Sound strategies
on the cover
3 Leg Torso, performing at
the 2018 gala event
BOB GIBSON AND
JERI KNUDSON, THE
PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO
FunRaiser
Music is Instrumental
elevates the arts with
2020 FunRaiser
By REBECCA STONE
For the TODAY
I
n an era when music programs in schools
have been severely eroded, one grassroots
organization is implementing innovative
ways to keep music education within reach of
students from K through 12
Lincoln City might be popular for its
expansive beaches, but it is also becoming
synonymous with excellent musical off erings,
which range from year-round intimate
concerts hosted by the Lincoln City Cultural
Center to the annual Siletz Bay Music
Festival. But perhaps most integral of all to
this community is the music that echoes up
and down the halls of its schools — a sound
now absent from many others due to budget
cuts.
Last summer marked the launch of
Lincoln City’s Music is Instrumental (MII), a
nonprofi t organization founded in November
2018 with the mission of ensuring that all
children in the Lincoln City area have access
to quality music education, performances
and instruments. Swinging into action in
June 2019, at the end of a fi ve-year Oregon
Community Foundation (OCF) grant, which
fueled the city’s Studio to School program,
MII visionaries teamed with local educators
to not only sustain this eff ort, but to expand it.
Set for Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21 and 22,
the FunRaiser 2020 from Music is Instru-
mental off ers guests the chance to enjoy
great music on any budget.
On Friday, guests will be treated to an
opening performance by the Taft High
School Jazz Band, followed by a show from
vocalist Kate Morrison and bassist David
Captein. The party starts at 7 pm at Salis-
han Resort, with tickets $35 apiece.
Saturday’s gala event will feature silent
and live auctions alongside heavy hors
d’oeuvres followed by a performance from
3 Leg Torso, playing an eclectic synthesis
of chamber, Tango, klezmer, Latin, and
Roma music. Saturday’s event starts at 5
pm at Salishan Resort, with tickets $95
apiece.
Tickets at https://musicisintrumental.net
Both nights $115.
As a result, according to MII Director of
Operations Christine Tell, 1,200 students
now benefi t from music education and
exposure to a broad swath of music genres. In
fact, music education is now a requirement
for elementary school kids at Oceanlake
and Taft elementary schools, and a popular
elective for older students at Taft High
School (aka: Taft High 7-12). In addition,
the OCF has awarded MII a grant to expand
music education into Waldport Middle
School under the direction of Principal Amy
Skirvin and music teacher Tim Chase.
Local support
Because MII is a nonprofi t organization,
14 • oregoncoastTODAY.com • facebook.com/oregoncoasttoday • February 14, 2020
funding through donations, sponsorships and
grants is imperative. But MII Board Director
Mark Sanders relates that scores of generous
donations come from patrons, members of
the community and local businesses. “Many
fondly recall the positive experiences they had
with music in schools and want to make sure
our students today have that life-changing
opportunity,” he says. “We’ve even received a
dedicated contribution for rainforest drums
and another for ukuleles for an entire class of
students in grades K-2.”
Sanders also notes that this year a valuable
partnership with the owners, management
and staff of Salishan was forged. Th e
upshot was that MII became a designated
benefi ciary of the Salishan 2019 summer
concert series.”
Additionally, a grant from Explore
Lincoln City supports an annual “FunRaiser,”
slated for Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21 to 22,
at Salishan Resort (see sidebar). Th e weekend
benefi t event, featuring music performances,
dining, dancing and auctions, draws people
from the coast as well as Portland and
surrounding areas.
See Page A15