Passim, Cambridge

Part listening club, part school, Passim is an arts haven dedicated to cultivating creative development and building a vibrant music community. Since 1958, when it operated as a jazz venue under the name Club 47, Passim has brought talented musicians to the region, fostering the local folk and blues scenes and hosting musicians such as Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and Mississippi John Hurt. The space's life as Club 47 came to a close in 1968, only to transform into an intimate setting where audiences could connect with musicians. Today, Club Passim cultivates this intimacy in its historic listening room, which features more than 400 shows a year ranging from celtic to jazz, and also presents the Boston Celtic Music Festival to showcase the skills of dancers and musicians whose inspiration hails from the British Isles.

Yet in addition to giving them a stage, Passim has supported and cultivated the local community of musical artists for the past decade. The Passim Iguana Music Fund provides career-development grants for musicians, and the lessons, master classes, and workshops at the Passim School of Music instruct more than 800 students every year in everything from guitar and songwriting to fiddle and ukulele.