SR 8698

SENATE RESOLUTION
  8698
By Senators Conway, Chapman, Cleveland, Frame, Hasegawa, Lovelett, Lovick, Nobles,
Pedersen, Robinson, Shewmake, Short, Valdez, Wagoner, and C. Wilson
1     WHEREAS, Music is progressive, a generational chain of great
2 teachers, composers, and performers striving to discover and preserve
3 the art form; and
4     WHEREAS, The study of music is a grand human project, allowing us
5 to explore the culture and qualities of musical greatness we inherit
6 from the past, to understand who we have been, who we are, and who we
7 may yet become; and
8     WHEREAS, For centuries these explorations have been shepherded by
9 piano teachers, from the Polish composer Frédéric Chopin at the
10 beginning of the 19th century all the way to Washington's own
11 Margaret Saunders Ott (1920 - 2010), who spent decades training
12 professional pianists while teaching at Washington State University,
13 Gonzaga University, and Whitworth College; and
14     WHEREAS, The endeavor of a musical education provides our youth
15 the opportunity to see how focus, dedication, and persistence pay off
16 over time; and
17     WHEREAS, The fundamental skill of interpretation, breathing life
18 into notes, is rooted and grown from the depths of a player's
19 capacity to empathize, a vital social component that seems at risk of
20 evaporating lately; and
21     WHEREAS, A piano teacher is often one of the most memorable,
22 supportive, and important adults in a child's early life, regardless
23 of whether their musical journey takes them to the heights of
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1 professionalism, or simply connects them to humanity's universal
2 language; and
3     WHEREAS, There are hundreds if not thousands of piano
4 teachers working in our state at this moment. Organizations like
5 the Washington State Music Teachers Association have hundreds of
6 members, while there are countless additional piano teachers
7 operating small businesses from their homes and elsewhere; and
8     WHEREAS, Piano teachers spend thousands of hours every year
9 volunteering with professional organizations to provide ample
10 performance and educational opportunities contributing to their
11 communities through performance, enriching senior centers,
12 churches, and public festivals statewide;
13     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Senate recognize
14 the significant artistic and cultural contributions that piano
15 teachers have made to the music education of Washington State;
16 and
17     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be
18 immediately transmitted to the Washington State Music Teachers
19 Association and the National Guild of Piano Teachers.
20 I, Sarah Bannister, Secretary of the Senate,
21 do hereby certify that this is a true and
22 correct copy of Senate Resolution 8698,
23 adopted by the Senate
24 February 27, 2026
25 SARAH BANNISTER
26 Secretary of the Senate
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