Communities throughout the City of San Francisco are rapidly changing, raising concerns in established communities about the loss of key voices and histories – particularly in neighborhoods experiencing rapid gentrification. The Hit Parade project engaged community members in storytelling and music-making to share and celebrate their unique voices at branch libraries of communities hard-hit by those rapid changes: the Bayview, Mission and Western Addition branches.

The Bayview, Mission and Western Addition Branch Libraries hosted Musical Storytelling days and Open Rehearsals in June and July 2017. A culminating Open Rehearsal was held at the Main Library in September 2017. Cultural Historian Josh Kun mixed recordings of the Musical Storytelling days and Open Rehearsals, and pressed a record to memorialize community voices. The vinyl record was added to SFPL’s circulating collection and SFMOMA’s Public Knowledge Branch of SFPL.

At musical storytelling sessions, community members shared stories of life in their unique, vibrant communities and shared the music of those communities. At the Open Rehearsals, a group of diverse musicians sight read sheet music published in San Francisco from the library’s holdings. The musicians collaboratively wove their unique sounds and influences into one piece, providing an aural model for building a new city by blending diverse voices, histories and influences in our collective dialogue.