Over the past six months, nonprofit arts organizations across the country have faced mounting challenges. For those of us in Oakland, the impact has been especially severe due to a combination of federal cuts to arts funding and municipal budget shortfalls.

Oaktown Jazz Workshops has long relied on support from the City of Oakland’s Cultural Funding Program, which we’ve proudly secured through a competitive application process. But last fall, the city cut funding to its Cultural Affairs Division—resulting in our receiving just 43% of the second-year grant amount we were originally awarded.

In January, we were excited to be recommended for a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Challenge America Grant. But just one week later, following the inauguration of a new presidential administration, that funding was suddenly put at risk. After months of uncertainty, we were informed by the NEA that our project “does not align with the Administration’s priorities”—and funding would be reallocated.

Grant applications take time, research, and careful planning. It is deeply discouraging to be selected for funding only to have it revoked or significantly reduced.

These are not isolated incidents. In February, we applied for a grant from California Humanities—only to learn weeks later that the program’s funding had been illegally terminated by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), suspending all active grants.

Despite these setbacks, Oaktown Jazz Workshops remains steadfast in our mission.

We are more than just a music program—we are a community. We are a safe and welcoming space where youth find mentorship, belonging, and purpose. We help shape the next generation of musicians, educators, and cultural leaders.

Thanks to supporters like you, thousands of young people have developed their musical abilities and self-confidence through our programs.

Today, we ask for your help.

Your donation—at any level—will directly support our ability to continue this important work and keep jazz education thriving in Oakland.

Thank you for believing in the power of music, mentorship, and community.

Oaktown Jazz Workshops is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Federal Tax ID: 94-3265018. Your gift is tax-deductible.

Dear Friend of Oaktown Jazz Workshops,

Next year will mark 30 years since Oaktown Jazz Workshops got its start in the rec centers of Oakland. Founder Khalil Shaheed’s motivation was to cultivate the next generation of jazz musicians and at the same time, develop engaged, disciplined, and confident young adults.

As we look forward to this milestone, we want to thank you for your enduring support. It has enabled us to invest in thousands of young people, helping them to develop their unique voices. This is a moment to look back and take stock of all we’ve accomplished together.

Oaktown Jazz Workshops has been around long enough to see our alumni light up the music scene in Los Angeles, New York City, and the San Francisco Bay Area. They are arranging music for symphony orchestras, composing for films, and touring the world. Other alumni are applying the lessons they learned through Oaktown Jazz Workshops – like active listening and collaboration – in other meaningful fields.

The creative community that we have created is a rare and beautiful thing: safe, supportive, diverse, and multi-generational. In our cascading leadership model, our students are encouraged by seasoned professional musicians as well as young adult Youth Mentors. Your donations have allowed us to support students and alumni with guidance on college applications and professional development opportunities, suchas mentoring younger students, teaching private lessons, and leading concerts at our Jack London Square venue.

This year, we have prioritized bringing high-quality concerts to places where all the community can enjoy our performances, including children and families who can’t afford or easily access live music. Oaktown Jazz students performed at 25 Bay Area events, 10 of which took place at East Bay libraries. We have made 56 visits to local schools, to lead clinics and presentations. And we have hosted 94 Combo and Ensemble Workshops, and 63 classes in Improvisation, Music Theory, Live Audio Production, and Vocal Ensemble.

All these years later, Oaktown Jazz Workshops is still rooted in Khalil Shaheed’s words: “To preserve this music we need a community of teachers, mentors, and storytellers who know the importance of the next generation to receive this art form. Students are challenged to improve on their skills in a collaborative, creative safe environment. We attempt to eliminate some of the hardships young musicians had to endure in the past to learn this music.”

Every year, we ask our supporters to contribute to the Khalil Shaheed Scholarship Fund, which covers the cost of workshops for young musicians whose families cannot afford tuition. It’s a great way to support the young people in our community seeking opportunities for creative expression and artistic development. Your support encourages our children’s creativity and enriches our community with music and culture vital to our past, present, and future. Please consider making a year-end donation to Oaktown Jazz Workshops.

With gratitude,

Ravi Abcarian
Executive Director
Oaktown Jazz Workshops 

Dear friend of Oaktown Jazz Workshops (OJW),

Thank you for supporting year-round, community-based music education for youth. This past summer we resumed our in-person classes, workshops, and concerts at our venue and began performing at community events around Oakland, CA. It has been rewarding to see returning OJW members rekindle their friendships with each other through music and exciting for us to welcome new musicians to our program!

After months of engaging our young musicians online with weekly listening assignments and live Zoom discussions during the shelter-in-place, we saw the need to deepen our support of students by offering one-on-one instruction and expanding our program to include an audio engineering class, which will start in spring of 2022.

Centrally located in Jack London Square, the workshops and classes we offer bring children together from Oakland’s neighborhoods and nearby cities to learn in a safe and supportive environment, complete with high-quality instruments and musical equipment. Most of OJW’s students participate in our program for over two years, giving our faculty the opportunity to get to know the young musicians’ strengths and achievements, and provide personalized guidance as they progress. Our dedicated instructors work together collaboratively to share their many decades of experience as professional musicians with students. 

OJW’s faculty also features alumni Youth Mentors that co-teach workshops with our instructors and serve as role models. Many alumni that now live elsewhere make a point to visit Oaktown Jazz Workshops when they return to the Bay Area and help to connect current students with future academic and professional possibilities.

Offering a music program that young musicians consistently find inspiring and authentic would not be possible without the support of individual community members. Nine years ago we launched the Khalil Shaheed Scholarship Fund to cover the cost of our workshops for young musicians whose families could not otherwise afford tuition. This fund has been absolutely critical in supporting local young people seeking opportunities for creative expression and artistic development. Your contribution to this fund will encourage our children’s creativity, elevate music education and appreciation, and enrich our community.

Thank you for considering us for a year-end donation.

Sincerely,

Ravi Abcarian
Executive Director

When I first began teaching at Oaktown Jazz in 1997 Michael Morgan and Oaktown Jazz Workshops’ (OJW) Founding Director, Khalil Shaheed, had just completed a collaboration that featured OJW’s young jazz musicians playing a tribute to John Coltrane with the Oakland Symphony. The concert was a success but there was a clear sense of urgency to do more for the youth of Oakland as schools were locking up their instruments and cutting music programs.

Michael Morgan began presenting school assemblies across the Bay Area that featured both a string quartet from Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra and a jazz combo from Oaktown Jazz. He began to invite OJW’s young musicians to perform before the Oakland Symphony’s concerts at the Paramount Theater and Fourth of July Celebrations, creating many magical experiences for our young musicians.

In 1999 Michael Morgan joined Oaktown Jazz Workshops’ Board of Directors and always made himself available to support our organization and students – an unofficial pathway to his alma mater, Oberlin Conservatory, was created for many of OJW’s musicians.

Oakland began changing rapidly with waves of tech and real estate bubbles but Michael Morgan’s support of youth and those that advocated for them remained constant.

As an OJW Board Member, his guidance was invaluable as he had an amazing ability to find solutions to issues far away on the horizon and keep the focus on offering high quality music education to young people. His input at our last board meeting regarding Covid-19 safety protocols is now part of every workshop and class we offer.

Michael Morgan believed in the young people of our community and the power of music to change lives.

Rest in Peace Michael Morgan.

Ravi Abcarian, Oaktown Jazz Workshops’ Executive Director

Dear Friend of Oaktown Jazz Workshops,

It is thanks to you that we close out our 25^th year as a thriving community based, non-profit organization for young musicians. At Oaktown Jazz, each young musician develops important skills that come with learning a musical instrument and playing in an ensemble. The self-discipline a child develops to practice, the ability to collaborate with others gained during rehearsals, and the courage strengthened by performing before a live audience are valuable tools that young people can apply for a lifetime.

With support from individuals like you, we are able to create a vibrant community for young musicians and their families. Our afterschool classes and workshops allow young people to learn to perform together, as a group, from professional musicians dedicated to helping youth develop their talents. Our Jazz Encounters program has brought in internationally touring musicians and multi-platinum and Grammy Award winning artists to speak and perform with our excited young musicians.

This past year, Oaktown Jazz Workshops’ youth ensembles performed at dozens of community events, our faculty led 70 presentations and sectionals at public schools, and we have been proud to produce monthly family-friendly concerts at our venue in Jack London Square.

To provide this uniquely dynamic musical education and experience to San Francisco Bay Area youth, we partner with local civic and arts organizations, and rely on support from dedicated community members like you. All contributions made to Oaktown Jazz Workshops go directly to performance education for young people who value it.

Our Founding Director, Khalil Shaheed, created Oaktown Jazz Workshops in 1994 with the mission of passing on the tradition of jazz music to youth in an authentic, supportive environment. Seven years ago we launched the Khalil Shaheed Scholarship Fund to cover the cost of our workshops for young musicians whose families could not otherwise afford tuition. This fund has been absolutely critical in supporting local young people seeking opportunities for creative expression and artistic development.

At this time, your contribution to this fund, in whatever amount you can manage, will encourage our children’s creativity, elevate music education and appreciation, and enrich our community. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Ravi Abcarian
Executive Director

Dear Friend of Oaktown Jazz Workshops,

It is thanks to you that we enter 2019 with the momentum of a successful year and over two decades of providing year-round music education and presentations for young people.

This year Oaktown Jazz Workshops’ young musicians attended 140 ensemble workshops and performed at dozens of community events across the San Francisco Bay Area. Our instructors conducted over 50 music clinics at public schools and we continue to produce family-friendly concerts at our venue in Jack London Square, Oakland.

At the core of our organization are afterschool classes and workshops where young musicians learn to perform together as a group directly from professional musicians dedicated to helping youth develop their talents.

Many of Oaktown Jazz Workshops alumni are now widely recognized as some of the new exciting voices in jazz. Our Founding Director, Khalil Shaheed, was very proud of their musical accomplishments and also proud of how OJW was able to teach youth important life skills far beyond performing music.

Six years ago we launched the Khalil Shaheed Scholarship Fund to cover the cost of our workshops for young musicians whose families could not otherwise afford tuition. This fund has been absolutely critical in supporting local young people seeking opportunities for creative expression and artistic development.

Your support, in whatever amount you can manage, will encourage our children’s creativity, elevate music education and appreciation, and enrich our community.

Sincerely,

Ravi Abcarian
Executive Director

You’re invited to a concert performance featuring the outstanding young musicians of Oaktown Jazz Workshops and The John Santos Quintet.

The concert takes place at 7PM on Saturday, October 6th at Oaktown Jazz Workshops, 55 Washington Street, Jack London Square, Oakland.

This event is a benefit for Oaktown Jazz Workshops’ year-round music program for youth. As you may know, I’ve been with Oaktown Jazz Workshops since 1997, and have seen the incredible impact that we’ve had on the lives of countless youth.  We are only able to continue thriving thanks to support from individuals like you.

Tickets are available at https://oaktownjazz2018.brownpapertickets.com

Tell a friend and if you participate in social media please share the event Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/events/1296727803796851/

Thank you,

Ravi Abcarian

Executive Director
Oaktown Jazz Workshops

Dear Friend of Oaktown Jazz Workshops,

Thank you for supporting community-based jazz education in Oakland. As Oaktown Jazz Workshops (OJW) enters our 24^th year, we continue to thrive – offering high quality music instruction to youth from across the San Francisco Bay Area. We are especially proud of our outstanding alumni who apply the collaborative skills gained through our program to positively engage in their communities and pursue meaningful careers. Over the past year, many of our alumni, now working as professional musicians, have returned to Oaktown Jazz to lead captivating concerts and make time to teach young musicians currently in our program.

With the shocking political climate and disheartening tone of today’s news, OJW’s programs are needed now more than ever. We put youth first, and our priority is making sure that young people have a safe space where their potential can be recognized and fostered.

OJW’s twice weekly, year-round Performance Ensemble workshops and recently added Jazz Improvisation class provide young musicians a supportive environment where they are mentored by a small group of instructors dedicated to helping youth develop their talents.

Our Founding Director, Khalil Shaheed, created OJW to pass down the language of jazz through the historically traditional method of mentorship, access to live concerts, and performance opportunities. In 2017, in addition to our 140 workshops, we presented 10 family friendly concerts and 20 OJW Youth Ensemble concerts, offered jazz encounter clinics with artists such as John Santos and The Lionel Hampton Big Band featuring Jason Marsalis, and held 47 music sectionals and presentations in East Bay public middle schools.

Five years ago we launched the Khalil Shaheed Scholarship Fund to cover the cost of our workshops for young musicians whose families could not otherwise afford tuition. This fund has been absolutely critical in supporting local young people seeking opportunities for creative expression and artistic development. At this time, your contribution to Oaktown Jazz Workshops will allow us to continue to serve as a vibrant local community asset.

Your support, in whatever amount you can manage, will encourage our children’s creativity, elevate music education and appreciation, and enrich our community.

Sincerely,

Ravi Abcarian
Executive Director