Santa Barbara Blues Society Continues Blues for Youth Music Program

Sadly, so many communities have been forced to slash arts and music classes from their budgets. The SBBS believes that music and the creative arts are a very important part of growing up and should remain a vital part of our cultural fabric. As a dedicated group presenting the original American music to our community for thirty five years, we established our educational programs about five years ago, and it now accounts for half of our operating budget. We are able to do this through fundraising efforts and grants. Our current programs are made possible by matching funds from the Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation Educational Outreach program.

This year we are continuing with our well received instructors, Valerie Johnson and Al B. Blue (vjblues.com). Additionally we have enlisted the well known blues music instructor Gary Allegretto: harmonica (http://www.garyallegretto.com/home.cfm) for additional classes.

See the attached files for this winter’s schedules.

These classes are presented FREE to the schools, and often include harmonicas for students to keep as well as handouts of music and lyrics. There is often a student concert for teachers, parents and guests at the conclusion of the weeklong events.

We are seeking media coverage to increase public awareness of our programs and to demonstrate the longterm dedication of the Santa Barbara Blues Society to keeping the music alive. Please contact us to arrange for your staff to attend these events and present your reports on both television and newspaper formats.