Enriching Lives through Music

Enriching Lives through Music offers chorus, orchestra, chamber music, and parent music groups, along with a concert series and a summer camp. The program also runs a Summer Chamber Music Camp and provides scholarships for private lessons for exceptionally motivated students.

• Schedule: For two weeks, students met everyday to rehearse in small chamber music groups.
• Price: ELM is a full childhood, full scholarship program for every student. There are no financial barriers to participation.

Enriching Lives through Music began as a pilot project in 2008 and is a full scholarship, multi-year, intensive program. Its mission states that it provides youth with an immersive music education and resources that inspire and empower them to pursue their dreams, and that it is committed to supporting the social, emotional, and academic well-being of its students. The leadership team includes Executive Director Jane Kramer, Ph.D., who took a leave of absence from her research position at the University of California, San Francisco Institute for Adolescent Health Policy, and tutor coordinator Viviana Garcia, a music education major at NYU.

The program serves primarily Latino children and families who live in and attend school in the Canal neighborhood of San Rafael, an area of socioeconomic disadvantage, and it addresses the academic achievement gap by providing full scholarships and academic support to students for their entire childhood. Enriching Lives through Music partnered with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra to co-host their second annual Summer Chamber Music Camp. It has been featured in Marin Magazine, Marin Independent Journal, ABC7 Bay Area, San Francisco Classical Voice, Marinlocalnews, Pacific Sun Magazine, Marin Arts Website, WithItGirl, Marin East Bay Times, and Marin Living Magazine. Enriching Lives through Music is a 2021 Giving Marin grant recipient, was voted as one of the best in Marin County for educational nonprofits, and receives a portion of the proceeds from a Sweetwater Music Hall Arts Fund benefit gala for its scholarship fund. The program is committed to accessibility and is ADA compliant.

Last updated March 20, 2026.