OP-ED: Cuts to Arts Funding Could be Detrimental to Students' Success

From Laurie de Koch, Executive Director

 At Seattle JazzED, we know that access to music education has a life-long impact on the well-being of students whether or not they decide to pursue music as a career.  A child who has access to music education develops courage and resilience. A child who has access to music education experiences the joy and validation of working in community with others, learning the value of deep listening, as well as the power of creative idea sharing.

As we witness the current budgeting shortfalls threaten a cherished music program at Washington Middle School (WMS), I am reminded of why Seattle JazzED was founded back in 2010. We are here to break down the barriers that exist in our current system. We are here to support young people as they explore their own pathways, and we work to ensure that there are opportunities for students to make music that they feel proud of, in community, with one another.

As a public-school parent whose children experienced the unsurpassed opportunity of working with Robert Knatt at WMS and Clarence Acox at Garfield High School, I witnessed up close the deep impact that these experiences had on my children, an impact that continues into their adult lives almost two decades later.  I also experienced the roller coaster ride of public funding that regularly threatened these important programs and often left many Black and Brown students behind.

Seattle JazzED was born out of an effort to ensure that the life-transforming opportunity of music education would continue to exist, regardless of public funding budgets, and not only for a select few who went to a certain school or lived in a certain neighborhood, but for every student in the city. In our community, we can support our young people by elevating arts education both in and out of our schools. We can insist that quality music education can be an indicator of a quality education.

In a perfect world, music would be fully funded in every single school and Seattle JazzED would not need to exist.  But for now, we are here, committed to creating the access that every single student in Seattle deserves.

Laurie de Koch is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Seattle JazzED. With a master’s degree in arts management and 25 years of nonprofit management experience, she has a deep commitment to equity in arts education.

Seattle JazzED was founded in 2010 with one simple mission: to make sure every young person who comes through their doors gets an excellent music education. The goal? That every JazzED student experience the life-changing magic of teamwork, accountability, and confidence that comes from a dedicated education in jazz, a quintessentially Black-American art form.

ArtsFund Awards Community Accelerator Grant

ArtsFund and the Paul G.Allen Family Foundation has administered a total of $10 million in funding as part of the Community Accelerator grants program, a historic investment in Washington’s arts and culture sector. Included in this announcement is a Community Accelator grant of $22.5K to Seattle JazzED to further sustain music education as an arts pathway for youth in the Seattle area.

The Community Accelator program grants range from $2,500 to $25,000 and are unrestricted (meaning they can be used for anything an organization deems necessary). Grant distributions were informed by a Community Advisory Panel who advised ArtsFund on the application design, outreach, evaluation and outcome, and included 12 panelists from across the state.

Since 2010, Seattle JazzED has been investing in youth to increase access to high-quality music education for students. The organization was created to address inequities in access to jazz education and provide an alternative pathway to the arts for all students. It serves over 1300 students annually, with all programming provided on a sliding scale and free loaner instruments for every musician.

Earshot Jazz Commissions JazzED Musicians

In the winter of 2023, Earshot Jazz, partner nonprofit jazz support organization, issued a Call for Composers to be commissioned for their original works. Of the dozens of candidates who applied, 3 artists were selected. Of those, 2 are on the Seattle JazzED team. Both Jahnvi Madan and Carlos Snaider have been chosen to create new works and premiere them at the 2023 Earshot Jazz Festival in the fall.

Jahnvi Madan is a musician, activist, and educator. Originally from Bellevue, she spent high school heavily involved in JazzED’s programs, and currently serves as JazzED Development Associate and educator. She will also be co-leading this year’s Femme Jazz Day.

Alongside pursuing a BM at the New England Conservatory, over the past few years Jahnvi has co-led a racial equity organization in successfully organizing and lobbying for a change in WA state law around policing in schools. Musically, Jahnvi is active in playing in the Boston and Seattle areas, and is an avid composer, songwriter, and clarinetist.

Jahnvi is focused on the intersection of arts, education, and activism, and believes strongly in JazzED’s mission to create equitable music education and community. Madan's compositions reflect her lived experience and create a response to the invisibility she felt growing up as a first generation Indian American.

Carlos Snaider is a guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, improvisor, and composer based in Seattle. He began playing piano at the age of 8 and picked up guitar shortly thereafter while living with his family in Quito, Ecuador. Carlos grew up listening to a wide array of musical styles, which has translated to his love of playing everything from jazz and Latin music to funk, hip-hop and experimental songwriting. He currently teaches private lessons with Seattle JazzED, co-leads the bands EarthtoneSkytone (with fellow JazzED faculty Kelsey Mines) and Eléré Salsa con Jazz in Seattle, and is a member of the Ay Ombe Theatre performance group led by Dominican-American performance artist Josefina Baez.

His work explores extended encounters of the present through individual and collective experiences of sound, language, and movement. He operates in the interstices of jazz, creative music, global dance music and hip-hop. For his commissioned work, he is planning to create an avant-Latin fusion trio or quartet that includes electronic instruments and open forms.

A thorough review of all applicants was made through a juried process including leaders of the Seattle artistic community. The recommendations of the panel were then reviewed, discussed and rescored by the panel to select the final three composers. Congratulations to Sheridan Riley, Jahnvi Madan, and Carlos Snaider.