We were lucky to catch up with Lindsay McIntosh recently and have shared our conversation below.
Lindsay , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is Musical Headwaters—a seven-album series I created through my nonprofit, Musica Sierra. This initiative commissions new works of music inspired by the Sierra Valley in order to bridge nature-based education with the visual and performing arts and deepen children’s social and emotional connection to the earth.
The inspiration came from a deeply personal place: raising my own children in the rural Sierra Valley where I grew up. I wanted them—and every child in our small, often overlooked community—to have access to the kind of arts education and creative tools that I was fortunate to experience later in life while studying at Juilliard and working professionally as a classical musician and educator. I also wanted those tools to reflect their lived experience: mountains, meadows, garden beds, and a way of life rooted in nature.
The most recent album, Garden: A Musical Field Journal, was developed while my son was in kindergarten. My husband, Owen McIntosh—father of our two children and also the TK–12th grade music teacher at the local school—wrote the lyrics and melodies for the songs with our own kids in mind. I worked alongside him to shape the album from the ground up, hand-picking musicians whose artistry and life experience would bring the music to life with authenticity and heart.
The core group of performers includes The Nightbirds, a trio of extraordinary women—Ashley Hoyer, Samantha Harvey, and Jade Hendrix—who are not only gifted musicians but also mothers of young children between the ages of 0 and 5. That shared lens of early childhood brings a rare and beautiful perspective to the music, aligning perfectly with the album’s aim: to nourish, connect, and support our youngest learners during a critical stage of development.
Watching the songs come to life—sung by children, tied to journaling prompts, and grounded in the rhythms of the school garden—was unlike anything I’ve experienced in my career. It felt like everything I care about came together: music, education, equity, motherhood, the environment, and love.
This project isn’t just meaningful because of what it’s become—it’s meaningful because of who it’s for. It’s for kids like mine. It’s for educators who believe in whole-child learning. And it’s for communities like ours, who deserve beauty, wonder, and access to the arts.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I’m Lindsay McIntosh—an oboist, educator, and arts entrepreneur, born and raised in Truckee, California. I’m the Founder and Executive Director of Musica Sierra, and co-founder of the Musical Headwaters series, a project that has become the most meaningful and impactful work of my life.
I trained at The Juilliard School on full scholarship, where I earned my Master’s degree in Historical Performance and performed with some of the world’s leading conductors. Early in my career, I founded New Vintage Baroque, a period instrument ensemble in New York City that blended Baroque music with 21st-century storytelling. That experience shaped how I think about tradition, innovation, and the power of music to connect people across time and place.
But after 15 years on the East Coast, my husband Owen (a tenor, songwriter, and teacher) and I returned home to raise our children in the Sierra Valley. That decision was the beginning of Musica Sierra—a deeply place-based organization that now offers world-class performances, music education, and original content for rural schools and communities. What sets our work apart is our belief that music can do more than entertain—it can educate, heal, inspire, and connect.
Through Musica Sierra, we’ve created the Musical Headwaters series—a seven-album commissioning project rooted in the natural world and designed to support educators through cross-curricular, standards-aligned content that weaves together SEL, science, and the arts. Each album is paired with an illustrated Musical Field Journal—a hybrid songbook and creative workbook for students that includes lyrics, original artwork, nature journaling prompts, and reflection tools. These are currently being used in multiple school districts across rural Northern California.
I’ve hand-curated every ensemble and collaborator in this project, ensuring they bring not only extraordinary musicianship but also lived experience that resonates with the communities we serve. Our most recent album, Garden, was written by Owen with our two young children in mind. I worked with him closely to develop the concept, and we invited artists who are also parents—specifically The Nightbirds (Ashley Hoyer, Samantha Harvey, and Jade Hendrix), all of whom have children under 5. Their perspective brought a rare depth of empathy and joy to the music, making it profoundly relatable for young listeners and their families.
Whether we’re singing about trout, birds, gardens, or watersheds, these albums are about creating stronger, more connected human beings. It’s not just music—it’s a movement to embed creativity, empathy, and environmental stewardship into the core of childhood education.
I’m especially proud of our work restoring The Old School House (TOSH) in Loyalton, which is becoming Musica Sierra’s permanent home. I secured a 30-year lease from the City for $1—a testament to the trust our community has placed in our mission. When completed, TOSH will be a rural cultural hub where performances, student showcases, and public gatherings can flourish for generations to come.
For anyone getting to know me or Musica Sierra for the first time, I want you to know this: everything we do is rooted in love—for music, for the earth, for children, and for the power of community. My work is not just about creating programs. It’s about building bridges—between art and science, tradition and innovation, rural and urban, adults and children—and planting seeds that will grow long after the music stops.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Yes—there is absolutely a mission at the heart of my creative journey.
Through Musica Sierra, I’m working to redefine how the performing arts are integrated into the classroom, particularly from preschool through 8th grade. Our goal is to create tools that don’t just teach music or science—but help children become more connected, compassionate, and conscious human beings.
At the core of this work is our Musical Headwaters series and the accompanying Musical Field Journals, which are tailored to each grade level and aligned with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). These aren’t just albums—they’re immersive, standards-aligned, cross-curricular experiences that use original music, lyrics, journaling prompts, and visual art to help students explore themes like watersheds, trout, birds, mammals, and gardens. Each one is intentionally crafted to be both developmentally appropriate and emotionally resonant.
I’ve aligned our work with a powerful and innovative education model called Outdoor Core: Mountain Kid, created by my dear friend and mentor Rob Wade, a leader in place-based learning and eco-literacy. Rob’s program emphasizes the value of direct experience in the natural world, integrated with science, literacy, and stewardship. With his guidance, I adapted Musica Sierra’s performing arts programming to support and enhance the Outdoor Core framework—making it easier for educators to incorporate arts-based, nature-connected learning into their everyday classroom routines.
What we’re building is a model where music and nature become essential tools for social-emotional learning and cognitive development—not afterthoughts, but central to how we educate the whole child. I believe children learn best when they’re engaged creatively, emotionally, and physically, and when they see themselves reflected in the stories we tell and the environments we protect.
Our ultimate hope is to inspire both educators and the next generation to not only be stewards of the arts—but stewards of the Earth. We want to help raise children who will treat our planet better than those who came before, and who feel a deep, joyful connection to themselves, each other, and the natural world around them.
That’s the heart of it all. That’s what drives me.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
For me, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist and creative is creating work that lasts—music and art that can inspire, uplift, and teach across generations. Knowing that a song we wrote might be sung in a kindergarten classroom today and remembered years later as a child grows into themselves—that’s everything.
With Musica Sierra, I’ve seen how music becomes a positive outlet for children, educators, and caregivers. It gives them language for big emotions, a joyful way to connect with each other, and a sense of wonder about the world. Seeing that spark—the happiness, the calm, the deep connection—is profoundly meaningful.
What I find especially powerful is how the arts build relationships and strengthen community. Whether it’s within school walls or at home, our music creates shared moments of reflection, celebration, and belonging. It brings families closer, helps teachers and students bond, and gives children a way to feel seen, heard, and valued.
At the heart of it all is this belief: music and art are not luxuries—they are birthrights. They are encoded in our DNA. They are how we’ve told our stories, healed, connected, and made meaning for thousands of years. Offering children and adults alike the opportunity to connect with the natural world and with one another through the music and art we’ve created—that is the greatest gift an artist can hope for
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.musicasierra.org
- Instagram: musicasierra
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/musicasierra/
- Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/lindsay-mcintosh-2b8578364
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@musicasierra
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/musica-sierra
Image Credits
None!