Seattle-based nonprofit ArtSmart has announced a $1 million, five-year pledge from philanthropist and longtime supporter Maryanne Tagney.

In recognition of the gift, ArtSmart has established the Maryanne Tagney Youth Development Fund, which will support youth programming across the organization’s national network. As part of the pledge, every ArtSmart student in Seattle will attend at least one Seattle Opera dress rehearsal or performance annually, with backstage access and hands-on arts engagement. Students from Cascade, Evergreen, Chief Sealth, and Mt. Rainier High Schools, and Denny International Middle School have already attended Seattle Opera productions of “The Pirates of Penzance” and “Carmen” this season.

“The most important thing for me about ArtSmart is that it primarily reaches young people in the BIPOC community, plus significant numbers who identify as LGBTQ+, and through the combination of music and mentorship, ArtSmart helps them gain confidence and skills that not only help them to be more successful in high school but lead to higher numbers going on to college,” said Tagney, per an official press release. “There are so many barriers and obstacles for these students and ArtSmart has proven to be a major pathway to overcoming those obstacles.”

The pledge becomes the second seven-figure commitment in the company’s almost 10-year history. The first was made by philanthropist Maria Manetti Shrem.

Founded in 2016, ArtSmart provides tuition-free, one-to-one music mentorship to youth in under-resourced communities across the United States, with students currently served in New York City, Newark, Jersey City, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, and the Adirondacks region.