New Shaniko Music Sanctuary Projects
Melissa Stolasz built a bluegrass strings program in Sisters, Oregon 4-years ago from the ground-up. She now has 43 participants in the “Outlaw Strings Club”.
The kids perform regularly in the Central Oregon region, hosting & playing music for social dances. In addition to the before-school program, Melissa makes practice YouTube videos for her students so they can play at home. She is a go-getter and super-passionate about bluegrass & community.
Melissa took her Strings Club to Wintergrass last year and it made a big impression.
Here's a video compilation of their experience, a newspaper article about the huge educational opportunity and a Wintergrass Facebook post thanking them for coming to the 2025 Winter festival last year.
The cost to get these kids up to the festival in Bellevue, Washington is overwhelming for low-income families, and not all kids can afford to attend. Melissa explained the kids who were able to attend were ecstatic to be able to jam with new people, to try out the tunes they have been working so hard on in the before-school program, and to experience the Bluegrass Community.
We are starting a scholarship fund to help the Oregon Bluegrass Youth of Sisters, Oregon attend the educational programming at Wintergrass 2026.
Ongoing Shaniko Music Sanctuary Projects
We ask that you consider donating lightly-used bluegrass instruments to the Tygh Valley Bluegrass Jamboree Lending Library.
Our “Lending Library” program gets instruments into the hands of kids who wouldn’t otherwise get exposure to the bluegrass genre.
A key part of the Shaniko Music Sanctuary mission is expanding access to instruments
Each year, the Jamboree runs an instrument donation drive, building a “lending library” of bluegrass instruments available to anyone with a Wasco County Library card.
Currently, a guitar and mandolin can be checked out from the South Wasco Library in Maupin, and the 2025 festival brought in eight additional instruments to grow the collection.
South Wasco County School District is in the 4th year of its music program after almost a decade without music.
Since its inception, the Tygh Valley Bluegrass Jamboree — produced by Shaniko Music Sanctuary — has raised $5,900 for the South Wasco County Public School music program, helping sustain a full-time music director and a wide range of instruments and classes for students from pre-K through high school.
“We are one of the few small districts that still has a full-time music program,” says Marty Hansen, Music Director for South Wasco County Schools.
“About 95% of our music program budget comes from Shaniko Music Sanctuary. These funds allow us to keep expanding — from ukuleles and guitars to a brand-new concert keyboard and even DJ equipment for our high school students.”
The sense of camaraderie stretches beyond the festival grounds with local sponsorships helping make it all possible. The Balch Hotel, Maupin Market, Shaniko Gas Station, Tamarack Sheds, Jack’s Body Shop, Ed Staub, and Kephart Enterprises have all generously sponsored the mission and the festival.
The Jamboree, produced by the nonprofit Shaniko Music Sanctuary, is part of a growing movement to make music accessible across rural Central Oregon.