A key component of Law Rocks’ mission is to promote youth music education. In 2023, the Law Rocks Board founded the Music Matters grant, given to a local nonprofit that supports youth music education in each of our US tour cities. Omi Crawford, Executive Director of Law Rocks, says of the grant initiative:
“Law Rocks has always been about championing nonprofits, especially local organizations that make a real difference in their community. The Music Matters grant deepens that commitment, helping support music education organizations nationwide as they change young lives through the power of music. It’s inspiring and exciting to learn more about each organizations work, truly one of the best things about this work!”
We are pleased to be awarding one of three Law Rocks Los Angeles Music Matters grants to Young Musicians Foundation (YMF) on Saturday, April 25, 2026. YMF envisions “a world where all individuals embrace the power of music to affirm and sustain themselves, their communities, and their cultures.” Read on to learn about the organization and its mission in our Nonprofit Spotlight interview with Walter Zooi, Executive Director of Young Musicians Foundation.
One of three 2026 Law Rocks Los Angeles Music Matters Grant Recipients: Young Musicians Foundation | Photo courtesy of Young Musicians Foundation
1) Can you tell us a little about the history of your nonprofit, as well as its mission and focus?
Founded in 1955 as a pre-professional training orchestra, Young MusiciansFoundation (YMF) reimagined its mission in 2016 to harness music education’s social, emotional, and developmental benefits for youth historically excluded from arts access. Today, YMF works to disrupt systemic barriers to opportunity through culturally responsive, tuition-free programs that honor students’ lived experience and build skills for school, work, and life.
We deliver tuition-free music programs to K-12th grade students in Title 1 schools throughout LA County and offer trauma-informed music and creative expression programming for at promise, systems impacted youth in collaboration with community partners. At the heart of our work is the Center for Music and Creative Technologies (CMCT), in Historic South-Central Los Angeles. As our headquarters and community hub, CMCT offers tuition-free music, media-arts, and creative-career programming for the communities of South Central Los Angeles, expanding access to high-quality arts education, fostering social-emotional and technical skills, and creating pathways into the region’s creative economy.
Beyond instruction, YMF restores access to the arts as a public good and a tool for healing and agency. By integrating music education with social-emotional learning, personal development, and community-building, we help young people, and their families, thrive while advancing equity and long-term mobility in historically underserved communities.
Photo courtesy of Young Musicians Foundation
2) What is the best example of the way you’ve seen your organization’s work make a difference?
100% of graduating seniors in our programs received multiple offers from colleges and universities, majoring in diverse fields of study, from forensic pathology to biological chemistry.
3) What are some upcoming initiatives that you are planning for?
We are finalizing a unique service model where YMF in-school music students from partner local schools receive enrichment classes that are within walking distance at the YMF Center.
Photo courtesy of Young Musicians Foundation
4) What does the power of music mean to you?
YMF believes in the power of connection through music; powerful, healing connection to self, connection to others and connection to the world around us.
5) How will the Music Matters grant be used?
Grant funds will be used to expand our tuition class offerings to the communities of South Central Los Angeles.
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Learn more about Young Musicians Foundation.
Get tickets to The 15th Annual Law Rocks Los Angeles.
Header photo courtesy of Young Musicians Foundation.