Most readers of our newsletter know that Venezuela is the birthplace of El Sistema, the inspiration for ELM. In September, Jane traveled to Caracas to attend the El Sistema World Congress. It was such an honorto be included in this extraordinary gathering that included musicians, visionaries, and teaching artists from over 20 countries – including Angola, Turkey, India, Philippines, Senegal, Japan and Cyprus.

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

This newsletter marks the beginning not only of our new year, but a new decade.

In 2014, we took the giant step of becoming our own non-profit, with a wide-eyed and optimistic vision for our future.

Little could we have known what our future would look like. We have grown in size (from a small group of 15 recorder players to 170 students and three orchestras) and in scope - from music exclusively, to a full-fledged academic, social-emotional support and family engagement program.

As the academic year comes to a close, we have not wasted a minute ushering in a summer filled with exciting plans!

Here at ELM, we’ll be entering our third year partnership with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra and, in addition, we’ll be welcoming our inaugural community-based wind and brass program into the ELM family. Students in this class will get to try the clarinet, flute, trombone, and trumpet before selecting the instrument that resonates with them.

Read more about what summer has in store for ELM’s students!

I recently received a note from a young violin student that said, “ELM has changed my life and I love my life." I cannot imagine ten more impactful words. 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.

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 below), ELM students are starting the year strong, motivated, and inspired. They are especially excited to begin rehearsals on our original composition, “The Mix of the Culturas,” composed by Giancarlo Castro D’addona, which will premiere at our December concert at the Showcase Theater in San Rafael. Stay tuned for more information on this exciting piece, in which our students will perform alongside guest community musicians.

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.

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. 

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. 

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

With a generous seed grant from Carnegie Hall’s PlayUSA program, we inaugurated our first elmCATS cohort. 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 through their musicianship.

Amanda Gorman captured the world's attention with a show-stopping recitation of her poem, "The Hill We Climb", leading former President Obama to write, "young people like her are proof that there is always light, if only we're brave enough to see it; if only we're brave enough to be it".

Here at ELM, the potential and power of our young people expressing themselves through the arts has never been more palpable and we are thrilled to ring in 2021 with music, hope, and joy.

The challenges facing our community are daunting and exacerbated by an ever-shifting landscape. For many of our students, return to school requires sitting in front of a Chromebook for 6 hours each day with unpredictable internet, little privacy, and no opportunity for spontaneity, new friends, or playing outside.

With Herculean effort and dizzying speed our ELM teaching artists re-designed a music program for distance learning.