SENATE RESOLUTION
8698
By Senators Conway, Chapman, Cleveland, Frame, Hasegawa, Lovelett, Lovick, Nobles, Pedersen, Robinson, Shewmake, Short, Valdez, Wagoner, and C. Wilson
WHEREAS, Music is progressive, a generational chain of great teachers, composers, and performers striving to discover and preserve the art form; and
WHEREAS, The study of music is a grand human project, allowing us to explore the culture and qualities of musical greatness we inherit from the past, to understand who we have been, who we are, and who we may yet become; and
WHEREAS, For centuries these explorations have been shepherded by piano teachers, from the Polish composer Frédéric Chopin at the beginning of the 19th century all the way to Washington's own Margaret Saunders Ott (1920 - 2010), who spent decades training professional pianists while teaching at Washington State University, Gonzaga University, and Whitworth College; and
WHEREAS, The endeavor of a musical education provides our youth the opportunity to see how focus, dedication, and persistence pay off over time; and
WHEREAS, The fundamental skill of interpretation, breathing life into notes, is rooted and grown from the depths of a player's capacity to empathize, a vital social component that seems at risk of evaporating lately; and
WHEREAS, A piano teacher is often one of the most memorable, supportive, and important adults in a child's early life, regardless of whether their musical journey takes them to the heights of professionalism, or simply connects them to humanity's universal language; and
WHEREAS, There are hundreds if not thousands of piano teachers working in our state at this moment. Organizations like the Washington State Music Teachers Association have hundreds of members, while there are countless additional piano teachers operating small businesses from their homes and elsewhere; and
WHEREAS, Piano teachers spend thousands of hours every year volunteering with professional organizations to provide ample performance and educational opportunities contributing to their communities through performance, enriching senior centers, churches, and public festivals statewide;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Senate recognize the significant artistic and cultural contributions that piano teachers have made to the music education of Washington State; and