Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Blue Bear School of Music Records
- Dates:
- 1971-2025
- Creators:
- Blue Bear School of Music.
- Abstract:
- Extent:
- 2 cartons, 1 oversized flat box (3 cubic feet)
- Language:
- Preferred citation:
-
Blue Bear School of Music Records. San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco History Center
Background
- Scope and content:
-
Press coverage, class catalogs, newsletters, photographs, and marketing and event material including posters, and an SSD with image files and other files included in the print collection. Files on the SSD will be made available digitally. Arrangement: Organized chronologically, by decade.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Nonprofit organization Blue Bear School of Music was founded as Blue Bear Waltzes School of Genuine Music in the summer of 1971 by a rock band called Wolfgang and Strauss. Wolfgang was a dog, and "Strauss" referred to two brothers in the band. Before moving to San Francisco to found the music school, they lived in Northern California on the Bear River. When naming the school, the brothers Strauss whimsically recalled Johann Strauss’s "Blue Danube Waltz," substituting the Bear River for the Danube. For a period in the mid-70s, when the founding members moved on, Blue Bear was run by a cooperative of teachers and students. In 1978, operations moved from the original San Francisco storefront on Ocean Avenue to Fort Mason Center, where the school has thrived and evolved to its current state of more than 850 music-loving students per quarter. Blue Bear’s current board of trustees and staff includes former Wolfgang and Strauss members Steve Savage and Richard Strauss along with electric orchestra and folk chorus member Bonnie Hayes.
- Acquisition information:
- Donated by Blue Bear School of Music on June 27, 2024.
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Prepared:
- 1971-2025
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using Record Express for OAC5 on July 14, 2025, 2:54 p.m.
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
The collection is stored off site. The collection is available for use during San Francisco History Center hours. Collections that are stored off site should be requested 48 hours in advance.
- Terms of access:
-
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the City Archivist. All requests for permission to publish from photographs must be submitted in writing to the Photo Curator. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the San Francisco Public Library as the owner of the physical items. Additional copyright clearance may be required.
- Preferred citation:
-
Blue Bear School of Music Records. San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco History Center
- Location of this collection:
-
San Francisco Public Library100 Larkin StreetSan Francisco, CA 94102, US
- Contact:
- (415) 557-4567