Gold started the festival because she found that most summer music programs considered students younger than 12 too young for intensive training. The first Summer String Festival had 78 students. Now, the competitive program accepts more than 150 students each summer.

The festival has taught and nurtured thousands of young musicians. Alumni have gone on to become world-renowned musicians — Kevin Lin, Tito Muñoz, Katherine Kobylarz, Lindy Tsai, Caleb van der Swaagh — as well as respected physicians, attorneys, educators, artists, activists, and leaders in technology. Besides the outstanding accolades that our alumni tout, “EMS is most proud of who they are as young leaders and human beings,” says Gold.

When we began the Summer String Festival in 1996, no one would have believed what it has become 27 years later. We have students traveling from California to Singapore and have retained the most extraordinary musicians. The impact of this community spans almost three generations.

Amelia Gold, Founder

Summer String Festival Through the Years

1996

“The New York Times” compared the festival location — The Elisabeth Morrow School’s 14-acre campus — to that of Tanglewood, a music venue in western Massachusetts that has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937.

1997

When discussing the festival in 1997, Gold told “The Record,” “What it does is bring people together through music. It’s an unforgettable experience.”

2020

In response to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gold replaced the festival with the EMS Summer Arts Academy, which featured online instrumental lessons for violin, viola, cello, flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, and percussion. In addition, students participated in instrumental classes, musicianship classes, and dynamic arts electives ranging from dance, visual art and photography, creative writing, athletics and fitness, film, theater and design, and maker projects.

“During the pandemic, I watched almost every arts program across the nation shut down without any virtual alternative. I was inspired to bring the best of what the EMS Arts Department does for children from our community and all over the world,” says Gold, who brought back the Summer String Festival the following year.

2023

In 2023, the Summer String Festival will celebrate its 28th year (including the EMS Summer Arts Academy in 2020).