A HOLIDAY PERFORMANCE BY THE JUNIOR SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA KICKS OFF THE SYSO receives $500,000 Wallace Excellence Award for SYSO in the Schools

Seattle, WA – On Wednesday, November 19, 2008, representatives of the Wallace Foundation announced that Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras (SYSO) will receive a four-year, $500,000 Excellence Award to support its SYSO in the Schools program. Developed in partnership with Seattle Public Schools, the program will expand Seattle’s elementary and middle school instrumental music programs and provide information on the benefits of participatory instrumental music education programs.

Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras will receive $500,000 over four years to introduce new instrumental music programs in elementary schools, and ultimately increase the number of middle school orchestra programs in the Seattle school district. The project is expected to serve between 6,000 and 10,000 students with instrumental music lessons, in-school concerts and free tickets to Seattle Youth Symphony performances.

The Wallace Excellence Award will also be used to design and carry out a project to identify the educational and developmental benefits of SYSO programs to both current and former students, eventually using this information to support arts education advocacy programs and SYSO’s marketing and development activities.

Responding to today’s announcement, SYSO Executive Director Dan Petersen said,  “We are honored to receive this Excellence Award from The Wallace Foundation.  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 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 1,100 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.

About The Wallace Foundation Excellence Awards: The Wallace Excellence Awards program helps selected arts organizations “refine effective practices that introduce more people to rewarding arts experiences.” Since 2006, The Wallace Foundation has chosen a pair of urban centers each year to be the focus of its Excellence Award program.  So far, organizations in Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and San Francisco have received grants to fund innovative programs designed to expand audiences for the arts.  Seattle and the Minneapolis/St. Paul region were chosen this year for the third and final round of awards.

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; enhancing out-of-school learning opportunities; and building appreciation and demand for the arts. The Foundation maintains an online library of research reports and other publications that may be downloaded free of charge at:  www.wallacefoundation.org.

For more information please call Lidia Lesniewska at (206) 362-2300