MusicianCorps Magazine
As School Evolves, Music Remains Constant
The campus at Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8 in San Francisco's Mission District has seen a lot of change over the past few years. But the school's commitment to music has remained steadfast. Read more
New "Samba Sessions" are bringing community and percussive beats to East Los Angeles this summer. Read more
The Link Between Arts and Innovation
MusicianCorps' Kiff Gallagher writes op-ed in Politico, "The arts are directly connected to the long-term strength of America's economy." Read more
Takin' it to the Streets in East LA
MusicianCorps is bringing together neighbors young and old in Boyle Heights, on the east side of Los Angeles. Read more
Holiday Videogram from MusicianCorps LA
Community members of Boyle Heights in east Los Angeles performed and recorded a version of John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" to celebrate the holiday season... Read more
MusicianCorps Founder Gives TEDx Talk
In his recent TEDx Talk, MusicianCorps CEO Kiff Gallagher spoke about the role of music in his life and why he founded MusicianCorps. Drawing lessons from his own story, and the stories of others, Kiff explains how music is helping people tap their emotions, pursue their passions and meet critical needs in their communities. Watch
Pass It On: The Making of Young Musicians in Oakland
"I still remember vividly what it was like to not be accomplished on an instrument and how that can easily lead to frustration,” says MusicianCorps Artist David Meletiche. Having started playing the guitar when he was 8—he’s 36 now—Meletiche is long past... Read more
Volunteer Musicians Brings Joy to Hospitalized Patients
By the third song–Blue Moon–Chip has the audience hooked. Some are singing along, others tapping their feet, and at least one conducting the music with an arm raised in the air. By the end, a woman exclaims (for the third or fourth time), “We love you! Come back soon!" Read more
MusicianCorps Wins Grant to Support Expansion to Los Angeles
MusicianCorps was recently awarded a $130,000 grant from the James Irvine Foundation to support its expansion to Los Angeles. MusicianCorps will engage low-income residents and other community members... Read more
Serving and Healing Veterans -- Through Music
At her new post at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, MusicianCorps Fellow Jen Hastings is hearing a lot of surprised reactions from her patients. “The other day I did a gait training with a Parkinson’s patient, having him walk to the beat of the metronome... Read more
Building Partnerships, Creating Outcomes
MusicianCorps has developed and deepened relationships with the Bay Area communities we serve. Working with school teachers and administrators, local residents, and elected officials, we have learned... Read more
All Together: Multi-Generational Band and Music Festival
Over the course of 8 weeks in March and April, seven MusicianCorps students teamed up with three local volunteer musicians to form a multi-generational band as part of a project called All Together... Read more
PBS NewsHour Features MusicianCorps
On February 27, 2012, PBS NewsHour ran a segment called "The Healing Power of Music," on the growing consensus of music therapy's efficacy. The segment features MusicianCorps' work at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital in San Francisco... Read more
Community Provides Key Ingredient for MusicianCorps Success
It’s only through the help of dedicated parents, professionals, and other community members that MNS is able to be successful. One dedicated community member is Sally Magnuson, a parent volunteer... Read more
MLK Day of Song and Service at Local High School
Thank you to everyone who made our MLK Day of Song & Service a great success. Over 200 volunteers, including local residents, students, teachers, parents, and 50 Google employees showed what can happen when people come together to serve... Read more
When most people think of what a musician's life is like, what comes to mind is probably different than the life that Kate Fiano is leading. Fiano, an educator by day and a songwriter/performer by night, is living the life of a different type of musician... Read more
Transcending Generations through Music
MusicianCorps was a featured presenter at Encore 2011, the annual national conference promoting the value of service among older adults with skills to contribute to their communities. The conference brought together 200 of the nation's leading... Read more
Bay Area Supporters Come Together
Over 150 MNS supporters from the Bay Area business and charitable community came together on December 8th to raise $30,000 for the organization. Hosted at the home of Alexandra and Spencer Wells, the first ever MusicianCorps “Friend Raiser” was a great... Read more
Bringing Music Therapy to Bay Area Veterans
MusicianCorps is proud to announce a new partnership with the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center (SFVAMC ) to bring a MusicianCorps Fellow to the VA's Community Living Center, serving veterans with ongoing music therapy interventions... Read more
Kevin's Story: Music is his Motivation
For MusicianCorps student Kevin Paniagua, music provides motivation to succeed in school. “MusicianCorps is the reason I want to keep coming back to school,” Kevin said. “I need music. It makes me feel a lot better about myself. It makes me feel like I have something to do.” ... Read More
City of Austin Partners with MusicianCorps
The Center for Music National Service (MNS) is very proud to announce a partnership with the City of Austin to bring MusicianCorps to Austin, Texas in Fall 2012. By a 7-0 vote, Austin's city council approved a planning grant to welcome MusicianCorps to the "Live Music Capital of the World,"... Read More
MusicianCorps Makes Commitment to Expand at CGI America
Making a commitment to expand MusicianCorps to 3-5 cities by Fall 2012, the Center for Music National Service took a bold step forward as a participant at the recent CGI America meeting. MusicianCorps, MNS's flagship program, has served over 5,400 youth in just over two years of programming at public... Read more
MNS Urges Congress to Fully Fund CNCS
As part of the national campaign to Save Service in America, the Center for Music National Service is urging federal representatives in Washington D.C. to support full funding for the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency that oversees... Read more
MNS AmeriCorps*VISTA Life - Active Artists in the Community
Since day one at the Center for Music National Service (MNS), AmeriCorps*VISTAs have been integral to the growth of the organization. From grant-writing to web design, each VISTA brings a unique set of skills to the table, and they are drawn together by their... Read more
MusicianCorps Summer Band Camp - 2011
The first MusicianCorps Band Camp students recently finished their summer sessions at the Center for Music National Service (MNS). Instructed by MusicianCorps Fellow Hernando Buitrago, known as "Mr. H", students from San Francisco’s Horace Mann Middle... Read more
MusicianCorps Spring Performa-Palooza - 2011
MusicianCorps celebrates the end of its 2010-2011 program year with an abundance of service events and student performances around the San Francisco Bay Area! This past year was filled with many great experiences ranging from MLK Day, our first major... Read more
Little Rock Embraces the Music National Service Movement
This past Friday, April 29th, Kiff Gallagher, the CEO and Founder of The Center for Music National Service came to Little Rock, Arkansas to spread his passion and vision for music as national service. It was my great pleasure to introduce him to the Little Rock... Read more
From Classroom to Community - Music Service Learning
Service learning is at the core of the MusicianCorps curriculum. Service learning is a highly effective approach to engaging students in their own education by applying new skills and ideas outside the classroom and in service to their community... Read more
MNS Moves to the Mission!The Center for Music National Service (MNS) has a new location in the heart of San Francisco’s historic Mission District! We are excited to plant our roots in a cultural center of San Francisco that has played a big role in MNS’s history... Read more
Bay Area MLK Day of ServiceMusic National Service, in partnership with Oakland School for the Arts, invites you to join us in a celebration of music, service, and community in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Musicians and non-musicians, students and parents, and community members of... Read more
MusicianCorps Students’ Holiday Performa-Palooza
MNS Staff and MusicianCorps Fellows (MC Fellows) have been celebrating the holiday season with student performances and Music Service Days throughout the Bay Area, including three separate performances throughout the day on December 3rd... Read more
MNS Awarded AmeriCorps Grant to Plan for MusicianCorps National Expansion
The Center for Music National Service (MNS) is excited to announce its expanded partnership with the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) through a recently awarded AmeriCorps Planning Grant. The award will be used to plan for national... Read more
MusicianCorps and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Bring a Day of Music to Young Patients
On October 1st, MNS and the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital’s co-hosted a “Music Day,” an event to bring together the hospital community through music. MC Fellows, visiting musicians, hospital staff, patients and their families spent the afternoon performing, playing... Read more
MusicianCorps and Its Founder Honored by GQ's Gentlemen's Fund
Selected among nearly 1000 nominations, MNS/ MusicianCorps CEO & Founder Kiff Gallagher was named a finalist for the GQ Magazine Gentlemen’s Fund “Better Man, Better World Search”. The finalists are recognized for “striving every day for the betterment... Read more
MusicianCorps National Pilot Impact Data Coming Soon!
This fall MNS has been busy reviewing data from the MusicianCorps National Pilot and is currently developing a a full report of findings from a successful year of service. In consultation with experts Cynthia Gibson, Ph.D., Jonathan Zaff, Ph.D., and Corey Newhouse... Read more
Join the Civic Music Movement!
Members of ServiceArtist.net share a passion for music's unique power to reach, teach and heal. This free, online network is a great place to share resources and stories, support each other and work to spread music in schools, hospitals and public spaces... Read more
Slide Ranch Community Engagment
On Saturday April 24th, 2010, I attended Slide Ranch’s annual Spring Fling event, and was accompanied by three of the five Bay Area MusicianCorps Fellows, the Bay Area Program Director, the Bay Area Executive and Program Manager, the Bay Area... Read more
