Northwestern composer and pianist Michael Allen Harrison founded the Snowman Foundation in 1999 as a solution to defunding of music programs in public schools. In addition to giving children a complete education, Harrison believes that music gifts us a greater sense of self, showing us who we are and how we fit into the world. Since 2000, the foundation has raised roughly 3 million dollars for music education. Through hard work and patient instruction, Snowman Foundation works to help its students develop their talents.

The Snowman Foundation’s contributions to the Portland community are made possible through individual donations of instruments and sponsorships. To learn more about how to sponsor a child and Snowman Foundation’s Play It Forward scholarship program, visit their website. To listen to Harrison describe the importance of music education in his own words, check out his 2016 TedX talk “Be nice to yourself”.

This week we are sitting down with key members of Snowman Foundation to learn more about their effort to bring accessible music education to Portland youth as a part of our award-winning Community Voices series. These interviews will be posted below throughout the week.

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