Seattle Music Partners

Press release from Music4Life:

Music4Life and Seattle Music Partners are joining forces to provide enhanced educational opportunities to students who want to participate in instrumental music activities. To kick-off their collaboration, Music4Life today presented a King trombone to Seattle Music Partners (SMP) trombone students at Madrona K-8 School in Seattle.

“This is such a natural alliance,” says David Endicott, Co-Founder and President/COO of Music4Life. “The goal of Music4Life is to provide musical instruments for use by as many elementary-age students as possible. Seattle Music Partners provides free after- school instrumental music instruction for children in low-income elementary schools in Seattle. This is a great place for us to start this relationship.”

“SMP’s mission is to help children in low-income schools learn to play an instrument, read music and become part of a vibrant music-making community. Part of our commitment includes providing an instrument for students free of charge for the school year,” says Scott Gelband, Executive Director of Seattle Music Partners. “This new alliance with Music4Life helps ensure that every student in our program will have a ready-to-play instrument available.”

Music4Life ( www.Music4Life.org ) provides musical instruments to participating schools for students in need. The Seattle-based non-profit acquires used instruments from adults who understand that their highest and best use is to put them back into play. Besides Seattle Public Schools, Music4Life also operates programs supporting Edmonds, Everett, Highline, Mukilteo and Shoreline Public Schools. Music4Life also accepts donations to help pay for instrument repairs.

Seattle Music Partners ( www.SeattleMusicPartners.org ), also a non-profit, is dedicated to bringing more music-learning opportunities to students in low-income schools. The organization does this by offering free after-school and evening programs that use music and mentorship to empower young people. This unique program matches skilled volunteers from the community, one-on-one, with students who wish to learn how to play an instrument and become part of a music-making community. Students participating in SMP also attend weekly group lessons, led by trained teaching artists, to gain ensemble experience. The after-school program works with more than 100 4th and 5th graders, twice weekly, from Leschi, Lowell, Baily Gatzert Elementary Schools, as well as Madrona K-8. SMP’s middle school project is available to ‘graduates’ of the elementary program and meets weekly at the Garfield Community Center. Instruments, music books, music stands and even transportation are provided free of charge.

Seattle Music Partners will provide Music4Life with a wish-list of desired musical instruments, such as the trombone presented today. When Music4Life acquires any of the instruments from donors, the instruments will be made available to SMP’s students. Other future activities are anticipated, as well, such as joint fund raising events.

The two non-profits enjoy the support of notable music advocates and other community leaders. Gerard Schwarz, world-renowned conductor laureate of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, has endorsed them, saying, “These wonderful programs begin with children in elementary school at a time when, if they’re interested and talented in any way, they have the greatest chance of success. Many people tell me of the impact that direct knowledge of instrumental music has had on their lives. We intend to give this advantage to all our children.”

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Music4LifeTM provides musical instruments to participating schools for students in need. For more information, contact co-founder David Endicott at info@Music4Life.org , call (206) 409-3275 or go to their Website at www.Music4Life.org . 

Shya is a 5th grader at Lowell Elementary in her second year of SMP. Navera, her tutor, is in her second year of volunteering with SMP and she's a student at Garfield High School. Shya and Navera have spent the entirety of their time in SMP as a student/tutor pair, and it shows in every aspect of their relationship - from the music they work on to the jokes they share!

Learn more about their work together as they interview each other amongst the sights and sounds of the Lowell hallway. 

​Read an abridged transcript of the interview below!

S: What does it take to teach a music instrument?

It takes a lot. The effort, obviously, um the musical skills are important of course, but so is the  enthusiasm to want to teach a musical instrument. You have to be really engaged in what you’re doing and you want to inspire your student to want to, you know, play the musical instrument!

N:  What does it take to learn a musical instrument?
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Um, I think… You know… Well first you need to know which one you wanna play! What I did was I said okay, what’s one that looks like me. I imagined myself playing it and I said okay, that clarinet looks good on me. So I learned it, I think my first day was on [an SMP group day]. Ms. Sallie told me that I need to keep my cheeks in, have great posture, and my first note was I think C. 

S: Why do you come to SMP?
Oh, well, i come because of you mostly. I mean if i didn't come what would you have left to do right? I think its cool that I can be someone there for you, that I can be supporting you in a way, in music. So I’m teaching you something that I find really important and now i hope you think its important too, right? So, I come to SMP for you.

N: Why do you come to SMP?
​Um, same thing. Like I’ve known you for two years now, so it’s like.. I need you. This year if I didn’t have you as a tutor I would be sad, like, “I’m lost Navera…"

[Navera interjects: So you’re pretty good on your instrument. Are you sure I’m the only reason you come to SMP?]

Well, the teachers are nice, like Ms. Meaghan and Ms. Evan. When Ms. Sallie shows up she gives us this prize box…

S: If you could eat a bowl of anything, what would it be? 
Well, i like chocolate a lot but I think if i ate that much I would get sick. So maybe something like noodles. I like noodles.

N: If you could learn any song on the clarinet what would it be? Any song.

That's a really hard question. I think I’m gonna have to go with Let It Go, by Elsa [from Walt Disney’s Frozen]. I have the music but I don’t know how to do it.

S: What is your favorite thing that happens during lessons?
​Pretty much the whole lesson is really fun for me. Like, every Wednesday after school I think, “It’s SMP I’m gonna have a lot of fun today.” So I think pretty much the whole lesson is pretty engaging for both of us mostly, hopefully for both of us.​

N: So what's your favorite thing that happens?
Mostly every lesson we learn notes and when I practice them I keep on learning and trying it over, and finally I accomplish it and I’m really proud of myself. And um… yeah thats pretty much it!


S: Do you have any musical goals?
For myself, I have a lot of pieces i want to try and memorize. For school and out of school. I mean there are a lot of things I want to do. I wanna learn to improvise better. What about you?

N: What about you, do you have any musical goals?
There’s this one note i really really wanna learn [fingers a B natural]. Maybe something in my pitch.

Thanks Shya and Navera!​

We are excited to announce that SMP has been named a finalist for the 2016 Mayor's Arts and Innovation Award!

The Mayor's Arts Awards recognize the accomplishments of artists, arts and cultural organizations, and community members committed to enriching their communities through the arts. This year's finalists were chosen from over 350 nominees!

Come celebrate with us on Friday, September 2nd, at the 2016 Mayor's Arts Award Ceremony where Mayor Ed Murray will announce the winners and honor all of the finalists. Get the details here.

It is thanks to the SMP community that we have been recognized for this honor, and we are beyond thankful to our students and their families, our volunteers, and our supporters for so strongly believing in the work we do!