June Is “Music4Life Month” in King & Snohomish Counties

From left, King County Exec Dow Constantine,
4Culture Executive Director Jim Kelly,
Music4Life™ Shoreline music educator Ken Noreen,
County Council Rep Rod Dembowski.
Not pictured,  Music4Life™ President David Endicott

June is “Music4Life Month” say County Executives Dow Constantine and John Lovick, as well as the mayors and city councils of several cities in King and Snohomish Counties.

Music4Life™ is the Seattle-based nonprofit that acquires “lovingly used” musical instruments from adults no longer need them, gets them repaired and then provides them to participating public school districts for use by elementary-aged students of low income families. Besides Seattle Public Schools, Music4Life also operates programs supporting Edmonds, Highline, Mukilteo and Shoreline Public Schools.

The program acquires used instruments from adults who understand that their highest and best use is to put them back into play. With adequate resources, Music4Life also buys new musical instruments for school districts.

“Summer is when we have to focus on getting used musical instruments repaired and ready-to-play so that students this fall can start to use them as soon as they are enrolled,” says Betty Woods, former President/CEO of Premera Blue Cross and current Governing Board Chair of Music4Life™. 

“We're very grateful to Dow Constantine, John Lovick and the mayors of our participating communities for their support in drawing attention to this critical educational need.” 

Proclamations declaring county and city support for the Music4Life initiative have been enacted by Mayors Luci Krakowiak, Burien; Dave Kaplan, Des Moines; Mary Jane Goss, Lake Forest Park; Susan West, Normandy Park; Shari Winstead, Shoreline in King County and by Dave Earling, Edmonds; and Jennifer Gregorson, Mukilteo in Snohomish County. Many members of the communities’ city councils also support the initiative.

“The reason this is so important is because research shows that students who participate in instrumental music programs tend to do better in math, science, history, literature, computer science, international languages, reading, writing and other academic disciplines,” Woods says. 

“This is in addition to what they learn in terms of teamwork and discipline. All this is true, unless their parents can't afford to get them a musical instrument in the first place. And in today’s economy, many parents can't afford to rent a musical instrument. To this extent, Music4Life is just as much an ‘education program’ as it is a ‘music program.’”

The King County Council with Jim Kelly and Ken Noreen
Councilmember Rod Dembowski was the sponsor

One recent national report found that half of all public school students are from income-eligible families that qualify for participation in the Free-and-Reduced-Lunch program. The Puget Sound area is no exception.

“Our hope is that adults who know of Music4Life will donate their musical instruments to us now so we can get them repaired over the summertime,” Woods says. “An instrument Donor Form must accompany the instrument and is available for downloading on our website.” (or here)

Music4Life enjoys the support of notable music advocates and other community leaders. Gerard Schwarz, world-renowned conductor laureate of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, has endorsed the program, saying, 

“This wonderful program begins 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.”

Music4Life™ is supported in part by grants from the Hazel Miller Foundation, First Choice Health; 4Culture (the former Seattle-King County Arts Commission); the Knossos Foundation; various local Rotary and Kiwanis clubs; the Highline Schools Foundation; Nina McLemore LLC; as well as by the law firm of Garvey Schubert Barer; Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Cascade Symphony Orchestra, the Edmonds Center for the Arts, Kennelly Keys Music stores, Music and Arts stores, Hammond Ashley Violins in Issaquah, the Guitar Center stores and others.

For more information or to donate an instrument to Music4Life, contact DavidEndicott@Live.com , call (206) 409-3275 or go to the website. Instrument donation forms are available online, as well as at designated instrument drop-off sites.