Yerba Buena Gardens Festival Presents Community Music Center Neighborhood Choirs

In reclaiming the legacy of a Bay Area giant, Beth Wilmurt has uncovered a trove of long-forgotten songs by Malvina Reynolds, the San Francisco-born singer-songwriter devoted to environmental and human rights activism (1900-1978). Directed by Wilmurt, singers from four Community Music Center Neighborhood Choirs perform Reynolds' songs, which address topics both serious and lighthearted with sturdy, unpretentious melodies. A friend and collaborator of Pete Seeger's, Reynolds is best known for writing "Little Boxes," which in 1963 became his only single to make the charts. Accompanied by guitarist Sharon Wayne and other CMC musicians, the singers include members of the CMC Bernal Heights, Richmond, Aquatic Park and Oceanview/Merced Hts/Ingleside - Catholic Charities Choirs for Older Adults and Adults with Disabilities, part of a tuition-free program of 15 choirs organized by CMC throughout the city. The Community Music Center is a non-profit institution making high-quality music accessible to people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities, regardless of financial means.