Blue Bear School of Music: Rock, Pop, Folk, Blues, Jazz; San Francisco, California; since 1971

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Acoustic Guitar     Electric Guitar      Voice     Piano/Keys      Bass      Drums      Sax/Clarinet      Mandolin/Fiddle

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Feed the Bear
Fundraising Campaign

Thank you for helping us
meet and exceed our
winter fundraising goals!

Support Blue Bear throughout the year


Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.
  ~ Confucius

Yeah, yeah, yeah!  ~ The Beatles


Please Feed the Bear!

Dear Friend of the Bear:

At Blue Bear School of Music, these words of Confucius and the Fab Four ring so true:

  • From the giggly pre-schoolers drumming on everything in sight in our Little Bears program;
  • To the thirteen-year-old whose violin class has morphed into Electric Guitar Ensemble and who suddenly "likes school";
  • To the once-shy teenager taking his first onstage bass solo;
  • To the pharmacist by day, rocker by night, grooving on her Richie Sambora strat with a Line 6 Spider II amp;
  • Oh yeah, to all those baby boomers coming together as a garage band for the first time, and sounding really, REALLY good!

At Blue Bear, we get it: this is just the kind of pleasure that we cannot do without, and it's what we have been offering aspiring musicians of all ages and skill levels in the Bay Area for 36 wonderful years. We are the primary destination for people in our community who want to enjoy learning and playing Rock, Popular, Folk, Blues, or Jazz music. Blue Bear School of Music is a place where learning and playing popular music is fun and affordable, where people come together who love music, and where each student's unique talents and goals are recognized and supported.

It is great and rewarding work, what we do at Blue Bear, but it takes a lot of people and time and effort to do it, and that is why we're writing to you today: to ask you to help "Feed the Bear" with your tax-deductible contribution.

We figure you're like most people we know: you love music, you've been there, you know what it's like to pick up an instrument for the first time (or after years of something else getting in the way), or write a tune that sounds pretty good, or just to lift your head and sing. Blue Bear's quality music education programming has, since our founding as a non-profit community music school in 1971, helped more than 25,000 students achieve their artistic, personal, and professional goals for voice, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, bass, drums, horns, songwriting, bands, and ensembles. Even more: they have gained confidence and the pride of accomplishment – and had major fun doing it!

Blue Bear currently has 1,700 members enrolled in small group classes and private or semi-private lessons each year, learning to play everything from rock to jazz to bluegrass and beyond. And to ensure that this educational experience is accessible to people from across the economic spectrum, we provide scholarships by audition for talented young musicians and "sliding scale" pricing to all those with financial need.

Beyond our studios (at Fort Mason Center and South of Market), we're also working with public school kids seeking to discover their inner rocker. The STAR Program – Schools That Aspire to Rock – provides more than 100 students at James Lick Middle School with lessons, practice sessions, performance opportunities, access to professional musicians, and more. This year we're expanding the STAR program to serve students at Rooftop Alternative School – all part of Blue Bear's commitment to revitalize music education in San Francisco public schools.

This is Blue Bear: motivating people, young and old, to make music a part of their lives, inspiring them to live their dreams. We are absolutely dedicated to reaching out to our community and to making this unique brand of music education affordable for anyone who is motivated to play or sing or craft a song.

But this means that only 80% of the cost of our programming is covered by tuition and other earnings. The rest has to come from contributions, and well, that's where you come in: we simply can't do what we do, spreading the joy of music-making in our community, without your support.

Your tax-deductible gift of $100, $50, or whatever you can afford, to the "Feed the Bear" Campaign will enable Blue Bear to continue its long tradition of quality music education and affordability for all.

Please click here to donate, and be as generous as you can possibly be.

Donate

From all of us for whom music is "just the kind of pleasure that we cannot do without," thank you, thank you, in advance, for Feeding the Bear! You rock!

Sincerely,

Kevin Marlatt Signature

Dennis Criteser Signature

Kevin Marlatt
Executive Director

Dennis Criteser
Program Director

P.S. While we're quoting great sages, here's one from a Blue Bear student who picked up the guitar after a life-threatening experience caused her to re-examine her priorities, big-time: "Life is too short to let those dreams pass you by." We couldn't agree more. You can help us help people throughout our community fulfill their dreams of making music just by making your tax-deductible contribution to our Feed the Bear cCampaign. Confucius also says, "He who gives best, gives soon" (or something like that), so stop what you're doing and send your donation today! Thanks again for your support!

P.S.S. Giving is contagious so please forward this link, http://www.bluebearmusic.org/feedthebear, to your family, friends and colleagues and encourage them to "Feed the Bear" too.


© Blue Bear School of Music   A Nonprofit Corporation   Email Us   415.673.3600