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By Ryan Schreck
Most children don't grow up with a grand piano in the parlor. Few have trombones lying around the house. And the closest many kids will come to creating their own music is playing air guitar in their bedrooms. The truth is, many families simply can't afford the expense that comes along with music education. That fact seems ironic in Walla Walla, a community that has long been home to the professional musicians who make up the oldest symphony west of the Missisippi.
The irony was not lost on the directors of the Walla Walla Symphony. In June 2007 they unveiled Encore!, a program designed to put more musical instruments in the hands of tomorrow's musicians. Jump-started by a $25,000 grant from the Raynier Foundation, local philanthropists have donated money and instruments to help fill the program's lending library and make music education accessible to all young people.
In a process similar to checking out a library book, kids can receive an instrument on a year-by-year basis. Each instrument comes with a $50 certificate to pay for repairs and maintenance. And all it costs is the time it takes to fill out an application and write a thank-you note to the instrument's donor. The thank-you isn't required, but it is encouraged.
J. D. Smith, coordinator of the lending library, says students, parents and teachers all appreciate the program. "Locally, the music teachers have been very excited about the library because it enables lower-income kids to begin their musical studies without having to buy or lease their tools," he says. But he stresses that there are no income requirements. "No fine print or financial disclosure required. Any kid from within 50 miles of Walla Walla is eligible."
The symphony's contribution to local music education has led to national recognition. The Encore! program was recently featured in Symphony Magazine, and that exposure increased the program's scope. It has since received donations from Seattle, Oregon and New York. The library's inventory, which changes regularly as instruments are checked out, currently includes high-end violins, a viola, flutes, clarinets, a snare drum and a professional keyboard.
If you have a musical instrument that's gathering dust, consider putting it in the hands of an aspiring musician by donating it to the Encore! lending library. "We support kids who want to learn music, any way, any kind," says Smith. "We therefore accept donation of all types of musical instruments." The instruments are appraised, repaired if necessary, and the donor receives a tax-deductible receipt.
Anybody interested in donating or checking out an instrument should contact J. D. Smith or Mike Wenberg at the Walla Walla Symphony at 509-529-8020.
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