EMPOWER.

Enriching Lives through Music provides youth with an immersive music education and resources that inspire and empower them to pursue their dreams.

BREAKING NEWS!

ELM Wins Equity Grant

We did it!  And we did it big – ELM ranked #2 among the 24 finalists with 1,250 of the 3,600 votes in Marin County’s participatory budgeting process. This huge success is a testimony to our community support and a tribute to supporters like you.

GIVE A GIFT THAT CHANGES LIVES

ELM is a full childhood, full scholarship program for every student. Your gift underwrites this exceptional experience in music education, academic support, and community. Please support our aspiring young musicians by donating today.

ELM IN THE NEWS

ELM has received wonderful press this year describing the ways in which ELM is breaking barriers to create equitable access to an arts education. We are pleased with the recognition of our students who are using their music to create incredible opportunities for themselves and are literally composing their lives.

  • Marin Magazine

    ELM was highlighted in Marin Magazine’s “Marin Gives Back 2023” feature, along with other local nonprofits making a difference in Marin!

  • Follow the Music program launches in Bay Area

    NFL Hall-of-Famer Ronnie Lott and Oakland musical legend Sheila E. launched the music education program for emerging artists in partnership with Elevate Oakland.

  • 49ers Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott discusses "Follow The Music" launch event

  • Follow the Music program launches in Bay Area

    Bay Area icon Sheila E. is part of a new music education and emerging artists program hoping to guide the next generation of Bay Area artists.

  • Best of the County

    ELM was voted as one of the best in Marin County for educational nonprofits.

  • Musical Offering

    ELM spoke with Pacific Sun Magazine about how our program empowers students to shape their own futures.

  • Music Changing Lives

    ABC7 Bay Area news came to visit ELM students rehearsing a special piece called The Mix of the Culturas which combines traditional movements of a symphony with Latin-infused rhythms.

  • Students Investigate Their Musical Roots to Compose a New Piece

    ELM was featured in the December issue of the San Francisco Classical Voice, a nonprofit newsletter for that fosters a thriving arts community.

  • Marin Gives Back

    ELM was featured in this December’s Marin Gives Back feature with other local organizations like Marine Mammal Center, Canal Alliance, and Vivalon.

  • Sweetwater celebrates its 50th anniversary with ELM

    The inaugural benefit gala featuring Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Sweetwater Music Hall on November 17. The event will have a live auction to raise funds for its new foundation Sweetwater Music Hall Arts Fund. A portion of the proceeds will go to support ELM’s scholarship fund.

  • ELM, SF Orchestra Team for Music Camp

    Over the summer, Enriching Lives through Music, a 2021 Giving Marin grant recipient, partnered with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra to co-host their second annual Summer Chamber Music Camp. For two weeks, students met everyday to rehearse in small chamber music groups.

  • Local Music Program Enriching Lives Through Music Reflects on Resilience

    This winter, 14 middle and high school students have been working on a special project, titled Reflections on Resilience. For these students who are on a special track called elmCATS (Community of Artists, Teachers and Scholars), an accelerated program for select ELM students who exhibit exceptional commitment and talent, this project has been a wonderfully challenging, rewarding undertaking.

  • Breaking Barriers To Create Equitable Access To Arts Education

    ELM got a shout-out in a recent interview with Lucasfilm’s Doug Chiang. Doug and his wife Liz are big supporters of ELM’s work in the community.

  • Coming Together For Educational Equity

    It’s been a tough two years on all of us but especially hard on our school-aged children.

  • Marin Teen Musician Gains International Recognition

    As concertmaster and first chair of the Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra, 17-year-old Nicolas Lau has not forgotten that most of his growing list of musical accomplishments sprang from one low-key program in San Rafael’s Canal neighborhood, Enriching Lives through Music.

  • In San Rafael Young Lives are Being Enriched through Music

  • Students Reaching for Their Dreams Thanks to Equity in Arts Education

    Marin’s high school seniors start their college applications this fall. Arts equity programs have helped Marin’s low income Latinx immigrant students reach for top colleges. Jane thinks these students will realize their dreams.

  • Sounds of Community: A Young Woman's Journey To NYU

    Our tutor coordinator (and music education major at NYU), Viviana Garcia was interviewed at WithItGirl, a platform that amplifies the voices, visions, and ideas of women in surf, skate, and art cultures founded by ELM advisor, Marialidia Marcotulli.

  • ELM doesn't Miss a Beat

    ELM was featured in this month's edition of Marin Magazine. It tells our story of being nimble and thoughtful in our efforts to support our community during the pandemic.

  • Music in a Time of Distress

    Derek Wilson, reporter with Marinscope, wrote a thoughtful piece this month about ELM featuring interviews with Executive Director, Jane Kramer and ELM graduate, Eduardo Mejia.

  • ELM Students Join Concert Pianist Audrey Vardanega at Musaics Of The Bay

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  • Classical Kids from San Rafael’s Canal Branch Out into Mariachi Music on New Album

    At a time when fear stalks immigrant communities across the country, young Hispanic musicians from San Rafael’s Canal neighborhood and from a Central Valley farm town came together in a Marin recording studio to proudly celebrate their shared culture and heritage, playing mariachi music for a new album that will be showcased at a CD release concert this weekend.

  • Donated Van Boosts Canal Youth Music Program

    Smiling students and teachers with Enriching Lives through Music poured out of the brightly colored van parked outside of the Marin Community Foundation last month. They’d arrived to perform a special concert for MCF staff in appreciation of a dream come true…

  • Canal Teens Light up IJ Lobby Lounge with a Pair of Classical Gems

    An instrumental ensemble featuring six of the original students in the Enriching Lives Through Music (ELM) program in the Canal Neighborhood of San Rafael showed how far they’ve come as musicians over the past decade, turning in a dynamic performance of classical music in the IJ Lobby Lounge…

SEE OUR IMPACT

We often say that Enriching Lives through Music is more than the music. And it's true. ELM creates community, provides opportunity, and supports social and emotional growth.

NEWSLETTERS

Each quarter, ELM produces our ELM Notes newsletter filled with stories of our successes, our challenges, and stunning photos from our amazing volunteer photographer, Tim Porter.

  • NEW & NOTEWORTHY: MARCH 2024

    ELM’s Executive Director, Jane Kramer, recently traveled to Venzuela to attend the El Sistema World Congress, along with musicians, visionaries, and teaching artists from over 20 other countries.

    Read about Jane’s trip to Venezuela and more in our latest ELM Notes Newsletter.

  • A SUMMER OF HIGH NOTES

    ELM students had an exciting past few months. They camped in the Sonoma redwoods, backpacked in Colorado, and so much more. Read about all their summer highlights in our September newsletter!

  • CELEBRATING OUR GRADUATING SENIORS & THEIR BRIGHT FUTURES

    Enjoy the latest issue of ELM Notes, which includes an interview with Veronica Martinez, mom of one of ELM's graduating seniors, updates on our students’ spring activities, and clips from our spring concert.

  • CELEBRATING THE POWER OF MUSIC

    We know that deep engagement in music is life-changing and it doesn’t get much better than playing music with a loving and supportive community throughout one’s childhood. ELM friends become a second family and ELM’s warm, colorful space is truly a second home for our community.

  • STARTING THE SCHOOL YEAR ON A HIGH NOTE

    It is just halfway into September but ELM is already in full swing. With our fantastic new conductor, Juan Palacios (see his interview with Kate Fitzsimmons in this edition of our newsletter), ELM students are starting the year strong, motivated, and inspired.

  • MEET OUR GRADUATES: ALL COLLEGE-BOUND!

    One more academic year has come to a close and we have much to be grateful for. Our kids are growing up. I never cease to be amazed by our students’ extraordinary attributes. As a group they are kind, compassionate, wickedly intelligent, thoughtful, and so courageous.

  • THE MAGIC OF MUSIC

    Adam Grant’s recent TED talk about finding meaning and joy, even in the most challenging times, resonated deeply with me and I believe our ELM community provides many of these sustaining features.

    In this talk, he described three conditions that he believes contribute to well-being: mastery, mindfulness and mattering.

  • CAN'T STOP THE MUSIC

    After 18 months of remote learning, we were overjoyed to welcome our students back to Kerner this summer. Seeing them with smiles; greeting one another with cellos and trombones, violins and clarinets in tote, was heartwarming beyond words. 

  • ELM’S NEW PROGRAM IS THE CAT'S MEOW

    Over the past year, sequestered at home during the pandemic, ELM embarked on our most ambitious project ever: elmCATS.

    Our elmCATS (which stands for Community of Artists, Teachers, and Scholars) program was designed for students who show extraordinary dedication to their music practice, commitment to their peers, and desire to improve the community. 

  • ELM HONORS OUR AMAZING VOLUNTEERS

    We are pleased to announce that Viviana Garcia, a violin intern since she was a senior in high school and now a junior at New York University, won the recent Heart of Marin Award for Volunteer of the Year. 

SPOTLIGHTS

With each newsletter, we highlight a student, a volunteer, or other community member who stands out for their contribution to ELM and our programs.  Meet these extraordinary people and be inspired by their dedication to excellence and commitment to ELM.

  • Annamarie Arai Lopez Celebrates Nine Years with ELM

    Our Lower String Lead Teacher is celebrating almost a decade of teaching with ELM. Annamarie reflects on her journey to becoming a music teacher and the invaluable lessons her many years of teaching have taught her.

  • A Student's First Summer at Cazadero

    Summer music camp can be a time of unexpected discoveries. That proved to be true for 11-year-old ELM student, Daniela, who secured a coveted spot at this year’s Cazadero Performing Arts Camp.

    For our most recent ELM Spotlight, Daniela shares with us about her experience attending a sleepaway music camp for the first time.

  • Veronica Martinez, a Proud Parent with ELM for 10 Years

    For this edition of our Spotlight, Veronica Martinez, our site coordinator and ELM mom of two, talks about the community she found within ELM and how music has shaped her children’s lives.

  • Edith Lonergan, ELM's Enrichment Volunteer

    Since she started volunteering with ELM, our after-school enrichment volunteer, Edith Lonergan, has been a vibrant, energetic addition to our program. Not only does she help with crafts and activities each week, she also volunteers as a reading buddy, cheers on our students at ELM concerts, and keeps Kerner festive by decorating for every holiday.

  • Juan Palacios, our Youth Orchestra Conductor

    Sometimes the stars align to create moments of special import. That’s how we feel here at ELM in announcing the addition of our new conductor and teaching artist, Juan Cristóbal Palacios.

  • Reflections On Resilience

    Exploring family stories through music can be a powerful tool to discover the connection between culture and music. ELM is always exploring techniques to engage children in music education and finding ways to honor cultural diversity.

  • Nicolas Lau, Musician and Mentor

    At the age of seven, one of ELM’s first students, Nicolas Lau fell in love with music learning to play the recorder. After two years of playing the recorder, Jane suggested he try another instrument. He chose the violin and ten years later he’s concertmaster of the Marin Youth Symphony.

  • Leslye De Leon Talks elmCATS

    ELM is committed to increasing access to high quality music experiences for our students who show commitment, drive, and talent. elmCATS provides a pathway for dedicated, motivated students to deepen ELM's impact.

  • Viviana Garcia, Volunteering at ELM

    This quarter we highlight, Vivana Garcia, Heart of Marin’s Volunteer of the Year and the transformational work she has done for ELM. Her work developing, sustaining, and coordinating our new literacy and academic tutoring program has been instrumental in building the program which has grown to include over 30 volunteer tutors and reading buddies.

  • Carol Adee and Creative Conservatory

    Currently, most students have weekly private zoom lessons and group musicianship classes. Our teachers are delighted that their students are gaining greater self-efficacy and autonomy and are impressed by their rapid musical growth during this time. The personalized contact with each student also provides us with a window into their lives and enables us to respond to special needs as they arise.

  • Maaike Kahn, Teaching Artist

    Last month, Kate Fitzsimmons, freelance journalist and treasured ELM volunteer, interviewed Maaike Kahn, our lead string teacher and one of ELM’s first Teaching Artists.

  • Tim Porter, Photographer

    Tim Porter is a longtime photographer and a journalist. He’s worked in Mexico, Los Angeles, Nevada, Berkeley and San Francisco, where he served as assistant managing editor for news for more than decade and then founding editor of the newspaper’s web operation, Examiner.com. All this to say, Porter knows a meaningful story when he hears of one.

  • Jessica Bejarano, Music Director

    38-year-old Jessica Bejarano isn’t your typical classical music conductor. For one thing, in a field dominated by men, her gender alone makes her stand out. For another, her Mexican American heritage and a collection of tattoos add color and complexity. When Jane Kramer discovered Jessica in one of a flurry of media profiles, she could hardly believe her luck to find that Jessica lived in the Bay Area. Jane set about recruiting her to become ELM’s Music Director.

  • Matt Ebisuzaki, Teaching Artist

    When he took piano lessons in Kindergarten, Matthew Ebisuzaki didn’t like it. “I was a terrible pianist. I just couldn’t play. Four years later, I took up the recorder and that was different. In 4th grade, I chose the trumpet.”

  • Ericka Cortez, ELM Parent

    Ericka Cortez, the mother of two daughters, discovered ELM through a friend. “I went to one of the concerts at Pickleweed. When the children’s chorus sang ‘La Bruja’ my daughter fell in love with the program, right there. She knew the song and wanted to join. I talked to my friend and we went on the waitlist,” she recounts, “As I came to learn, ELM would embrace the entire family, including me.”

MUSIC FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

ELM was inspired by El Sistema, which started in Venezuela over 40 years ago. It is based on the belief that intensive participation in music ensembles, with high expectations for excellence, rigor and discipline has a profound impact on the development of resilience, increased self esteem and creative and critical thinking skills - all of the 21st century skills necessary for lifetime success.

El Sistema is based on a philosophy of the orchestra as a model or metaphor for an ideal community and opportunity to develop good citizens – who are disciplined, generous and devoted both to the common good and pursuit of individual excellence. As such, it is much more than a music program.