego through support of music education and appreciation.” The group was founded in 1996 and has remained very passionate about exposing classical music to younger generations who otherwise may not have known [...]

A reflection on the sweet surprise that cemented a lifetime of music between an old instrument and an orchestra-less conductor. By Dana Zimbric Piano saved my life. Well, one specific piano saved my life… her name is Hershey. First, her backstory: Hershey was born in Holland, Michigan around 1926, created by piano maker Bush & Lane. She is a grand piano made of beautiful wood, and has been rebuilt at least once since her birth. She came into my life in 1990, when I was a twelve-year-old aspiring musician. My parents purchased her from The Piano Shop in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The lifesaving began [...]

In a 2016 report conducted by the League of American Orchestras, it was found fewer than 2% of musicians in American orchestras are black. This lack of representation has been prevalent in the classical music realm for a long time, however, black classical musicians are finally beginning to find a voice in their community.   One such example is Bartholomew Poyser, a community ambassador and artist-in-residence at Canada’s famed Symphony Nova Scotia, who held a concert with the Maritime Bhangra Group to illustrate the diverse styles of classical music. The concert was a huge success that lended Poyser more power and [...]

Dr. Indre Viskontas, a trained operatic soprano turned director, neuroscientist, and communicator who is on faculty at SFCM and is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of San Francisco recently issued a report which highlights some critical findings. Her research demonstrated that music education keeps students involved in school and provides that key sense of belonging, which, in turn, can help break poverty cycles while improving GPAs and graduation rates. Click HERE to read the full article.

California Music Educators Association – 2021 Music Industry Leadership Award San Diego, CA - The California Music Educators Association is honoring San Diego nonprofit Classics 4 Kids with their 2021 Music Industry Leadership Award. The award honors an organization or individual for outstanding leadership in music education, which Classics 4 Kids has illustrated numerous times in its almost 30-year history. Other notable winners of the award include the Disney Performing Arts in 2016 and Macmillan/ McGraw Hill Language Arts in 2007. The California Music Educators Association is a federated unit of the National Association for Music Education that seeks to support [...]