During the school year 1953-1954, the need for a formal liaison between the Northern California Junior College Music Educators and the Southern California Junior College Music Association was felt between the two organizations. These two organizations had been meeting with various California Music Educator Association (CMEA) sections and operating as the music sections of their regional California Junior College Associations for solution to professional problems, and as a nucleus for the organization of regional junior-college music festivals.

With the exchange of concerned community college faculty, there was an exchange of ideas that ultimately led to the formation of a Constitution Committee. Their success was established at the state convention of CMEA in Bakersfield in April of 1954.

In 1955, the first Board of Directors for the California Junior College Music Educators (CJCME) was comprised of President, Vice President, and Secretary-Treasurer. Additional standing committees were established with liaisons to secondary schools and four-year institutions. A mandate came from the membership to develop a study on competency and proficiency levels for the Junior College music major. This effort resulted in the formation of a Curriculum Committee.

During the 1956-1957 year, a new addition was made to include the Junior Colleges in the central part of the state. It was during this time that the organization officially formed the Central California Junior College Music Educators.

With the rigorous state leadership of three music organizations representing the State of California in 1957, they pursued a program which included the Music Educator National Conference (MENC) activities, curriculum studies, and their liaison with the four-year institutions, which gained recognition by the California State Board of Education. With the dynamics changing, there was a move toward a stabilization of credential requirements. The Junior College Music Educators were granted a Junior College Planning Committee for the MENC 1958 National Conference.

In 1960, with the momentum growing, a report was given to the California Music Executives regarding the minimum expected competencies of a course in Music Fundamentals at their state meeting. The Curriculum Committee continued to give direction for common goals in the basic piano courses. Matters of finance for the CJCME continued to be a problem with voluntary contributions from the three sections being the principle source of funds.

In 1961-1962, the California Junior College Music Educators prepared a study on the harmony program, as well as a study of class sizes. With the success of faculty sharing collegial knowledge, a survey was conducted regarding music department equipment, physical set-up, administration policies, etc. Following the state CMEA conference, a report of the Eckart Theory study was made, and an important resolution was passed by the CJCMEA in regard to class sizes. Consequently, the study was subsequently sent to the Deans of Instruction of all California Junior Colleges.

In 1962-1964, CJCME activities introduced the first All-State Junior College Honor Orchestra, which included plans toward a permanent administrative structure for CJCMEA performing organizations. It was at this time, the board decided to charge a fee for individual and institutional membership. The individual membership fee was $2.00, while the institutional membership was $15.00, which would provide the state association with a stable financial base. There was also the establishment of a State Performing-Organization Board, which would prepare programs for the “Junior College Night” at the Western-Division Conference. Because of their success, the organization featured the famous choral conductor Roger Wagner to conduct a 1000-member chorus; Frederic Fennel to conduct the 200-member band; and Laszlo Vargas to conduct the 67-piece string orchestra.

Also, in the 1964-1965, CMEA accepted CJCMEA as an official affiliate, a repository of action-research pertaining to Junior College Music Departments. It was on May 14, 1965, the association received their official approval of the California State Board of Education as an association approved for school members.

In 1966, there was a study of possible redistricting with an official CJCMEA Newsletter being established with two issues. As a result of the study, the California Music Executives re-established a College-University Liaison Committee. From this earliest beginning, the music association became well represented with equal membership on all established higher education panels and programs.

Through the years, it was established there could be better unification of what it takes to promote a successful music department in the Junior College System. When the State of California changed the name of the established Junior Colleges System to the Community College System, the CJCMEA Board of Directors modified their Constitution with the name change to “Music Association California Community Colleges.”

Research on improving music programs in the Community Colleges continues today. The concern of community college faculty has been unified that in order to meet the needs of the community college music student, it is important the student is allowed to repeat courses in their development and growth of solo repertoire and large and small ensemble courses. In 1988, a formal request for music course repeatability was activated.  There was also a resolution submitted for the support of technical revision to Title V for Music Education (Resolution No. 26-878). The resolution was supported by the Legislative Action Coalition for Arts Education for strengthening articulation with four-year colleges and universities.

With the passage of the MACCC repeatability legislation in 1990, it was acknowledged that the attainment of musical skill is a life-long endeavor and that the maintenance of such skill requires continuous practice and participation in music activities.

With the support by the California Community Colleges Board of Governors Vice Chancellor, Rita Cepeda of Transfer and General Education in 1992, the clarification of repetition became established that “no more than three semesters of five quarters per subject matter or per course if and only if the course is part of a sequenced transfer curriculum in the visual and performing arts disciplines (music, fine arts, dance, or theater arts). Applicable sequenced transfer curriculum shall include but not be limited to major performance ensembles.”

With many community colleges interpreting the repeatability issue differently, MACCC approved at their 2005 conference in San Francisco, an official MACCC position paper on the definition of sequenced transfer curriculum for the music major with a reference “as long as … students’ skills or proficiencies [are] enhanced by the repetition.”

A second MACCC Applied Music position paper was adopted at the 2005 conference with language concerning private instruction with the mandates of AB 1725. Therefore, the MACCC recommendations are to establish minimum standards of preparation for participation in applied music being developed independently on each campus and governed by the likelihood of students achieving the learning outcomes established for the course.  When resources are limited, MACCC recommends the following priorities for the music major: transfer, terminal degree, vocational certification, and all others. Community colleges should commit to fully funding categories rather than setting limits that require selection among qualified students within a qualifying category. Also, if funding limitations necessitate selecting among qualified students within a category, colleges should individually establish access criteria and avoid denying access to a single student, repeated denial of access to degrees and certificates, in addition to solely skill based criteria.  

In 2012, MACCC began a collaboration with the StandUp4Music Coalition, a state-wide organization that included MACCC, California Music Educators Association (CMEA), National Association for Music Education (NAfME), California Band Directors Association (CBDA), California Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association (CA ACDA), California Orchestra Directors Association (CODA), California Alliance for Jazz (CAJ), Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association (SCSBOA), Northern California Band Directors Association (NCBDA), Southern California Vocal Association (SCVA), Music Association of California Community Colleges (MACCC), California American String Teachers Association (Cal ASTA), and Northern California Band Association (NCBA).

In the 2014-2015 years, in response to SB 440 wherein community colleges became required to develop Associate Degrees for Transfer (ADT), MACCC developed an ADT high unit resolution that was presented at the state faculty senate and community college chancellor’s office, outlining the need to reconsider the restrictions of the ADT and the negative impact on student success.

As with the challenges of the pandemic, COVID-19 stopped the efforts of holding face-to-face classes in the State of California with the California Community College System in March 2020. This action forced all campuses to be closed. The impact of the virus had classes being taught remotely. Each college set up their precaution rules with some campuses including hybrid teaching in addition to being remote. With the annual MACCC conference being held in November, it was decided not to cancel the event, but to offer a virtual presentation in 2020.

Consequently, the virtual conference was a success and with the virus still present, the MACCC Executive Board decided to hold a virtual conference a second time in 2021. With the campuses being restored to student participation, the fall MACCC Conference returns to the in-person attendance in 2022.

The MACCC organization has expanded to feature contests for composition majors; provide the setting for conference choirs and bands with world-renowned conductors. The conferences include well-established vendors and sponsors, such as Steinway and Yamaha Corporations, Wenger Corporation, and companies in technology and textbook publishers. The California Community College System has grown to include 116 community colleges in 72 districts. Therefore, the MACCC organization is strong and continues to work on behalf of the dedicated faculty to meet the needs of the music students who live in their respective communities.