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"You might have saved a life with this concert!"
–CASPAR Shelter Guest
What We Do
Shelter Music Boston provides transformative chamber music concerts that promote community, creative interaction, respect, and therapeutic benefit to those experiencing homelessness and undergoing substance use recovery.
Our Story
Shelter Music Boston was founded in 2010 by Boston Pops violinist Julie Leven, who saw a need for classical music provided as a social service in the Boston area. Since Julie’s first concerts at Shattuck Shelter and Kitty Dukakis Treatment Center in Jamaica Plain, MA, the organization has grown over the last 15 years to now serve 13 program sites, with more than 80 musicians on roster.
Julie, violin, and Rebecca, viola, played the first concerts at Shattuck Shelter in 2010
“Performing in environments of great need is a natural evolution of the role classical music should fill in modern society. To have a positive impact on the life of an unhoused individual by playing my violin is to honor classical music and the dignity of all people.”
Julie Leven, SMB Founder, Executive and Artistic Director Emeritus
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