Like many summer camps, mornings at Cazadero Music Camp in Northern California start with reveille. Unlike most camps, Caz often remixes the classic wake-up call — maybe with a brass ensemble, or oboes impersonating bagpipes, or banging on pots and pans with kitchen utensils. Since almost everyone on site, from staff to students, is a musician, the possibilities are endless. It’s the first of many musical moments Cazadero campers experience every day.
Next year, Cazadero celebrates its 70th anniversary. Since becoming a nonprofit in the 1990s, the camp has inspired nearly 30,000 student musicians, supported by a decades-long partnership with the Hewlett Foundation. Located in a redwood forest, Caz welcomes kids ages 9 to 18 to make music while enjoying classic summer camp fun. Campers return year after year to grow as musicians and make lifelong friends, and many return as alumni to serve as staff.
“At Hewlett, we believe that connecting Bay Area communities to the performing arts begins by bringing those experiences to our youngest neighbors,” said Tom DeCaigny, Program Officer on Hewlett’s Performing Arts team.
Cazadero’s Executive Director Emily Wainacht knows the benefits of youth arts programs personally; she’s a Cazadero alum who credits the camp with her lifelong commitment to music.
“There was a period when I was on the verge of quitting music entirely,” recalls Wainacht. “Caz changed that. Surrounded by an incredible community of peers and inspiring teachers who brought such joy and excitement to playing, that short time at camp gave me the purpose and drive to keep going all year long.”
Wainacht spent five years at Caz as a camper before returning as a counselor and eventually becoming Executive Director. But this summer was unlike any she’d experienced before.
A storm and a deadline
In December 2025, Cazadero was hit by a major storm. On Christmas Eve, Wainacht started receiving alarming texts from Camp Director Carolyn Niehaus-Owen, including photos of devastating damage. Cazadero is located in one of the rainiest parts of California, so the camp is used to storms, landslides, and floods — but nothing had compared to this.
“I went up shortly after Christmas…the pictures couldn’t even do it justice. There were branches everywhere, and the force of the branches falling and the wind had caused punctures to decks and incredible amounts of damage,” said Wainacht. “It was awful to see and hard to imagine it looking like Caz again.”
Already halfway through the off-season, she and her team only had a few months to get camp ready. It was a big job. Still, the team was determined to open for their full 2026 camp season. “We immediately started making plans and figuring out the next steps,” said Wainacht. “Always with the goal in mind of safely opening for our first program in May. That was always the goal for us.”
To meet that target, the team started rebuilding immediately. It was an intensive process, involving a lot of logistics between the City of Berkeley — which is Cazadero’s landlord — insurance companies, and contractors. Slowly and carefully, they started chipping away at the damage and debris while sharing regular updates with their camp community online.
Things started feeling more normal by the time Cazadero hosted its volunteer weekend in April — an annual pre-summer tradition that took on a new meaning in the wake of the storm damage. Volunteers helped with standard opening tasks, like setting up bed frames and tarps for tents, and that’s when it was finally clear they would open as scheduled. The turnout was also a reminder of how many people care about Caz, with alumni, former staff, and neighbors all showing up to help.
A summer of music, against the odds
This summer, Cazadero welcomed 645 campers and employed 147 staff, none of whom would have been able to attend if camp wasn’t ready to open. Campers spent several hours a day in music classes, learning new pieces in only a few days, studying under different conductors, and performing concerts every week for a live audience. All of them share one thing: a commitment to their craft. As one camper described it: “Everyone speaks the same language. Not the language of English, Spanish, or French, but the language of music.”
Wainacht also pointed to the broader value of sleepaway camp itself, whether campers spend their days studying instruments, playing sports, or simply soaking up the summer sun.
“In a world increasingly driven toward isolation and screens, camp gives young people this incredible opportunity to connect and collaborate together, in person. And we’re in this canyon in a redwood forest with no cell reception,” she said. “They’re fully present in the work of the camp and the communities that they are building.”
DeCaigny said, “Whether someone dreams of a career in music or simply enjoys playing as a hobby, I have seen firsthand the impact Caz has on campers. It shows the power of music to bring people together while helping young people become more creative, confident, and connected to their communities.”
Cazadero just closed out another successful summer. Looking back, Wainacht can recall countless memories that made the long hours of cleanup and complicated logistics more than worth it, but one in particular stands out: a shy student whose stage fright was so severe he ran off stage during an earlier school concert. This summer, he joined Cazadero’s jazz ensemble and conquered his fears by opting to perform not once but twice at the weekly concert.
“At Caz, he found that joy in music again.”
