OPB’s First Look: A sour note for music education

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Good morning, Northwest.

If you’re under 18 and learning music, or a parent of a young music student, you’d probably agree that music education is not only fun but also beneficial to academic performance. Some scientific studies have found that learning music can help improve verbal memory, reading skills and concentration.

Madison Pritchard, executive director of the Albany Youth Orchestra, shares that view. But as OPB’s Jireh Deng reports, the organization is facing a funding crisis that could force it to cut classes and scholarships for students.

Here’s your First Look at Saturday’s news.

— Winston Szeto

Top story

An Albany youth music program gave hundreds of free lessons, now faces an uncertain future

For nearly two decades, the Albany Youth Orchestra has offered string classes for grades 3-12. A looming budget deficit means that classes could be cut for dozens of young musicians.

Madison Pritchard, the executive director of the arts nonprofit, said their organization is one of the only music programs that offers lessons to students between the ages of 8 and 18 years old, serving close to 200 kids per year.

But the Albany Youth Orchestra, like many other arts nonprofits strapped for funding, is now facing an impasse as a budget gap looms ahead for the next year.

Pritchard said falling donations have created a gap in the tens of thousands, and that the organization might have to make some difficult decisions next year about cutting classes and scholarships. (Jireh Deng)

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3 things to know

1. Salem-Keizer Public Schools leaders are recommending six elementary schools for closure due to declining enrollment in Oregon’s second-largest school district. (Elizabeth Miller)
2. With the general election less than five weeks away, a provocative billboard campaign created with AI by Rob Imhoff, a Republican-backed candidate for the Deschutes County board, is gaining attention. (Jen Baires)
3. Interim Sheriff James Rhodes and Undersheriff Brad O’Neil are both hoping to replace Clackamas County Sheriff Angela Brandenburg, believing the biggest safety issue facing the county is the lack of sustainable funding to support the agency’s core services. (Holly Bartholomew)

Northwest headlines

• Portland State’s ‘Puppies at the Polls’ part of voter registration effort aimed at college students (Natalie Pate)
• ‘Dead in the water’: How FAFSA can shut LGBTQ+ young adults out of college (Lillian Karabaic)
• 2 Oregon state-backed rail projects cost more than $70 million. They’re still mostly idle (Alex Baumhardt, Oregon Capital Chronicle)
• Medford moves toward taking over former hotel that housed wildfire survivors (Jane Vaughan, JPR)
• Ashland seeks new city manager as Sabrina Cotta steps down (Roman Battaglia, JPR)

One more look

How a rural general store became a new kind of community hub in Spray, Oregon

In the early 1900s, the Spray General Store was a place you could purchase anything from gum to gunpowder. But today, the space serves a new purpose.

For the small-but-tight-knit town of Spray, the General Store has become a place that fosters community and connections, with the arts being one of its main catalysts.

This transformation took time, and it definitely did not come easy for founder Joni Kabana, a photographer and visual artist.

But when she first stepped into the Spray General Store, it was a dilapidated space that had seen its fair share of history, and one that asked her to assume an entirely new role. (Prakruti Bhatt)

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