Jeff Hawthorne, the Director of Community Affairs for Portland’s Regional Arts & Culture Council passed on these words about the arts from Portland native Esperanza Spalding.

Spalding is the most recent recipient of the Grammy for Best New Artist and the first Jazz musician to receive the award. She had the opportunity to study music from an early age, as her mother was also a jazz guitarist for a time. She went on to attend Portland’s Northwest Academy, one of the most prestigious arts academies in the nation. Following that, she enrolled in the Berklee College of Music. Wanting to give back, following her graduation she became the youngest instructor in the college’s history, teaching her first classes at the age of 20.

Performing publicly since she was a teenager, she has gone on to record three albums, tour almost non-stop, and at the age of 27 is considered perhaps the premiere Jazz artist of her generation. She is convinced none of it would have been possible without the strong arts education in her youth, and she has joined the fight to see that every child in America is given the same opportunity.

Thanks again to the Portland Regional Arts & Culture Council for passing on her inspiring words.

View Esperanza Spalding's inspiring words.