Our longest-serving board member, Janie Docter, has once again made Elemental Music history by pledging a multi-year contribution to our Elemental Music Scholarship Fund.
Janie and her family have pledged a donation over 5 years, helping create greater stability and sustainability in our Scholarship Fund as we continue to support the students that require financial assistance to participate in our programs.
This incredible gift will create the Edward Lee Memorial Scholarship, named for Janie’s father.
We loved hearing from Janie about why she felt inspired to make this pledge and honor her father in this way.
Elemental Music: What inspired you to make this multi-year commitment to the Elemental Music Scholarship Fund?
Janie Docter: My family has always been a big supporter of Elemental Music programs ever since my daughter, Jordan, was involved with Elemental Strings 13 years ago. When Jordan was first starting out on the violin, I searched high and low for a good quality youth music program. There was no program better than Elemental Music on the Westside, then and now! I was so inspired by the program that I joined the Board of Directors, and served as a board member for over 10 years. All these years, I have been an advocate for excellent youth music education. I have always looked for ways to contribute to better the program for the up and coming young musicians. One of the reasons why I love volunteering for Elemental Music is the opportunity to raise funds to assist young musicians financially so that they may be able participate in a high quality program like ours. I was so thrilled when the idea of a scholarship fund was being formed. It had been brewing for a while.
EM: Why are you naming your scholarship after your father?
JD: Sadly, my father, Edward Suk-Koo Lee, passed away on December 31, 2019 due to Alzheimer’s-related complications. I had been thinking of how to honor my father in a meaningful way and memorialize his legacy. When an opportunity to fund a scholarship through Elemental Music arose, I was certain that this was the perfect way to honor him. He had always been so supportive of my interests growing up and music was no different.
I studied the piano and the violin and loved to sing as a young person. I can only imagine how terrible I must’ve been starting out, but he always encouraged me to play for him and sing for him. One of my fondest memories is on the way home from church every Sunday, he would always ask me to sing…and sing I did. I would belt out showtunes and hymns from the top of my lungs inside the enclosed car and he would act like it was the best thing he had ever heard! It was exactly the same for our impromptu home concerts. My father would always listen to my piano and violin playing with such enthusiasm.
It warms my heart that this scholarship can fuel a memory like this for a young musician. My husband and I are so delighted that we can contribute and honor my father by naming a scholarship after him. I’m so thankful that my parents fostered a love of music and, in a very small way, I hope this music scholarship will make memories for the next generation of young musicians.