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ABOUT MBAW

Who We Are

Since 1998, Musical Bridges Around the World (MBAW) has been a cornerstone of San Antonio’s cultural fabric, harnessing the transformative power of music to unite people and celebrate our shared humanity. Through multicultural programming, Musical Bridges fosters unity, uplifts the under-resourced by providing equal access to the arts, and heals through understanding, reflection, inspiration and connection.

Imagine a San Antonio where every child is inspired by the creative power of music through a world-class education infused with cultural literacy, where diverse communities come together and where the universal language of music transcends barriers to bring joy and belonging to all—uplifting every household. Musical Bridges not only enriches lives locally but also elevates San Antonio, Texas on the global stage as a vibrant and welcoming place to live.

MBAW is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Mission, Vision, & Values

  • Mission: Celebrating our shared humanity by providing access to global arts for all.
  • Vision: a world where fine arts are accessible to all, our common humanity is recognized, cultural diversity is celebrated, and all are united in peace.
  • Values: Excellence, Equity and Inspiration
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Programs

MBAW’s programs provide free access to high-quality global performing arts, with a clear focus on cross-cultural collaboration and bringing music and cultural understanding to the community. This includes a seasonal concert series at the San Fernando Cathedral in the heart of downtown San Antonio (Russell Hill Rogers Musical Evenings at San Fernando Cathedral), an annual music festival (UNITYFest), a quadrennial international piano competition (The Gurwitz), an educational concert & curriculum program (Musical Sprouts), a music scholarship for bowed string students (Colburn-Pledge Music Scholarship), a music ambassador program (Youth Ambassadors), a program taking concerts to seniors in living communities (Golden Age).

MBAW additionally has two paid membership concert series (Impresario Club and Music Viva!) where part of dues go to support the previously listed programs that are free to the community.

History of Musical Bridges Around the World

Musical Bridges Around the World was founded in 1998 in San Antonio, TX, USA by Russian-born concert pianist Anya Grokhovski, DMA, along with a group of music lovers to promote cultural understanding through innovative programming. Starting with only a chamber concert series, Anya and her team have slowly grown a wealth of programs to the nonprofit – a public concert series (1999), educational concert series (2001), senior concert series (2010), music festival (2014), educational curriculum (2016) international piano competition and youth ambassador program (2020), and string instrument scholarship (2021).