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Carmel Bach Festival   Bring the whole family for a fun, interactive concert designed to engage and delight audiences. The performance is followed by a post-concert faire with treats and opportunities to explore musical instruments and community partners in the arts and sciences. YMMC will have a booth presenting a music instrument "petting zoo," bubbles, stickers, pencils and information regarding August auditions and registration for Junior Youth and Honors orchestras and Orchestra in the Schools. This concert is free and suitable for ages 3+, a perfect multigenerational experience.  Saturday, July 19 th  11:30 am – 2:00 pm   To get a seat go to https://bachfestival.org/events/family-concert-071925/?occurrence=2025-07-19

Hello YMMC Community, the Carmel Bach Festival has posted free events and masterclasses available to music students in the community. This is such an amazing opportunity to bring the family to a concert and enrich their arts experience, encourage your music student to see where their daily practice can take them, or help your student bridge to the next level with some hands on insight from some of the best musicians performing in the CBF. Here's the link and be aware that this already in progress. https://bachfestival.org/free-events-community-egagement/   Rock some Bach this summer! Virginia Best Adams Masterclass Monday, July 7 from 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM Thursday, July 10 from 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM Monday, July 14 from 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM Thursday, July 17 from 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM Monday, July 21 from 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM Thursday, July 24 from 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

🎵Best Regards to Annette Ma, YMMC '24 Graduate Annette is a selected participant in the Emerging Composers Intensive (ECI) held June 28 - July 6, 2025. All events are free & open to the public. See below for details.  ECI finishes the week with two concerts where the emerging composers' works are professionally performed. Annette Ma's will be performed on July 5th. Please come to both concerts for a complete awesome experience. Much appreciation to Hidden Valley and ECI for this tremendous gift to the community! YMMC values the generous ongoing support of Hidden Valley Music Seminars and the generosity of every one of you! Your contributions are vital to provide high quality music education to as many young musicians as possible throughout Monterey county!

Every year when the Carmel Bach Festival's Young Artists Showcase gets announced I'm thrilled but not surprised at the number of Youth Music Monterey County students, past and present, that are a part of the line-up. You, your families, and our greater YMMC supporters are encouraged to attend Saturday, June 28th, at 3pm. Tickets are $15 and the music will be amazing.

Our Instrument Hospital Fund needs your help. https://www.youthmusicmonterey.org/donate No Patrick, but the cello sure needs our help! Summer is in full swing and our staff has been working on preparing for next year's music instruction. YMMC including Orchestra in the Schools and South County Strings needs your help with our music instrument inventory and repair fund. Our music instruments are kept in the best shape possible for everyone including our youngest and newest musicians and this is a significant expense. Please consider giving to our Instrument Hospital Fund   so that every student gets an instrument that is in good shape come Fall. All amounts are welcome. Thank you for your continued support. https://www.youthmusicmonterey.org/donate

Mariam is going to be a featured soloist at the Monterey Symphony during their 2025-2026 Season. Here is the link to cut and paste:  https://www.montereysymphony.org/current-season/ . Scroll down to the April 18 & 19, 2026 Weekend: Thus far she has had an amazing career. YMMC looks forward to hearing her perform and encourages you to do so as well.

Congratulations Blair on your Incredible Success! Blair is the founder and CEO of Chaos Creators ( https://www.chaoscreatorsent.com/ ), an entertainment agency dedicated to out-of-the-box social media marketing, fan engagement and short-form content creation. In her executive role, she has secured deals with Universal Music Group Nashville, led social media efforts for Interscope artist Kassi Ashton, and worked on projects like Dasha's viral hit "Austin". Forbes 30 Under 30 is the annual list published by Forbes magazine that highlights young leaders in their particular fields. ( https://www.forbes.com/30-under-30/2025/music )   Beginning as a violinist in JYO, Blair was a dedicated YMM musician for seven years. She became principal violin in the second violin section, then switched to viola prior to her move to HO. In 2014, following graduation from Santa Catalina School and YMM, Blair earned her Music Business Bachelors Degree at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, where she still lives and creates. At Belmont U., she honed her marketing skills through a number of internships. Prior to launching Chaos Creators she served as the creative director of Jonas Group Media, a marketing agency she built alongside Kevin Jonas, Sr. Blair has also been featured as a speaker at numerous events including the Youth Marketing Summit, the Women in Music Summit, and others.    Thank you Blair for leading the way with your amazing contribution to music business!

by Jeanne Gavrin Youth Music Monterey County proudly accepted the Arts for Youth Award of Monterey County Gives! 2021. Created to support mental health in youth through the arts. This award comes with a $1000 grant, for which we are grateful, from the Community Foundation for Monterey County. The grant will provide tuition assistance for one child to participate in YMMC for a year. Why Is Music Important to Mental Health? According to Erin Bailey, music educators are in a prime position to positively affect youth mental and emotional health (https://bit.ly/3d4aldD). In Bailey’s study, teens stated that music participation helps them release or control feelings and cope with pressure, loss, or abuse. Karen, an appreciative parent of an Honors Orchestra musician, provides an example: “My son came home from school on a YMMC afternoon extremely upset because he had failed terribly at sports that day. He was so distraught that both his dad and I drove him to rehearsal. However, we picked up an elated teen. He told us how the music raised his spirits and beyond that, to think through ways he could improve his sports. Thank you YMMC!” Despite the obvious challenges, YMMC provided virtual orchestral instruction during the pandemic. The “Fresh Perspectives” series added more Zoomable opportunities. Creative minds around the world provided events such as inspirational master classes and engaging career oriented interviews. Tricia, a grateful mom wrote: “YMM has had a lot to do with him [my son] staying motivated [during Covid]. While his other music groups have come to a complete halt, YMM has encouraged and given him a reason to keep the music going! We are incredibly grateful. You all, and this organization, have helped my kid and so many others in ways you don’t even realize. Thank you for supporting their mental health by giving them purpose, goals, and reasons to continue on with their music!!” Music Making Connects Us In this critical time, as we move out of the pandemic and students come together in person, YMMC continues to rise to the occasion of supporting mental health. Experiences like South County Strings students excitement at engaging in the Orchestras’ Spring Retreat Weekend, the camaraderie displayed at the Catalyst Quartet Master class, and the fabulous energy of the season’s final concert, “Magic By the Bay”, where over 100 students took the stage at once, exemplify what making music together can do. Kelly, an alumna, expressed what we hope each musician can take away: “When I joined YMMC, I never expected to also be joining a tightly-knit family of musicians from all walks of life. From trading laughs with the brass section, to sprinting home last-minute for black concert socks with some violinists, to letting dinner go cold and sharing stories till dawn with people I now consider my best friends, I cherish every relationship I’ve forged in these orchestras.”

With the Catalyst Quartet and YMMC's Chamber Players ​ Saturday, April 9, 2022 10:30am - 12:00pm Carpenter Hall, Sunset Center, Carmel Free, no tickets required JOIN US as we welcome back the Grammy Award-winning Catalyst Quartet back to YMMC's Master Class Series, "Fresh Perspectives". This is the quartet of the future, performing the works of living and diverse composers. We are honored that they are sharing their valuable time and unrivaled talent with us again. Hailed by The New York Times at its Carnegie Hall debut as “invariably energetic and finely burnished… playing with earthy vigor,” the Catalyst Quartet believes in the unity that can be achieved through music and imagine their programs and projects with this in mind, redefining and reimagining the classical music experience.