Orchestrating Joy

Students who have access to Joyful Music Making

just do better.

But not everyone has access, and not everyone participates.

A group of people in a classroom smiling and waving at the camera. The person taking the selfie is a woman with light skin and brown hair. The classroom has colorful desks, educational posters on the wall, and water bottles on the tables.
Snow-capped mountain peak with pinkish sunset glow, surrounded by green forested slopes.

Washington State

73%

Low income districts with NO music program

918

Number of students per music teacher in low income districts

A mountain with snow on its peak reflecting in a calm lake. The sky is partly cloudy with pink and blue hues, and dense green pine trees line the shore.

Oregon

100%

Low income districts with NO music program

960

Number of students per music teacher in low income districts

California

Scenic view of a coastal cliff with green vegetation, white sandy beach, and blue ocean under a clear sky, with distant mountains in the background.

66%

Low income districts with NO music program

1203

Number of students per music teacher in low income districts

Low Income Districts: Populations with less than $40-50,000 annual income

Our researchers are constantly collecting information on states across the nation.

What is it like in your state?

Our Mission

The I Am Music Foundation brings joy and mental health to students and communities through

Emotionally Intelligent Music Making

We provide training, teaching and practical resources to the most vulnerable communities, and increase participation in schools that do have music programs.

Orchestrating Joy around the world

  • "In traditional programs, the music is the product, and the humans are just the means to achieve it. In her program, whole, healthy humans are the product, and the music is the means."

    EIMI Music Teacher Trainee

    Charlee Eaves

  • "I Am Music Programme has impacted my learners positively, and the love of music has really developed its root in their hearts."

    Music Exchange Program Participant

    John Njuguna

  • "I’m so happy we have this program, because there is music in my classroom where there wasn’t before, and my kids needed it. I didn’t know how bad they needed it."

    School Program Participant

    Heather Hiatt

  • "The longer I've studied math and physics, the more I've realized their connections in my own cognition to music. Piano, like math, requires its learners to make mistakes on a daily basis and meet them with curiosity."

    EIMI Student

    Miller Nelson

How we’ve orchestrated joy

  • All Elementary students reading and writing music

    Regular in-class music lessons produce 100% students grades 1-6 can read and write music

    Music program directly impacts student behavior

    Teachers at Oregon Montessori school report wildly improved student behavior metrics after only 3 months of EIMI music.

    Special Needs students read for the first time

    Severely disabled students learn to communicate and read through music symbols, starting them down the road for reading and math

  • 7th-8th grade students learn to build instruments

    In cooperation with their African friends, music students learn to construct a marimba out of locally sourced woods.

    Math champions within one year of better music training

    After just a year of improved music participation, Mirema School in Nairobi wins a national math championship.

    Toddlers read and write music

    Through instruction with their general teacher, African preschool students begin their reading careers with musical notation.

  • 6900+ educators on two continents get free training

    General teachers and music teachers in the US and Eastern Africa recieve training on how to use music to improve student health.

    Students get free small group instrument lessons

    High-needs and low-income students get free music lessons on piano, violin, voice and guitar.

    $35,000 in free resources given away

    Through the website, we are able to put free resources into the hands of music and general classroom teachers around the world

A donation fundraising chart titled 'How You Can Orchestrate Joy' with five yellow boxes detailing levels of support for a music program, ranging from 'Music Class' to 'Drum Major,' with suggested donations from $50 to $5000 and monthly contribution amounts, set against a background of musical notes.
A young girl standing at a whiteboard, drawing musical notes, with an adult woman observing in a room that appears to be a classroom or meeting space.
A woman is giving a presentation at the front of a room full of seated audience members. The room has a projection screen displaying a slide with the text 'Take a moment and imagine' and a question about character traits. The audience appears engaged, some taking notes, and some wearing masks.