COMMUNITY MUSIC SCHOOL of SANTA CRUZ
We enrich the lives of students, teachers, professional musicians, and the community through music education, performance, and appreciation. We do this by:
hosting music workshops, concerts, summer camps, and ongoing ensembles for musicians age seven and up;
maintaining a free database of local music teachers;
placing donated musical instruments with people or organizations who need them;
offering music instrument “petting zoos” at community events;
and publishing a free monthly e-newsletter that lists upcoming concerts and music-related events around the Monterey Bay area.
Our focus is on young musicians: giving them opportunities to play together, improve their skills, and connect them to the wider community of people who care about music. We try to keep the cost of our programs as low as possible, and also offer scholarships to all of our youth programs, and discounts to college students attending our programs for adults. We’re able to do this because of the many generous people who donate money to our organization, for which we are forever grateful!
Teen Band
Alternate Wednesday evenings
Musicians ages 12-18 are welcome to participate in our Celtic teen band, which meets the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month on the westside of Santa Cruz.
Kid Camp
July 20-August 1, 2026
This two-week day camp for is for kids 7–13 who can already play an instrument. Kids learn to play Celtic music, practice in both small and large ensembles, sing, do crafts, and have fun!
Redwood Dulcimer Day
August 22, 2026
A day of beginning to advanced music workshops for players of both the mountain dulcimer and hammered dulcimer. It’s a low-pressure, low stress environment where everyone can relax and have fun playing and learning about the dulcimer and just making music.
