I have been on the board of Allied Arts of Renton for four years, and am proud to be part of a new arts scholarship program for Renton area youths involved in all cultural arts fields.

Allied Arts was founded more than 50 years ago with the purpose of cultivating a community that values all forms of art to enrich lives and to make art accessible to all. The scholarship was started last year to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Allied Arts and is designed to help talented young students to further their training in their artistic field.

The first recipient for 2013 was McKenzie Fysh, a young pianist who received her scholarship at the Renton Community Foundation’s Circle of Giving Awards ceremony. She is using it to further her musical career.

It was recently announced that the 2014 scholarship was awarded to Sophie Ossorio.

Sophie, 14, is the eldest of five children, and her love of music began in sixth grade with the clarinet. Six months later, Sophie picked up an oboe for the first time.

“The oboe just fit my personality, it’s a really happy instrument,” she says.

Sophie is now playing for the advanced band at Liberty High School and in the Wind Ensemble. She used her scholarship to find a new oboe, which she says is much better than the school instrument she had been using.

She has the prestigious honor of being accepted into the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra Program.

Sophie said, “Music is really fun and challenging…there’s always something different and beautiful about each song. I want to continue to share that with others.”

On Jan. 11, I met with Sophie along with her mother Carolyn and Grandmother Sherry at Plum Delicious in Renton. We were joined by Allied Arts board member Char Baker, who manages the scholarship program, and by local author Barbara Nilson, who is a life-time member of Allied Arts.

Barbara generously donated matching funds to Sophie’s scholarship to help in the purchase of her new oboe.

What a wonderful time we had, sharing stories about our beloved community, and our passion for the arts.

Char has been a strong presence in Renton for many years, was the coordinator for the first Renton River Days, and was instrumental in the creation of the IKEA Performing Arts Center.

Char says she believes, “Life is better when you have creative intention for your life.”

Barbara has incredible memories of the early days in this area. She has published a book about the history of Renton High School, another with the memoirs of local area World War II veterans and is now working on the history of Allied Arts.

Over pie and coffee, Sophie proudly showed us her new oboe.

“Music is really fun and challenging,” she told us. “There’s always something different and beautiful about each song. I want to continue to share that with others.”

I looked around the table at this multi-generational group – from age 14 to 87. The past and present contributions to our community by these ladies and the creative aspirations of the youngest among us was inspirational.

I have no doubt that this young lady will continue to pursue her musical dreams and keep the creative spirit alive.

To learn more about the scholarship program and to find an application, go to www.alliedartsofrenton.org.