In December of 2023, Daphne Washburn and Leslie Kashiwada formed the non-profit Sea Star Kids Foundation. Sea Star Kids Foundation is a nonprofit dedicated to providing creative arts classes to children on the Mendocino coast, regardless of their ability to pay. Learn more or make a donation here. 

Leslie is the owner of Music Together^® on the Mendocino Coast, which was founded by Liz Petersen in 1999 with classes in Mendocino and Caspar. Classes were later brought to Point Arena, Boonville, Fort Bragg, and Westport. After attending Music Together classes with her daughter for a year, Leslie became a registered Music Together teacher and started teaching for Liz in 2003. Jill Burnham joined the teaching team shortly thereafter. Leslie and Jill took over as co-directors in 2005, with Liz staying on as a teacher. Leslie became the sole director in late 2005 and has been directing and teaching ever since. She has had the pleasure of mentoring and teaching with Missy Fiedler, Rowyn Kaminski, Sarah Cullar, and Daphne Washburn. She also has a PhD in Biological Oceanography from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and taught at MiraCosta College and San Diego State University before moving up to Fort Bragg in 1999.  

Learn more about our teachers on our teacher biography page. 

Come join us for a free trial class to experience our fun, playful, educational program!