Community and Belonging at SFCM
YOUR VOICE MATTERS. SFCM LISTENS.
SFCM is committed to raising all voices in everything that we do by bringing experiences from different genders, sexual orientations, and races into the Conservatory, creating a comprehensive community where every musician can thrive. Our curriculum and performances allow for unique and new perspectives from all walks of life.
We also foster new alliances with outside organizations that multiply opportunities for students, support job placement, engage current and prospective students, and facilitate faculty and staff learning and recruitment.
On campus SFCM fosters a place for all people to gather, from our Game Audio Club, Black Student Union, Korean Club, Running Club, Basketball Club, Latinx Club, to our Pride Network. Student groups provide safe spaces for musicians of all kinds to share their experiences and make music, and membership is open to everyone. In addition, every year SFCM presents “The Future is Female: A Concert of Music by Women” organized by and featuring the women and gender non-conforming people of SFCM.
SFCM’s work extends beyond the classroom. Bridge to Arts & Music (BAM) provides tuition-free instrumental instruction, musical instruments, academic support, and community for underserved students. Built on a foundation of partnership and hosted at a network of sites throughout San Francisco, BAM delivers an immersive afterschool music program designed to meet the unique needs of its community and offer music training to young people who would not otherwise have access to it.
In addition, in a partnership with the San Francisco Ballet, the Denis de Coteau Fellowship is for violinists, violists, cellists, and/or double bassists in SFCM's Professional Studies Certificate. It provides each fellow with tuition, housing, and a stipend. This fellowship is named in honor of Maestro de Coteau, longtime music director at the Ballet and faculty member at the Conservatory.
More information is below. Please share experiences you’d like to discuss in this form and we will use this information to make SFCM a better place.
My goal is to make SFCM—the school we love—a place where diverse voices are heard, represented, and embraced.”
Jason Hainsworth
Associate Dean of Community Development
Emerging Black Composers Project
The Emerging Black Composers Project is a partnership with the San Francisco Symphony to spotlight early-career Black American composers and their music. It was launched in 2020 with the first-place commission given in June of 2021 to Trevor Weston.
Winners receive a world premiere of their work at the San Francisco Symphony, workshop and mentorship opportunities at SFCM, and a $15,000 award.
All applications are reviewed through an anonymous process by a committee chaired by Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, resident conductor of engagement and education at the San Francisco Symphony.
2021 Convocation Discussion on Diversity
SFCM President David Stull discusses the role of music in inclusion in the community, SFCM also welcomed guest speaker Charles Chip Mc Neal -- a diversity specialist, civic leader and activist who focuses on arts educational equity, social justice, and cultural competency -- to speak at the convocation.
