Our Story

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Julie Leven on the origins of Shelter Music Boston

"Since I first picked up the violin as a nine-year old, the instrument has been my calling: the beauty, emotional expressiveness, and depth of the music are infinitely rewarding. I have played professionally for over 35 years in the great concert halls of the world and on 30 commercial recordings.

​In December 2009 I read in the New York Times about violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins, who plays in homeless shelters in Manhattan. Immediately I realized that we need this in Boston; that I would create a sustainable nonprofit organization to be staffed by professional musicians who would deliver concerts as a social service.  Soon, I had lined up concerts, two per month, at the Shattuck Shelter and Kitty Dukakis Treatment Center in Jamaica Plain, MA.

The first concerts were a revelation: never had I experienced such a level of appreciation for my art from an audience. 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 a homeless individual by playing my violin is to honor classical music and the dignity of all people."

          SMB Founder, Executive and Artistic Director Emeritus Julie Leven with audience members following a performance at
  Pine Street Inn-Shattuck Shelter
Photo Credit: Steve Olimpio

Milestones on our Journey

• May 2010:  First concerts at Kitty Dukakis Treatment Center and Shattuck Shelter. 
• May 2011:  Marked the first year anniversary of Shelter Music Boston concerts.  
• October 2011:  Shelter Music Boston musicians commenced a new shelter concert series at Rosie's Place, made possible by the first foundation to invest in our work: the PatsyLu Fund for Women's Projects, of the Open Meadows Foundation.
• March 2012:  Concerts commence at Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program and Pine Street Inn.  
• May 2012:  First concerts at Women's Residential Treatment Program at Dimock Center.
• December 2012:  Shelter Music Boston was selected by the Social Innovation Forum of Root Cause as their first-ever Classical Music Social Innovator.
• May, 2013:  Julie Leven introduced Shelter Music Boston to the audience at the Social Innovation Forum Showcase ~ the first SIF Showcase presentation ever to include live classical music.
• June 2013: Concerts start at the Crittenton Women's Union Hastings House ~ the first Shelter Music Boston concerts for women with young children. 
• July 2013: 100th SMB shelter performance!
• April 2014: Julie was named a Boston Neighborhood Fellows Program Award Winner, and the first-ever classical musician to win this award. Expansion to seven shelters in 2014--five in Boston, one in Cambridge and one in Waltham.
• November 2014: The Massachusetts House of Representatives recognized Shelter Music Boston for "concerts that bring the arts, dignity, and respect to homeless men and women."
• During 2015: welcomed to the rosters of the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Boston Cultural Council, and performed concerts at Women's Lunch Place.  We performed our 250th shelter concert!
• In 2016: expanded service to Lifebridge of Salem, providing the North Shore of Boston with shelter concerts.
• In 2017: welcomed to the roster of the National Endowment for the Arts, served the Lowell Transitional Living Center and added concerts at the Men's Stabilization Program of Pine Street Inn.
• In 2018: named our concert series for women in recovery at the Dimock Center the Ilene Beal Concerts for Women in recognition of a $250,000 grant from the Beal Charitable Foundation.  Piloted concerts for homeless children in partnership with The Boston Philharmonic and the Malden-based organization, Housing Families.
• In 2019: performed our 500th concert.  Gave the world premiere performances of the first-ever operatic work about African American composer Florence Price.
• In 2020: virtual programming enabled SMB to create new partnerships with more than twenty organizations across Greater Boston.
• In 2021: Indigenous composers' music presented to SMB audiences virtually and live via our Voices From The Land series.
• In 2022: Return to Live concerts! Performances of Voices of Hope, a series of short musical compositions based upon poems written by individuals experiencing homelessness in Boston, set to music by 7 composers, and performed by Shelter Music Boston musicians.