For this edition of ELM Spotlights, Gladys Romero and her daughter Emily, an ELM trombone player, sat down with our host, Kate Fitzsimmons, to talk about how overcoming fear allowed her daughter to attend a three-week wilderness trip that surprisingly made her feel more connected to her culture. 

ELM staff and students will be the first to tell you how lucky they feel to work with teaching artist, Annamarie Arai. That is only half the story. She credits much of her current success to the professionalism, trust and immense generosity she experienced when she joined ELM nine years ago, which still exists today.

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 spoke with our host, Kate Fitzsimmons, about her experience attending a sleepaway music camp for the first time.

For this edition of our Spotlight, Veronica Martinez, our site coordinator and ELM mom of two, sat down with our host, Kate Fitzsimmons, to talk about the community she found within ELM and how music has shaped her children’s lives.

At a time in life when many of her peers are looking forward to doing less, Edith Lonergan shows no signs of slowing down.

CVNL’s Heart of Marin Award for Excellence in Board Leadership was presented to ELM Board Chair, Tiana Wimmer.

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.

Our hearts are overflowing, mostly with joy, for Gricelda Calderon who is stepping into her new role as a full time music teacher at Davidson Middle School in the fall. While it is bittersweet to see her move on, we are proud of the wonderful work she will be doing at Davidson by using her talent, both as a musician, a teacher and a role model.

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.

An exciting project that ELM is embarking upon this year is the Carnegie Hall-funded Reflections on Resilience.

Leslye De Leon is an elmCAT clarinet player and community activist.

This quarter we highlight, Viviana Garcia, Heart of Marin’s Volunteer of the Year and the transformational work she has done for ELM.

Our favorite journalist, Kate Fitzsimmons, interviewed Sophie and Carol for our ELM Spotlights series. You can feel their passion and enthusiasm for the project in the interview.

Kate Fitzsimmons interviews Maaike Kahn, our lead string teacher and one of ELM’s first Teaching Artists.