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 serves on the boards of two music education nonprofits, Project 440 and 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 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 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.”

Mandy Jiang is the 2023-2024 Youth Board represenaive.

Yumi Kendall joined The Philadelphia Orchestra in September 2004 as Assistant Principal Cellist, immediately following graduation from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with David Soyer and Peter Wiley. She began studying cello at the age of five following the Suzuki approach; at age 16, while studying with David Hardy, Ms. Kendall made her solo debut at the Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra.

Ms. Kendall’s festival and chamber music activities include Music from Angel Fire, Marlboro, Kingston Chamber Music Festival, the East Coast Chamber Orchestra, the Smithsonian’s 21 st Century Consort, and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. She has appeared as guest principal cellist for the Toronto and Baltimore symphony orchestras, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra in Japan. In addition to maintaining a private teaching studio, Ms. Kendall has regularly served on the faculties of the National Orchestral Institute and New York State School for Orchestral Studies, as well as Brevard Music Center and Miami Summer Music Festival.

Beyond orchestral, chamber, and solo performing and teaching, Ms. Kendall most recently served on the board of Astral Artists and currently on the board of the Greater Philadelphia Suzuki Association and Project440. In 2017, she graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Masters of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) to further her off-stage growth and organizational studies. Since then, Ms. Kendall has appeared as a guest presenter and facilitator for a Board retreat of the Suzuki Association of the Americas; the Radnor-based management consulting firm CRA, Inc.; as a keynote speaker at the 2019 inaugural Suzuki Convention of the Americas in Mexico attended by representatives from 27 countries; and for Jefferson Hospital medical students in their Music and Medicine seminar. Ms. Kendall’s interest in organizational psychology and development stems from her belief in classical music’s powerful role in human flourishing, and the importance of cultivating healthy organizations as pathways to serve the arts and public community.

Ms. Kendall was the 2013 recipient of The Philadelphia Orchestra’s Kuhn Award, given annually to “the member of the Philadelphia Orchestra who has shown ability and enterprise of such character as to enhance the standards and reputation of The Philadelphia Orchestra”. A proud Suzuki alumnus, Ms. Kendall founded The Suzuki Alumni Project in 2016, as a way for those who grew up with the Suzuki approach to celebrate Suzuki education and express gratitude to the movement’s teachers all over the globe for believing in their students’ potential, and that of all children.

Tad is an accomplished trial and appellate lawyer with a well-established record of success in a wide variety of areas, including complex commercial litigation, ERISA litigation, and other high-profile trial and appellate matters.

A two-time winner of the Equal Justice Award and the recipient of The Philadelphia Bar Foundation's Pro Bono Award, Tad has a long history of groundbreaking pro bono and public interest engagements. Most recently, Tad spearheaded a team of talented attorneys who successfully obtained a unanimous ruling from the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, sitting en banc, declaring the lifetime employment ban contained in The Older Adults Protective Services Act to be facially unconstitutional and unenforceable.

Tad has taught legal workshops at The University of Pennsylvania Law School, lectured at the Temple University Beasley School of Law, and presented numerous continuing legal education courses for The Pennsylvania Bar Institute. In addition, he has published articles or been quoted in NPR's All Things Considered, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The ABA Journal, The Philadelphia Bar Journal and The Legal Intelligencer, among other publications.

When not representing clients, Tad can be found advocating for the arts, singing with Choral Arts of Southern New Jersey, or performing at The Broadway Theatre in Pitman, New Jersey.

Frank holds a bachelor's degree in music composition and a master degree in music education 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.

Megan Becwar has more than 20 years of experience providing consulting services in a variety of matters requiring the investigation of financial and economic data and determination of value. Megan’s areas of expertise include business valuation and economic damages. She has provided services to attorneys, insurance companies, government agencies, and public and private corporations in the construction, manufacturing, waste disposal, recycling and remediation, transportation, mining, utilities, consumer electronics, software, security, advertising, media, real estate, hospitality, retail, professional services, financial services, education, healthcare, and insurance industries.

As a qualified expert, Megan has provided testimony in depositions, arbitration, and court settings. She has managed assignments requiring the valuation of businesses, business segments, and intangible assets as well as the quantification of economic damages and/or investigative analyses 2 in circumstances such as class actions, shareholder suppression, business destruction and interruption claims, contract and intellectual property disputes, fraud, wage and hour violations, and wrongful termination and personal injury matters. Megan has instructed business valuation courses for the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants and spoken before the American Society of Appraisers, the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, and various other groups on topics such as business valuation, forensic accounting, and economic damages.