05/28/2026
It’s been a big season for Music For The Future in California — and we’re not done yet.
Since January, PMHU has completed residencies at five correctional facilities across the state:
🎵 Central California Women’s Facility — January
🎵 Santa Rita (Alameda County) — January
🎵 Vista Detention Facility — April
🎵 Pitchess Detention Center — April
🎵 La Entrada de Los Angeles — April
Each one followed the same model: a week-long in-person residency with a string quartet, followed by weeks of remote composition instruction. Students learned music theory, wrote original pieces for a string quartet, and worked toward something most of them never imagined — a celebration concert at San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Friction Quartet performed that concert in March, premiering compositions by students from CCWF and Santa Rita. A second celebration concert is coming June 11 for students from Pitchess and La Entrada — and remote instruction is happening right now.
Last night, Dr. Jess Boykin and Dana Martin represented PMHU at SFCM’s Arts Leadership Institute panel “Healing Through Music,” alongside leaders from the SF Symphony, LA Phil, UCSF, and the Global Brain Health Institute.
As Dana shared: “We’re able to invite friends and family to see this achievement: That is the biggest moment for our students, to be able to share what they’re doing with their friends and family, and specifically their children.”
We’re proud to be rounding out this season — and already looking ahead to next year. But seasons like this don’t happen without support.
Thank you to our partners who make this work possible: , , and — forces that are helping and supporting California’s communities in ways that matter deeply.
Music, Within Reach is live through June 30. Help us come back next season even stronger. Link in bio.
