What We're Up To
As Music4Life™ continues to make progress in providing free access to music education for public school students regardless of their income, we have fun things to share. Read on to find a reason to smile and things to celebrate with us. And if you have a tip or event to share with us, please reach out via email or phone at 206.999.2388.
Events
Everett Dine Out
Thursday, April 23, 2026 - 4:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Shawn O'Donnell's
122 128 Street Southeast, Everett, WA, 98208 (map)
Enjoy a night out while giving back at Shawn O'Donnell's—where a portion of food and non-alcoholic beverage sales will benefit Music4Life™, a nonprofit that provides free, donated, and refurbished musical instruments to local public school students in need. Learn more here.
"Beautiful: The Carol King Musical"
Village Theatre (Issaquah & Everett) and Music4Life™ are collaborating on the presentation of "Beautiful: The Carol King Musical." The play runs from November 14th to December 23rd at Village Theatre in Issaquah and from January 6, 2024 to January 28, 2024 in Everett. Get more info and buy tickets here.
Music4Life™ is supported in part by chapters comprised of local community leaders. Chapters are rewarded for their financial productivity: The more funds they raise for Music4Life, the more instruments their school district gets.
Some Chapters now produce fund raising events so Music4Life can pay for instrument repairs. The Highline Music4Life Chapter is an example. Rotary members of the Highline Chapter produce the “Blues & Brews Festival” held each August at the Des Moines Beach Park. Another fundraiser is the “Poverty Bay Wine Festival” held in the early spring at the Des Moines Beach Auditorium.
Another example is the Everett Music4Life Chapter's annual community concert series held in April or May. The 2018 concert on May 3rd featured the Randy Oxford Band and several student ensembles. The 2019 event featuring prominent professional music ensembles is preliminarily planned for April 23rd again at the Everett Civic Auditorium. A separate event is being considered for April/May 2019 and featuring accomplished student ensembles.
News
- Details
Recorders Program
In 2013 the Seattle Symphony Orchestra (SSO) told us of a new program they were considering for very young kids. Called the “Link Up” program, it is a product of the Carnegie Foundation. Under Link Up, recorders (the little flute-like instrument that sticks straight out of the mouth and that you likely played at some time as a child) are provided to third- and fourth-graders, about as young as most will express an interest in instrumental music). The idea was that local youngsters would get acquainted with their recorders for a couple months and then be invited to Benaroya Hall to play their recorders with the Seattle Symphony. Music4Life™ thought it an inspirational idea that would create life-long memories and agreed to help.
The first year we provided 200 recorders to Highline Public Schools as a test case. Link Up quickly proved to be a resounding success, so the next year we provided 400 recorders and 800 the next year. Everett Public Schools was added in 2017 with 80 recorders. In 2018, Music4Life provided 1,558 recorders to Highline and Everett has grown to 230.
Most importantly is the experience the kids have with the SSO’s Link Up. Several times in March the main floor of Benaroya Hall is packed with kids who are rockin’ with the Seattle Symphony. Parents, other relatives, teachers and others fill the galleries. It’s a real happenin’ and, if you haven’t seen it, you should! Click here for more information about the SSO’s Link Up program.
Photo by Brandon Patoc
Photo by Brandon Patoc
Photo by Brandon Patoc
Photo by Brandon Patoc
Photo by James Holt
Endorsements
“This wonderful program (Music4Life) 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.”
– Gerard Schwarz, Conductor Laureate, Seattle Symphony Orchestra
“Statistics and research overwhelmingly demonstrate the effectiveness of the arts in improving skill levels, test scores and overall performance of students. But if you sift through the rhetoric to the research you will find that the arts are both a desirable and necessary part of a well-rounded education.
“A recent report by the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities entitled ‘Coming Up Taller,’ finds that ‘Safe havens of music, theater, dance and visual arts programs have proved particularly potent in stemming violence and drug abuse, and in keeping students from dropping out of school.’. The report confirmed a significant correlation between arts education and improved academic performance and test scores, increases in student attendance, as well as decreases in school dropout rates.
“Yes, we live in the ‘real world’ now, a world of budgets and bottom lines, bills to pay and jobs to do, family duties and household chores but without strong minds and strong hearts, we will never be able to fulfill all of these responsibilities. This ‘real world’ will be shaped and guided by us, and by our children. And who we are, and who our children will become, is directed by the education we receive. Without a strong education in the arts, all of us, our entire society, shall be the poorer and weaker. Now is the time to make sure that our dreams, and our children’s dreams, can become a reality.”
– The Late Marvin Hamlisch, Famed Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, Tony, Golden Globe & Pulitzer Prize winning artist, conductor, composer, arranger & musician
“As a 10-year-old, I was growing up in Viroqua (veer-OH-qwa), Wisconsin, a small (3,500) town in rural southwest Wisconsin, hardly big enough then or now to fill even one section at Safeco Field. Just into sixth grade, my father had died recently. My mother was blind, as she was to be much of her life. And I had a disabled younger sister at home. My three older brothers were grown and gone. I had become ‘the MAN of the house.’ Somehow we were scraping by on Social Security.
“Left largely to govern myself, I was getting into trouble and hanging out with the wrong crowd. In Viroqua at that time, that meant nothing much more than throwing tomatoes at passing trucks at night and sneaking into the local theater. But I was a kid headed for trouble. Maybe big trouble.
“And then Emory Nordness stepped into my life. “Nordy,” as we all affectionately called him, was the high school band teacher and put a tuba into my hands. He took me off the streets and gave me something meaningful, fun and positive to do with my time. And to this day I believe he literally saved my life. He and instrumental music. Because Nordy also opened the wonderful world of music to me, something I’ve continued to enjoy and appreciate for the rest of my life. My second, long-term life.
“For quite some time, I wondered how I could adequately thank him and others who had helped me along my way. Somehow, “thank you,” even earnestly spoken, just didn’t seem enough. And finally I realized what I could do: Pass his gifts on to other kids.
“And that’s why I became a co-founder of Music4Life. It gives me an adequate way of saying thanks to Nordy, to recognize his gifts, to do something meaningful in my adopted community in the Pacific Northwest and to have some fun along the way. Thanks, Nordy.”
– David Endicott, President/COO & Co-Founder, Music4Life
“What I like about Rotary District 5030’s support of Music4Life is that we’re enabling people to pass on their passion for music to kids who are just developing theirs.
“In her article called The Importance of Music Education Alexis Kalivretenos states, ‘What if there was one activity that could benefit every student in every school across the nation? An activity that could improve grades and scores on standardized testing? An activity that would allow students to form lasting friendships? An activity that would help students become more disciplined and confident? . . . This activity is music.’
“I am proud that Music4Life continues to be endorsed as an Official Project of Rotary District 5030 and of the positive role we’ll play in a child’s development.”
Alan Merry, 2018-19 District Governor, Rotary International District 5030
