SDCC was founded in 1990 to give children access to music education that had been diminished or removed from public schools. SDCC has met this need by providing accessible, comprehensive music education and performance experiences to San Diego County children. Each year, 1,500+ children participate in a progressive ensemble program (grades 1-12), an early years introductory music program (ages 1-6), and a school outreach program (PreK-5th grade). SDCC believes no child should be denied access to music education. To this end, we place sites across the county in neighborhoods of varying ethnic and socio-economic composition, and provide free programming for underserved children. Over 70% of SDCC’s participants either participate in our outreach program at their Title 1 school or qualify as low-income based on Federal Poverty Guidelines.
SDCC is an advocate for choral music and engages a broad cross-section of our community to provide a unique music education to choristers. From community performance collaborations to partnering with UCSD on music education and early childhood development research, SDCC actively engages with the community to make it better. Choristers perform for many diverse audiences including elderly residents in memory care, symphony and ballet lovers and even sports fans at Padres games.