Composer John Calloway is collaborating with the Community Music Center to create “El Son de la Mision: A musical Narrative of the Mission District from the 1960s – Present,” a suite of musical works examining the history of the San Francisco neighborhood. The work will involve professional artists, students and partners of the Community Music Center; and other Mission District public school students, who will participate in the artistic development, open rehearsals, and final performances at Brava Theater.
Calloway also will work with lyricists Carlos Baron and Camilo Landau to explore social and cultural movements important to the Mission District. Their process includes interviewing Mission District artists who directly participated in local historical changes, and stories gathered from the artists’ research will serve as raw material for the lyrics and dramatic thread of the work.
Multi-instrumentalist John Calloway, a cornerstone of the Bay Area Latin jazz scene playing flute, piano, and percussion, has worked with many of the Bay Area’s jazz innovators, including more than three decades as collaborator and arranger for five-time Grammy nominee John Santos.
Community Music Center is a San Francisco nonprofit organization with the mission of making music accessible to all people, regardless of their financial status. Since its founding in 1921, the organization has been based in a building on Capp Street in the Mission District and operates satellite programs in other neighborhoods.