Spring Salon Fundraiser 2023

Student winners received prizes and high praise from professional musicians during the awards ceremony of the Spring Salon Fundraiser at Benaroya Hall. Over the weekend, over 40 students participated in our annual Solo String Festival where they competed for scholarships and prizes

May 07, 2023

You Raised the Bar of Excellence

Because of your support, we crushed and exceeded our goal of $150,000 to provide music lessons for underserved students in South King County! To date, we’ve raised over $195,000—your investment helped us set a new organizational record! You’re amazing and we’re so thankful for your generosity in supporting our students’ music education and overall wellness during our Spring Salon Fundraiser at Benaroya Hall. We can now serve more students because of you! Thank YOU!

Students Win Seattle Symphony Solo Debut

Eden Pawlos, Avi Spillers and Madison Cole wowed the audience with their performances during the Spring Salon Fundraiser. All three students were selected as winners of the Key to Change Concerto Competition, which awards them an opportunity to make their professional solo debut with the Seattle Symphony in October at the IKEA Performing Arts Center in Renton.

Vivian Phillips Accepts the Key to Change Community Achievement Award with Family Members looking on

Vivian Phillips, a respected arts advocate and consultant was honored during the Spring Salon Fundraiser with the inaugural Key to Change Community Achievement Award for her dedication to youth, arts & culture, and the Black community. Members of the community, including a recorded congratulatory video by Governor Jay Inslee sung Vivian’s praise and recognized her enormous contributions. During her acceptance speech, she gave an inspiring speech with words of wisdom to all of the youth in the audience.

The Solo String Festival and Spring Salon Fundraiser was funded by the Seattle Symphony Community Stages Fund, supported by the Tagney Jones Family Fund, 4Culture, Douglas Smith and Stephanie Ellis-Smith, the Nesholm Foundation, US Bank, City of Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, Renton Municipal Arts Commission, Dale and Leslie Chihuly Foundation, United Negro College Fund, and Rafael Carraba Violins.

Thank you for your support of Key to Change

Emcee

Mark Wright

Journalist and Podcast Host

Community Award Recipient

Vivian Phillips

Founder of Arte Noir

Also, returning this year

Chef David Simms

Owner, Eatible Delights

$500 – Supports one student’s 30-minute group string lesson for one trimester (12 weeks)
$1000 – Supports one student’s 60-minute group string lessons for one trimester (12 weeks)
$1500 – Supports one student’s 30-minute group string lessons for the entire year -or- one student’s trimester of private string lessons
$2400 – Supports 12 weeks (one trimester) of private lessons for a Young Artist Academy student
$3000 – Supports one student’s group lessons for the entire year

Two generous Key to Change donors, Douglas Smith and Stephanie Ellis-Smith will match 1:1 donations of $1,000 up to $10,000!

Your investment in our students allows them to thrive, both in our string studio and in their academic studies and personal endeavors. You are literally the “key” to all of their successes.

Join the amazing journey of witnessing the growth of our talented students by becoming a sponsor today!

Become a Sponsor of Key to Change

Learn more about the Spring Salon Fundraiser in our Sponsor Packet and find out how you can become part of the amazing journey of the students at Key to Change.