Several months ago, 14-year-old Boulder violinist Jiyu Kim performed at the Greater Boulder Youth Orchestra’s (GBYO) annual fundraiser. She played with Francisco Fullana, the renowned Spanish soloist, who was in Boulder to perform with the Boulder Philharmonic, visit area schools and mentor GBYO students.
A natural talent and a committed musician, Jiyu has steadily risen through the three GBYO ensembles (she started at age 8) to become concertmaster for all three. A graduate of their mentoring program, she now gives back to younger players by being a mentor herself. Through GBYO, Jiyu has met and become friends with students from 50 different schools. Her teachers and mentors taught her how to blend her sound with other musicians while exploring different styles.
The GBYO gives this experience to hundreds of kids every year. Since 1994, they have never turned a student away, providing financial assistance to those who need it.
Another example of a music nonprofit benefiting our youth is the Parlando School of Musical Arts. Parlando’s outreach program provides supplementary support to school music programs with a focus on serving majority BIPOC populations in low-income schools.
Parlando provided support to over 3,000 classes in 27 schools during the last academic year, resulting in over 100,000 student interactions. Their program provides outreach every week so that students receive consistent support from the same group of teachers.
“Parlando teachers have been so incredibly helpful in getting kids who were behind up to speed,” said Kati Sainz, a Boulder Valley School District band teacher. “It’s been a lifeline for these kids.”
The results are dramatic. Partner schools reported that students involved in Parlando-supported music classes, when compared to their nonmusical peers, had 20% higher attendance, were 24% more likely to graduate, and had GPAs ranging from 3.0 to 3.5 versus 2.0 to 3.0.
“It’s not even really about the music,” said Travis LaBerge, founder and executive director of Parlando. “It’s the life skills and character development that the music inspires in each student that helps them be the best individual they can be.”
Boulder Valley schools offer excellent music programs, but money has been tight since funding cuts in the late 1990s. Music teachers are spread thin, so it often comes down to Boulder’s nonprofit music organizations to fill the gaps.
In addition to GBYO, Parlando and the Boulder Phil, other musical nonprofits serve kids and youth with programs in our community: Boulder Ballet, Boulder Muse, eTown and many more.
None of these programs happen for free. Nonprofits must raise money through grant writing, soliciting donations, holding fundraising events and other efforts. Funding from the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District and the City of Boulder are critical to the delivery of student services each and every year.
The proposed $589 million city budget for 2025 includes approximately $400 million in operational funds for city services. Create Boulder hopes that our city council will see the value of arts education and restore at least $1 million for critical arts funding to pay for their own staff and related expenses, rather than taking the money from a tax that voters believed would boost funding for the arts.
Read more about the tax at bit.ly/ArtsFundingBW
Let’s restore our public investment in arts funding and double down on our philanthropy for the benefit of musical education.
The Create Boulder Board of Directors approved this op-ed. Its members are Jan Burton, who authored this piece, Michael Benjamin, Lyn Ciocca, Nick Forster, Deborah Malden, Kathleen McCormick and Fran Zankowski.
Editor’s note: Fran Zankowski is the publisher of Boulder Weekly. This opinion does not necessarily reflect the views of Boulder Weekly or its staff.