EDUCATION DEPARTMENT PURPOSE STATEMENT

The purpose of the Freight & Salvage Education Department is to deliver outstanding, hands-on programming which explores traditional music from around the world, celebrates the power of community music-making, and illuminates musical connections between people and cultures.

We are proud to celebrate the vibrancy of music and culture from diverse global traditions through a wide array of education programming for youth and adults.

During the toughest parts of the COVID-19 pandemic we were able to shift the bulk of our classes for adults to an online format, which allowed us to reach new students from around the world and work with instructors who are not exclusively Bay Area-based. Starting in Fall 2021 we are planning to offer both in-person and online classes, from classics like Ukulele and Banjo to newer offerings like French Café Songs and many more.

Our flagship youth arts integration program, PLAYING WITH TRADITION, illuminates the historical context, cultural roots, and expressive power of varying musical traditions and gives students a chance to jumpstart their creativity and make connections between contemporary music and historical music traditions. Our partnerships with Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) and local private schools continue to grow, with multiple large-scale symposiums planned for BUSD in 2022. The 2021-2022 school year will also include the soft launch/pilot program of our new arts integration program Golden State of Song, which enhances 4th grade California history curriculum with music from a multiplicity of Californian communities and traditions.

In addition to our evening classes and PLAYING WITH TRADITION, more recent offerings like the Freight Singers Community Chorus are still growing every year, and our long-running jams (Bluegrass/Country, Swing, Blues, and Old Time) continue to be an important part of the Bay Area’s vibrant roots music scenes.

In 2019 we added a Pre-Show Conversation Series featuring exclusive and insightful interviews with headlining artists on our stage and in 2020 we piloted an online lecture series with prominent music-centered authors, historians and musicians. As a whole, our education programming includes everything from folk and jazz to hip-hop, South Indian classical music, and beyond. We believe that working with a multiplicity of traditions gives us all an opportunity to engage with each other directly and build community through music.