Press release:
Earlier this month representatives of The Clowes Fund announced that Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras (SYSO) will receive a three year $90,000 grant to support its SYSO-in-the-Schools program. Developed in partnership with Seattle Public Schools, the program expands Seattle's elementary and middle school instrumental music programs and provides information on the benefits of participatory instrumental music education programs.

Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras will receive $90,000 over three years to continue the instrumental music programs established in elementary schools and at Denny International Middle School in Southwest Seattle. This project was initiated three years ago through a $500,000 Excellence Award from the Wallace Foundation to Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras. The Clowes Fund support ensures program sustainability after the term of the Wallace Foundation award so that students in Southwest Seattle Schools continue to benefit from instrumental music lessons, peer-to-peer mentoring, public performances and community and parental engagement.

The goal of the SYSO-in-the-Schools program is to harness the resources of Seattle Youth Symphony to address the inequitable distribution of instrumental music instruction in Seattle Public Schools and to create vibrant, self-sustaining orchestral music programs at elementary through high school levels. Success of the program is evidenced by the fact that, in its first year, student participation in instrumental music programs in these schools increased by 40%. We hope that with the support of The Clowes Fund the strategies developed to address inequity in music instruction can be applied to other areas of the Seattle School District. Additionally, research information derived from this project will be used to identify the educational and developmental benefits of SYSO programs and to support the organization's arts education advocacy efforts.

Responding to The Clowes Fund grant award, SYSO Executive Director Dan Petersen said, "The Clowes Fund's generous grant underscores the importance of music education in our schools. It is a validation of the excellent work done by SYSO and its superb music educators and artist faculty." And according to Seattle Youth Symphony Music Director Stephen Rogers Radcliffe "fostering life-long participation in the arts begins with nurturing hands-on involvement in the creative process. The benefits of making music at a young age accrue over a lifetime. With this program, SYSO not only trains the musicians of tomorrow, but the audiences of tomorrow as well."

About The Clowes Fund:
The Clowes Fund, Inc. is a family foundation established in 1952, in Indianapolis, Indiana; which makes grants in Indianapolis; Seattle, Washington; and northern New England to support human services, education and the arts.

About The Wallace Foundation:
The Wallace Foundation is an independent, national foundation dedicated to supporting and sharing effective ideas and practices that expand learning and enrichment opportunities for all people. Its three current objectives are: strengthening education leadership to improve student achievement; improving out-of-school learning opportunities; and building appreciation and demand for the arts. The Foundation maintains a Knowledge Center of free publications on what it has learned at www.wallacefoundation.org.

About Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras:
Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras, founded in 1942, is the United States' largest youth orchestra training program, providing high quality, long-term, direct involvement in the study and performance of music to over 1,400 students annually. One of Seattle's oldest and most respected cultural institutions, SYSO provides life changing musical experiences for talented students in the Pacific Northwest, regardless of their financial resources. SYSO helps students develop their relationship to great music, expand their capacity for self discipline and focus, learn the value of community and teamwork, and continuously acquire new musical skills with professional artist teachers. SYSO alumni play in every major orchestra in the United States and hold leadership positions in the major orchestras and opera companies of Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, Cleveland, Boston, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and New York. They also perform in the leading ensembles of London, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Milan, Hong Kong and Tokyo.