Concert Career Pathways

Now in its 8th Cohort, Concert Career Pathways (CCP) Education Program seeks to remove the barriers of entry into the music business for young people from underserved communities. We teach young people ages 17 to 25 the technical, creative, and business aspects of concert and event promotion.

Applications are now closed and will reopen in March 2024 for the 2023/24 Cohort 9

Concert Career Pathways program participants have the opportunity to learn best practices in production management, event coordination, stagehand, floor staff, live sound engineering, lighting design, event budgeting, box office operations, marketing, social media promotion, booking and more.

This free nine-month experiential workforce development program develops critical and creative thinking skills necessary to become successful in the 21st-century workplace, providing opportunities that both empower young people and strengthen the local economy.

Workshops Series (6 Sessions): Workshops are co-facilitated with industry professionals and provide a foundation in multiple aspects of concert promotion such as Marketing, Front of House Operations, Production, Nonprofit Development, and Community Engagement, and Talent Buying.
Paid Internships: Participants who have successfully completed the workshop series will work alongside top industry professionals for 8-12 hours per week or 20 shows cycle of events at The UC Theatre of the 75-100 plus annual shows. The UC Theatre staff mentors all program participants.
Advanced Workshops Series: The Advanced Workshops are facilitated by The UC Theatre’s staff and offer a deeper understanding of multiple aspects of concert and event promotion such as Live Sound Engineering, Lighting Design, Digital Marketing, Special Event Operations, Bar Operations, and Talent Buying.
Industry Tours: Participants are exposed to a variety of career opportunities through behind-the-scenes tours at Bay Area music/concert venues, performing arts organizations, music festivals, ticketing agents, and other music and entertainment-related businesses.
Networking Opportunities: Participants will have the opportunity to network with a variety of music industry professionals through our Professional Partner Network.
Internship: Participants on the internship track will work under the direction of The UC Theatre staff and alongside industry professionals for 8-16 hours per week. Interns get hands-on training with staff in all disciplines and are paid on an hourly basis.
Mentorship: Over the course of the program, Mentees will complete 3-6 projects. They will have the creative range to work on projects that interest them and empowers them to develop their professional skill set.

Our CCP Graduates and Participants come from diverse backgrounds.

Despite the wealth in the Bay Area, teenagers and young adults, particularly low-income youth of color, struggle to find educational opportunities that lead to living-wage jobs. CCP provides hands-on job experiences, fostering the understanding of work as an integral and satisfying aspect of life, and connecting youth passionate about the music business to a field in which there are current job opportunities and career ladders. Now more than ever removing the barriers to entry in the workforce for people of color and the LGBTQ+ community is critical to embrace and support.

In general, music industry management programs, like many industries in the United States, lack equity, diversity, and inclusion. The UC Theatre believes that bringing together young leaders from a variety of backgrounds with diverse perspectives will help create a more equitable and diverse industry and provide a space for underserved youth to have their voices heard by their peers, some of whom come from more privileged backgrounds, providing exposure to and immersion in diverse voices and ideas. This unique management program supports up-and-coming leaders of the Bay Area that hold promise for re-imagining the music industry in ways that advance intergenerational and multicultural leadership, inclusion, and equity.

The UC Theatre thanks our individual donors, foundations and corporate supporters who help make our education program possible:

Amazon ~ Bayer Development Agreement Funding ~ City of Berkeley ~ Kimball Foundation ~ Quest Foundation~ Taube Philanthropies ~ Foundation for Jewish Life & Culture

This project is supported by the STEAM Fund of the Amended and Restated Development Agreement between the City of Berkeley and Bayer

Find out about Chris’s experience working as a mentee in the Concert Career Pathways Program below!

APPLICATIONS CLOSED:

Bumbershoot Arts and Music Festival, now operated by non-profit Third Stone, is the Pacific Northwest’s Largest Music Festival and is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2023. Strategically tied into the main campus festival event, Third Stone will also be launching a tuition free and paid workforce development program, designed to remove barriers of entry to the creative workforce. Third Stone’s mission is to help foster an inclusive, energized, and sustainable arts economy in the Pacific Northwest through festival, artistic spectacle, and community driven programming.

Third Stone is partnering with The UC Theatre’s Concert Careers Pathway (CCP) program, in Berkeley, CA, who have placed 80% of their graduates into jobs. Like the CCP Program, Bumbershoot Workforce Development Program serves 15-20 participants, ages 17 to 25, to work alongside seasoned live event and concert business professionals.

For any additional inquiries about Concert Career Pathways at The UC Theatre, please email [email protected]

Please donate today to the Concert Career Pathways Program to help us build more capacity to graduate more participants and jumpstart their careers.

If you would like more information about other ways to give or on becoming a Producers Circle or Founders Circle Member, please contact:
David M. Mayeri at [email protected]
Joan Rosenberg at [email protected]

Join us today to make a difference at our beloved The UC Theatre!