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Emily Gates has assisted the musical theatre program, the pit orchestra and taught choir classes at San Marin High School since 1980. The Emily Gates Performing Arts Center, which opened in 2021, is named after her and San Marin’s softball field is named in honor of her husband Gary Gates. In her personal life, Gates has three daughters, one son, 14 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Gates began teaching choir to students because she believes it helps develop students’ individual perspectives and is an enjoyable form of musical performance.
“I think [choir] is fun, I enjoy music,” Gates said. “I think it’s something that every kid needs to learn and it broadens their horizons greatly.”
Kris Starn, a San Marin parent since 2016, has also served as the Visual and Performing Arts Specialist for the past two and a half years and as the San Marin Music Booster President and Administrator for six. Starn supports the choir festivals, orders uniforms for choir students and chaperones field trips. Because of these duties, Starn works with Gates every day.
“[Gates and I] were riding on the bus, and she was 79 at the time, and I said, ‘Well, when are you going to retire?’” Starn said. “[Gates] said, ‘Well, why would I? I love what I do.’”
Gates, now 87 years old, formally retired in 2018 but decided to continue working with students on campus. Gates is no longer a teacher within the Novato Unified School District (NUSD), so she is considered a volunteer and is not paid for her work. Gates has continued to work with San Marin students. Gates continued to teach choir at San Marin due to her love for music and influence on teaching students.
Gates pushes for returning and new students to work hard on their abilities in music. Junior Sofia Gomez Lua has only been a member of the jazz choir for one year, yet she has noticed how Gates brings everyone together, regardless of their experience in performing.
“She always wants people to join the choir, no matter who they are,” Gomez Lua said. “She thinks that everybody can learn and be able to sing. She tries to build a lot of hard workers.”
Freshman Skylar Viola joined San Marin Musical Theatre when the program was working on “Rent,” which opened in March. In only a few months, Viola has taken Gates’ teachings and applied them to his life.
“She inspired me by really looking at music and detail and also trying to fix things that you probably wouldn’t [recognize], but she would, so I [can] be perfect,” Viola said. “It’s intriguing what she knows and how talented she is. It makes things very clear.”
As the 2026-27 school year inches closer, there was a discussion of ending choir as a class because of low student enrollment. To keep choir, the class was combined with jazz band. Enrollment in high school choir courses in NUSD has dropped over time due to middle school music programs facing a diminishing roster of singers.
“I mean, I thought I would [officially stop volunteer teaching] this year,” Gates said. “But when I found out that choir was leaving, I thought, ‘I’m not [leaving] if there’s not a choir, so I’ll just come back and [continue to] teach for free.’”
Gates’ dedication to the San Marin Music program for four decades has opened the range of possibilities for incoming musicians and those looking to build upon their skill set, in and outside of their respective work in programs.
