This school year, Columbia Choirs has launched five new enrichment choirs across Lake Washington School District in response to access gaps in the district. Thanks to funding from 4Culture, Columbia Choirs is now providing transformative choral experiences to over 120 new young singers across five schools.
photos: Lars Myren
For 42 years, Columbia Choirs of Metropolitan Seattle has been a musical home on the Eastside for singers of all ages. In recent years, leaders recognized a gap in the Lake Washington School District— one of the largest districts in Washington. Many elementary schools have no choir programs, and several middle schools lack choir classes.
To address this, we started a program in 2022, partnering with PTSAs at three elementary schools in the district. “Students and families loved these classes, but we faced two big challenges: the kids who needed them most often couldn’t keep coming back because of participation fees and our educators were unable to build choir programs because sessions were limited to 8-10 weeks at a time,” remarks Executive Director Lars Myren. It became clear that this work needed to expand in a way that was sustainable and equitable. “Making choir free and year-long changes who gets to walk in the door. Now this work is happening at five schools. This is the moment we have been working toward for the past four years.”
This year, we have received generous funding from 4Culture’s Curiosity Pass program. Curiosity Pass focuses on access to cultural education opportunities for public school students. With this funding, we are launching and supporting five enrichment choir programs for the 2026-27 school year. These programs are taking place at four LWSD elementary schools and one middle school. Participation in the choirs is completely free for students.
In a time where arts education is at risk nationwide, we are proud to bring this initiative to Lake Washington School District. We are grateful to 4Culture for their generous support towards making choral music accessible to all.
We are excited to partner with Columbia Choirs to provide meaningful professional learning to our music teachers. We also appreciate the support from Columbia Choirs to provide choir opportunities at four elementary schools and one middle school. This support provides a valuable music experience for students.
-Stephanie Miller, Visual and Performing Arts Specialist, Lake Washington School District