MAY 2025
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A NOTE FROM JANE
It seems as if everywhere we turn these days there are challenges. Challenges to the safety and security of our community, challenges to our well being, and challenges to our funding. With the National Endowment for the Arts all but shut down, almost all of the $400,000 pledged to El Sistema programs across the country has been cut. Needless to say, we are not optimistic about our pending proposal to the NEA to seed our Lullaby Project.
Yet in the midst of these challenges and disappointments there is a bubbling energy at ELM. Our ELM parents/board members Laura Llerena and Rosa Gonzalez have reignited our parent engagement activities and over two successive Saturdays we hosted coffee, pastries and Mother's Day flowers for our ELM moms. A group of over 20 parents gathered and provided lots of great ideas.
Another exciting event that we are looking forward to is having Dulce, our cello student, go to Peabody Conservatory this summer as a national youth ambassador in our El Sistema movement. She has been working over the past several months with her ambassador cohort in preparation. See the interview with Dulce below.
As the academic year closes, we are preparing for our June 8 concerts at the Marin School of the Arts. Our students are excitedly rehearsing for our reprisal of Mix of the Culturas, the piece we commissioned and the students co-composed. For this piece, several of our ELM alum will return to sit side-by-side with their younger peers. The piece features an incredible piano part, and a mariachi section which will be performed by ELM alums Sarahi and her dad Odilon Velazquez on guitar.
We will also celebrate our ELM graduating seniors at the concert with a moving video and recognition of their many years in ELM.
As always, please contact me if you would like to learn more about our upcoming capital campaign and for a tour. We are excited to renovate our new home and welcome the community to our ELM Center for Music & Culture.
While the challenges of the world at times feel overwhelming, the warmth of community, deep engagement and creating beautiful music act as a balm for us all.
Warmly,
Jane
Jane Kramer, PhD, Founder and Executive Director
P.S. Please contact me for a tour and to learn how you can support ELM.
STUDENT NEWS
On Sunday, April 27th, the crowd at Throckmorton Theatre was entranced by the beautiful chamber ensembles and recital performances of our elmCATS. We are so proud of their accomplishments and celebrate their dedication and commitment to their craft and their peers.
Congrats to Our Graduating Seniors
ELM is proud to announce that our six graduating seniors are all off to college in the fall. We wish them the best of everything in their new adventures as they study Communications, Speech Pathology, Biological Sciences, Criminology, Nursing, and Psychology.
Please join us at our Spring Concerts on June 8th as we celebrate their many accomplishments within and outside of ELM.
Upcoming Summer Programs
We are happy to report that we’ve been able to secure some wonderful opportunities for our students this summer:
Five ELM students have been awarded scholarships to attend Cazadero Music Camp this summer. We are very excited to hear all about their musical adventures.
Four ELM students will be attending Deer Hill Expeditions, a 3-week wilderness program in Colorado. This will be the third year a cohort from ELM has attended the program, with the support of ELM friend, Linda Mornell.
Thanks to ELM partner, Call of the Sea, 18 ELM students will attend a week-long day camp in which students sail on the bay in a tall ship while learning maritime skills.
ELM students will also participate in our summer class series where they will be working on technique and sight reading skills in a social setting with their peers. Some of ELM's high school students will also be participating in a week-long, full day chamber music camp curated by Ben Simon, the former music director of the SF Chamber Orchestra.
An Amazing Honor for Dulce
ELM Student Dulce Solis has been chosen by El Sistema for the 2025 Youth Ambassador Cohort, a group of 12 exceptional high school students selected to collaborate with the El Sistema Youth Leadership Team to prepare and present content at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, MD and is headed to Maryland in June.
FACULTY NEWS
Please join us in celebrating our very own trumpet master Gary Jones for completing his masters degree from SF Conservatory. Bravo, Gary!!
GRANT NEWS
ELM is thrilled to announce that this quarter we received funding from Comis Foundation, Find Your Light Foundation, Joseph and Vera Long, Marin Charitable, Milagro Foundation, Morris Stulsaft Foundation, and Redwood Credit Union. These grants will allow us to continue to provide musical excellence, academic enrichment, and community for our ELM students.
UPCOMING PERFORMANCES & EVENTS
Want to experience ELM in action? On Saturdays ELM students come together to rehearse in their orchestra. Join us to see ELM students practice, watch our amazing teachers instruct, and meet the ELM community.
For more information, please contact us.
ELM Spring Concert
June 8, 2025
Marin School of the Arts, Novato
1 PM - Pre-Orchestra & Sinfonia Ensembles
2-4 PM - Donor Appreciation Reception
4:30 PM - Intermezzo & elmYO Orchestras
Please join us for our Donor Appreciation Reception from 2-4pm.
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ELM provides youth with an immersive music education that empowers them to pursue their dreams and access resources they need to succeed in life.