Music is the language of connection.
Whether we love playing and singing for pleasure, love performing music for our primary careers, or just love listening, music is how we share our deepest emotional selves. Music is available to everyone, regardless of skill, and to participate in music is one of life’s greatest pleasures. At Amateur Music Network we celebrate the amateur in all of us: We do it because we love it.
Our network is open to all; all ages and all genres/interests are welcome. If you haven’t sung or played in a long time, if you’ve been singing or playing regularly for years, if you’re a long-time musician trying out a new instrument or style to add to your skill set, or even if you’ve never sung or picked up an instrument before—Amateur Music Network is for you.
Mission and methods:
Music is an integral part of life. Everyone can experience the joy of playing, singing, and listening, when access to music-making is available, encouraged, and celebrated.
Amateur Music Network makes the world more musical by means of:
- Connecting people with one another to share in active musical experiences
- Creating music-making opportunities for all, both on our own and through partnerships with other arts organizations
- Sharing and lifting the love of music with all, through active listening and participatory experiences. We provide online access so that all may join, from anywhere.
AMN values diversity.
AMN is committed to the connecting power of music-making, and in music’s ability to bring people together across all boundaries of race, ethnicity, gender identity, age, and culture. Our unique online community listings embrace all musical genres and encourage the participation of all who wish to join us. We choose programs and presenters that bring wide-ranging perspectives and cultural experiences to a broad audience. We welcome and seek to enhance the musical lives of all participants, regardless of background, musical skill or experience, and we extend our offerings to those who don’t have access to music-making opportunities in the community.
Learn more:
Find out more about AMN workshops on our home page and in the AMN workshop archive.
Read press coverage about AMN.
Support AMN. Your donations and your involvement help us support local musicians through our workshops. Thank you to our donors and sponsors!
Lolly Lewis
AMN Founder
I’ve been so fortunate to be active in music all my life, as a recording engineer and producer, amateur singer, and dedicated fan. Five years as producer of Community of Music Makers workshops for the San Francisco Symphony showed me that there’s a vibrant network of amateur musicians in the San Francisco Bay Area who hunger for opportunities to make music together. I founded Amateur Music Network to support musicians in the SF Bay Area and beyond.
Corty Fengler
Chair, Board of Directors
I have been lucky enough to combine a career in arts consulting with my passion for choral singing. Working for the San Francisco Symphony and Grace Cathedral in development connected me with many organizations that also needed help with board leadership and planning. Singing with the SF Symphony Chorus has brought me true joy, along with service on the boards of Chorus America, Walden School, and Cappella SF. Now with AMN we are on an exciting journey together!
Lisa Zadek
Lisa Zadek is the Senior Artistic Planning Manager at the San Francisco Symphony, advancing almost every concert presented on the Davies Symphony Hall stage and coordinating SFS chamber music.
Lisa is a violinist who has performed with the Bolshoi, Joffrey and Stuttgart Ballet companies, as well as with the Mark Morris Dance Company through Cal Performances. In addition to performing with numerous local and international orchestras, she has been a member of the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra since 1986.
James “Sky” Schuyler
Website Wizardry, Technology Strategies
“Sky” is a software expert, and a composer and producer of music for film and streaming. Until the age of 20 he was a pre-professional pianist and organist. He founded or participated in the founding of a half-dozen software startups. Sky recently made and released a documentary film “Play It Again” which tells stories of four musicians coming home to music after other careers.
Jeanette Yu
Innovation Strategy, Creative Direction
Jeanette helps individuals and organizations understand, explore, and celebrate human connection. Her work focuses on what is “just beyond” one’s line of sight through creative concepting and the identification and stimulation of future technologies. A multicultural innovation strategist and creative instigator with degrees in Music, English, and Molecular Cell Biology, Jeanette develops strategies and experiences in and across cultures, communications, disciplines, and organizational ecosystems. She is a practitioner, learner, leader, and moonshot thinker.
Board of Directors
- Corty Fengler, Chair
- Sylvia Chen, Treasurer
- Lisa Zadek, Secretary
- Lolly Lewis, Founder
- Divesh Karamchandani
- Nicholas Pavkovic
- James “Sky” Schuyler
- Jeanette Yu
Advisory Board
- Rebecca Blum, Executive Director, Music in the Vineyards
- Nan Keeton, Arts Consultant
- David Landis, Former President, Landis Communications Inc.
- Michael Roest, Founder, International Pride Orchestra
- Jerome Simas, Clarinetist, San Francisco Symphony
- Dee Spencer, Professor of Jazz and Musical Theatre in the School of Theatre & Dance at San Francisco State University
- Robin Sutherland, Principal Pianist, San Francisco Symphony (in memoriam)
Partners and Sponsors
