Mary Javian’s goal as a performer, educator, curator and public speaker is to use music to create positive social change in communities. She has presented around the world in these areas for nearly two decades.

Ms. Javian has toured and performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra and other world-class ensembles as a double bassist. She has served as principal bass of the IRIS Orchestra and has recorded with the Philadelphia and IRIS orchestras, the Tanglewood Music Center, Network for New Music, Dolce Suono Ensemble, and the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music. She has performed recitals and given master classes in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Ms. Javian has received fellowships from the Tanglewood Music Center, the National Repertory Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the Verbier Festival, where she is now a member of the faculty.

As chair of career studies at Curtis, Ms. Javian has created a dynamic social entrepreneurship curriculum that develops the entrepreneurial and advocacy skills that 21st-century musicians need. Her project-based classes help students create community partnerships that sustain both artistic and social value. Her students have gone on to start their own educational programs, innovative ensembles, and music festivals around the world.

For a decade, Ms. Javian curated a critically acclaimed concert series for LiveConnections at World Cafe Live, featuring boundary-crossing collaborations and emphasizing newly commissioned music blending styles and cultures. She has also curated performances for Intercultural Journeys, an organization that promotes peace and cultural dialogue through music; and works with Curtis students to create concerts for families and new audiences through innovative partnerships with arts organizations across Philadelphia.

Ms. Javian is frequently asked to speak about social entrepreneurship and community-based work, and has contributed to several books on these subjects. She has presented at numerous universities and conservatories; has consulted with organizations such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New World Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and the Savannah Music Festival; and has led workshops for programs across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Ms. Javian currently also serves on the board of the VOCES8 Foundation in the U.S.

A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, Ms. Javian studied double bass with Harold Robinson. She joined the Curtis faculty in 2011 and assumed her current position in 2016.

Chris Bryan serves as a financial advocate by building a team designed around individual, corporate and institutional clientele, identifying opportunities of need and optimizing value. He holds himself accountable to providing experiential, impartial advice and top-tiered service. His 20 plus years of experience has enabled him to deepen his knowledge and understanding in asset, liability, tax, risk and cash management.

In addition to advocating, connecting and educating high net worth individuals, Chris also focuses his practice on employee benefit plans which include qualified retirement plans, non-qualified deferred compensation plans and executive compensation, with emphasis on defined benefit, defined contribution and employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). Chris was recently named as a finalist for the 2015 Philadelphia SmartCEO Money Manager Award. Prior to joining Wells Fargo Advisors LLC, Chris worked for Morgan Stanley (formerly Smith Barney), Berkadia (formerly GMAC Commercial Mortgage), Comcast and PHH Mortgage (formerly Cendant).

Chris makes use of his personal time mentoring and engaging young professionals, advocating financial literacy and working with underserved youth in Philadelphia.

Danielle Allen, leads The Philadelphia Orchestra’s community-based programs and educational collaborations. Danielle is responsible for advancing the goals of a broad educational platform and serves as an external ambassador for the Orchestra’s community initiatives. She is also responsible for progressing the HEAR initiative, focusing on Health and Wellness, music Education, Access to music, and Research-based measurements. Danielle’s role includes the oversight of existing programs that foster collaboration within the vast music ecosystem of Philadelphia, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and beyond, and the creation of a new chapter in the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Education and Community initiatives in the post-COVID age.

Previously, she was the manager of global affairs with The Philadelphia Orchestra. Her prior professional experience spans various industries, including nearly 15 years in the nonprofit sector. Prior to joining The Philadelphia Orchestra, she spent over a decade with the Center City District of Philadelphia, working in crime prevention and on beautifying public spaces. She also worked for the Philadelphia Eagles as assistant to the director of stadium and facility control, where her duties included management of field access on game days for dignitaries, including government officials. Adding to her diverse professional background, she served as events coordinator for the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Danielle graduated summa cum laude from the Philadelphia High School for Girls before attending Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia. She received her B.S. in Education from Temple University with concentrations in Early Childhood, Elementary, and Special Education and did graduate work in International Education at Drexel University. In her personal service, she has planned neighborhood health events, school supply drives, and college fairs for community and faith-based organizations.

Citizen musician, entrepreneur, and youth advocate Joseph H. Conyers - Principal Double Bass and Education and Community Ambassador of The Philadelphia Orchestra – is a highly acclaimed, multi-faceted artist whose innovative work in music education and access has been recognized internationally. Awards include the Sphinx Organization’s Medal of Excellence (2019), the Theodore L Kesselman Award for Arts Education from the New York Youth Symphony (2019), the C. Hartman Kuhn Award – the highest award bestowed upon a musician in the Philadelphia Orchestra (2018), Musical America’s 30 Top Professionals: Innovators, Independent Thinkers, and Entrepreneurs (2018), the inaugural Young Alumni Award from the Curtis Institute of Music (2015), and “30 Leaders 30 and Under” in Ebony Magazine (2007).

Joseph’s broad-ranging career was recently featured on PBS’s *Articulate *which highlighted his work as Founder & Vision Advisor of Project 440.

A 2004 Sphinx Organization Laureate, Joseph has been a bass soloist with numerous orchestras and has for a number of years been an artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. As a conductor, Joseph has served as the Music Director of Philadelphia’s All-City Orchestra and is also currently the Director of the Young Artists Orchestra of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. Joseph is the artistic director and founder of the newly formed Dubhe, a collective of some of the most influential chamber and orchestral musicians in the world that creates performances centered on authentic community connection, inclusivity, and long-lasting impact. A frequent guest clinician and public speaker presenting from coast to coast, Joseph serves on the double bass faculty of The Juilliard School.

Conyers performs on the "Zimmerman/Gladstone" 1802 Vincenzo Panormo Double Bass which he has affectionately named “Norma.”

“How can my cello and my voice serve the highest purpose for humanity and resonate at the highest level for positive change?” – Yumi Kendall

Yumi Kendall is a distinguished cellist, classical music ambassador, and changemaker, whose voice and vision are paving the way for future generations.

Since 2004, Yumi has been a dedicated and deeply active member of The Philadelphia Orchestra as Assistant Principal Cello. She won the position at age 22, during her final year of studies at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she now serves on the cello performance faculty. Over the past two decades, as a performer and pedagogue, Yumi has inspired, informed, and connected countless people as a passionate proponent of classical music. More recently, as a speaker, podcaster, and graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) degree program, she has catalyzed conversations to help people and organizations thrive.

Yumi discovered the joy and connective power of music at a young age. She began studying cello at age five following the Suzuki approach; in fact, her grandfather was violinist and pedagogue John Kendall, known for introducing Suzuki education to the United States and training teachers from around the world. Together with her violinist brother Nick Kendall—a member of the Grammy- and Emmy-winning ensemble Time for Three—Yumi’s childhood was steeped in delightful music-making experiences. The energy of her early Suzuki days remains an ongoing source of inspiration as Yumi continues her journey as a performer and educator. She is forever thankful to her mentors along the way, including John Kendall, Nancy Hair, Carol Tarr, Alice Vierra, David Hardy, David Soyer, and Peter Wiley.

As an orchestral and chamber musician, Yumi has played on many of the world’s prominent stages, including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Kimmel Center, Suntory Hall, and Musikverein. She has performed with the Marlboro Festival and its tours, the East Coast Chamber Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and has been featured as a soloist with The Philadelphia Orchestra and National Symphony Orchestra, among others. In 2013, she was selected by The Philadelphia Orchestra’s Music and Artistic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin to receive the Orchestra’s C. Hartman Kuhn Award—given to “the member of The Philadelphia Orchestra who has shown ability and enterprise of such character as to enhance the standards and the reputation of The Philadelphia Orchestra.” In 2022, supporters Elaine Woo Camarda and A. Morris Williams, Jr., established a Philadelphia Orchestra Chair in Yumi’s name and endowed it in perpetuity.

Yumi discovered a complementary career calling in 2011, after The Philadelphia Orchestra filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Eager to increase her knowledge and personal agency, she began investigating how other organizations grow and evolve in the face of struggle. Her quest led to earning a Master’s Degree at Penn’s MAPP program—the first in the world focused on the scientific study of the strengths that enable humans and organizations to flourish.

Since graduating from MAPP in 2017, Yumi has appeared as a guest presenter and facilitator at conferences, retreats, and other events across various professional fields. By bridging music and positive psychology (and often bringing her cello), she offers a uniquely engaging perspective on topics such as intrinsic motivation, cultivating meaning at work, and social connections. Captivating as both a cellist and speaker, she is known for her authenticity, ebullience, and approachable style in communicating about classical music.

Exemplifying her role as a changemaker, in 2023 Yumi launched the podcast Tacet No More with her longtime friend, Philadelphia Orchestra Principal Bass Joseph Conyers. Their podcast raises provocative yet optimistic inquiries intended to shake up the status quo and reimagine the next era of classical music. To date, the podcast has featured an array of pioneering guests from across sectors. To tune in, visit www.tacetnomore.com

To learn more about Yumi, please visit the following links:

Yumi speaks with Dacher Keltner on the Science of Happiness podcast, a production of The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/podcasts/item/can_you_find_wonder_in_the_ordinary

Yumi is also featured in Chapter 7 of Dacher Keltner’s book AWE: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life: https://www.amazon.com/Awe-Science-Everyday-Wonder-Transform/dp/1984879685

Catch Yumi on The Philadelphia Orchestra’s Musician’s Minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFFJsqk9Fng

Watch the video Yumi & Nick Kendall: Our experience as Suzuki siblings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGR_3bPLnGc

A creditors’ rights and commercial bankruptcy attorney, Christopher Leavell began his career as law clerk for the Hon. Bruce I. Fox, United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Since joining the firm, he has represented clients both inside and outside of bankruptcy, including institutional lenders, commercial landlords, receivers, trustees, shareholders, product distributors, and other business entities.

Christopher has been involved in several high-profile commercial disputes, including a shareholder suit involving the Pennsylvania Securities Act that recently went before the PA Supreme Court as an issue of first impression in the Commonwealth. He briefed and argued the matter before the PA Supreme Court, resulting in a unanimous victory for his client.

He lives with his family outside Princeton, New Jersey, and divides his practice between the firm’s New Jersey and Philadelphia offices.

He serves on the board (vestry) of Trinity Church in Princeton, a historic Episcopal church established in 1833. He is also an accomplished classical musician and studied viola performance at The Juilliard School while an undergraduate at Columbia University in New York. Chris received his J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law.

Frank Machos holds a bachelor's degree in music composition, a master degree in music education, and a PhD in creativity from the University of the Arts. He has studied with numerous musicians and has shared the stage with many accomplished professionals. He possesses a wealth of experience teaching music at schools in the Philadelphia area, and has taught instrumental music at Grover Washington Jr. Middle School, integrating digital music and popular music into a traditionally strong jazz program. His substantial management experience includes previously overseeing daily operation at Saxophone Mouthpiece Heaven. Frank is a founder and board president for Limelight Arts, which offers innovative, culturally relevant, student interest-driven, world-class music performing arts education for students in the Greater Philadelphia Area.

Michael O’Bryan is a practitioner and researcher in the fields of community development, organizational culture, and human well-being. He is a Distinguished Resident Fellow at Drexel University’s Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation and most recently served as Director of Learning at The Village of Arts and Humanities. Michael is the founder of Humanature, a design strategy firm working with nonprofits, businesses, and government agencies to transform how they understand and support human development, interaction, and performance. Past and current clients include NeighborWorks America, The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, New Jersey Community Capital, Strada Education Network, The Opportunity Finance Network, and The United Negro College Fund.

Michael has also spoken about his work at such venues as Cornell University's Institute on Employment and Disability, SOCAP, and the Apollo Theater in New York. He is on faculty in Career Studies at the Curtis Institute of Music, a lecturer in city planning at the University of Pennsylvania’s Stuart Weitzman School of Design, and serves on the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Commission on the Arts and the boards of the Samuel S. Fels Fund and the Philadelphia Cultural Fund.

Rikki-Quinn James-Renz is an experienced executive and leader with demonstrated success providing beneficial healthcare, pharmaceutical, distribution, process improvement and research driven solutions, minimizing expenses and driving sustainable operating efficiencies. Skilled in the administration of contract lifecycle management, supplier management, multi-hospital health system, and currently focused on growth strategies and building strategic partnerships. Recognizing corporate deficiencies regarding supplier diversity and corporate diversity related matters, she is routinely chosen to oversee and contribute to DEI initiatives. Throughout her diverse career, Rikki has successfully worked with multi-cultural teams to drive organizational growth, while delivering superior customer care.

In addition to being in healthcare, Rikki is the sole owner of AR Workshop Chestnut Hill, a boutique DIY shop that offers a unique, fun experience for all ages and skill levels through instructor-led workshops.

Rikki is actively involved in the community and is a member of various organizations. She holds a Master of Business Administration from Temple University Fox School of Business. She is a Six Sigma Green Belt and a certified Clinical Research Contract Professional.