Founded in 1998 in Portland, Oregon, Ethos is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides music lessons, multicultural performances, and outreach to thousands of students each year. We partner with and listen to students, families, and community advocates to collaboratively identify and remove a variety of barriers to music education.

When Ethos began, classes were held in a basement at the University of Portland and staffed by a dedicated group of volunteers. Ethos has since grown into an organization that employs a small administrative staff, ten full-time AmeriCorps members, and more than 30 part-time music instructors. The President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities has named Ethos one of the top 50 after-school arts programs in the U.S. eight times since 2003.

Ethos believes all students deserve access to the well documented benefits of music education regardless of socioeconomic status, geographic location, abilities, religion, race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, gender identity, or sexual orientation.