Musical Bridges Around the World, Inc.

Big Give 2025

This Big Give, your donation helps Musical Bridges Around the World (MBAW) bring the power of live music and global arts to everyone in our community. From children in schools to seniors in retirement centers, from military families to music lovers across San Antonio, your gift ensures that world-class music is free and accessible for all.

Since 1998, MBAW has been celebrating our shared humanity by connecting people through global arts. With your support, we continue to create experiences that cross borders, generations, and cultures.

Our Programs at a Glance

Concert Series - Free world-class concerts for the San Antonio community, including Russell Hill Rogers Musical Evenings, UNITYFest music festival, and The Gurwitz International Piano Competition.

Youth Education - Engaging students with concerts in schools, Musical Sprouts culturally-based curriculum, Youth Ambassadors, the Colburn-Pledge music scholarship, and our feature film titled, The Quilt: A Living History of African American Music.

Military Outreach - Drum circles, guitar workshops, and concerts that support wounded warriors, veterans, and military families through music and healing.

Senior Engagement - Golden Age concerts bring global artists into senior centers and retirement communities, enriching lives and reducing isolation through music.

The Impact of Your Gift

MBAW reaches more than 30,000 people each year through eight core programs. Our concerts bring international artists to San Antonio stages such as San Fernando Cathedral and the Pearl Stable. Our educational programs provide thousands of local students with cultural music experiences they would not otherwise have. Seniors in nursing and retirement centers experience joy and connection through live music. Wounded soldiers and their families find comfort and healing through music at Brooke Army Medical Center.

Every performance is offered at no cost to the communities we serve.

Why it Matters

Music has the power to reduce isolation, anxiety, and depression among seniors. It opens cultural windows for children who may not otherwise experience the arts. For wounded soldiers, music can support resilience and recovery from trauma. For our community as a whole, the arts strengthen connections and bring people together across backgrounds and beliefs.

Join Us in Making a Difference

By giving to MBAW during the Big Give, you help keep live art and live music at the heart of our community. Your support ensures that seniors, students, soldiers, and audiences across San Antonio continue to experience the transformative power of music.

👉 Donate today and be part of the movement to keep global arts accessible for all.

Who We Are

MBAW is a 23-year-old non-profit 501(c)(3) organization (tax exempt ID #74-2891493) with the mission to transform lives through multicultural performing and visual arts by shattering barriers, creating connectivity and inspiring hope for those with least access. Cornerstones of our programming include providing free admission to the public, making art accessible to all, targeting youth - particularly at-risk, to develop audiences of tomorrow, and partnering with the City and other organizations to foster San Antonio’s reputation as a cosmopolitan cultural center.

Now in its 22nd season, MBAW serves more than 80,000 people in San Antonio through six core programs:
- Russell Hill Rogers Musical Evenings at San Fernando Cathedral: a free concert series held on select Sunday evenings in the heart of historic downtown San Antonio, attracting more than 2,500 people.

- Kids to Concerts: an educational program that introduces more than 50,000 San Antonio children annually to faraway cultures through music and dance and the incomparable experience of live performing arts.

- Musical Sprouts: an educational program offering 5-lesson multicultural curriculum that teaches STEAM through music and arts. Currently, 10 schools are involved in a study conducted via partnership with UTSA.

- The Gurwitz 2024: Quadrennial International Piano Competition - Olympics of Piano! As a member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions, it puts San Antonio on the map internationally!

- International Music Festival: an annual multi-week and multi-venue project featuring world-class artists in performances designed to unite audiences, one concert at a time by highlighting cultural diversity.

- Golden Age: a community outreach program providing outstanding musical performances to seniors in assisted living and community centers.

- Art Gallery: offers four (4) art shows per season of local, national and international artists.

In June 2019, MBAW was honored with the Fair Saturday Award at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain for proving to generate social impact through arts and culture.