Meet Kintan Silvany, the newest member and Youth Board Representative of the Project 440 Board of Directors. Kintan is a senior at John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls School and started playing the harp when she was 11 years old. She has completed Project 440’s Instruments for Success and Doing Good programs, served as a peer mentor during Project 440: Online, and serves as a member of the Youth Advocacy Council (YAC).

Kintan currently serves as a teacher for Generation Music and as a Youth Apprentice for PhillyRoots, a social justice youth program, where she is involved with civic engagement and community defense. At school, she is Treasurer of Student Council, Co-President of the Music Club, a proud Colgan Scholar, and participates in mock trial, yearbook, and the All-Catholic Orchestra.

Kintan also volunteers both with her youth group, Maranatha, and at her community library every Wednesday tutoring younger students, and labeling and shelving books. As she joins the Board of Directors, Kintan took time to reflect on her time with Project 440 thus far, and share how her experiences have shaped her as an individual and musician.

What has been your favorite part of working with Project 440? “I love so much of Project 440, I really can't name one! Mr. Cigus, our beloved ‘College Fairy,’ has personally helped me so much with my college process. I always ask him to edit my essays and he always makes the time to do so. At YAC, we started a new segment called Music in Color (thanks to Myles Bell), and it has been so interesting hearing from young musicians from the Philadelphia community. Without Doing Good, I wouldn't have been able to become a teacher. I can't forget about being a Peer Mentor during Project 440: Online! Working with Ms. Hanul was a blast!”

What is your proudest accomplishment? “My proudest accomplishment with P440 was leading my own workshop for Generation Music. We started a new segment last year called ‘Mini Masterclasses,’ and I led the first one with my very own harp! We have now switched the program online so if music teachers need those lessons, they are at their service.”

How has Project 440 supported you as an individual and as a musician? How has it impacted your life? “It definitely made me realize that there was more to music than just playing classical. I'm going to let you in on a little secret: classical music isn't really my thing. I still wanted to incorporate music in my life somehow, but I didn’t know how! Going into Doing Good for the first time in 10th grade, I realized my dream was to create a nonprofit music school in my parents’ hometown of Surabaya, Indonesia. I couldn't really do it yet since I couldn't go to Indonesia during the school year, but this goal stood in the back of my mind. Ms. Susanna encouraged me to join another nonprofit organization that had a similar mission of benefitting future generations: Generation Music.

I would be totally lost in the college process without Cigus, and I really mean that. I am stress-free when I know I can just email him anytime with any silly questions I have about my essay, the Common App, or really anything else! Ms. Sam Apgar has been so supportive of YAC. She guides us and lets us be independent at the same time. Without her, I wouldn't know how YAC could have been as successful as it is right now.

Overall, as you can tell, Project 440 has immensely impacted my life in a very positive way. I now know what I want to do in the future and without P440 I wouldn't have had that wake-up call.”

Kintan and her Generation Music project group in spring 2019.

What do you want Project 440 donors to know? “Philadelphia has a vastly diverse amount of young musicians who need your support. Without you, I would not have found my life's purpose. Help others like me! While they may or may not find their life's purpose, they will learn that there is so much more you can do in life than play in an orchestra. While playing in an orchestra is pretty fun, learning how to start your own nonprofit is a skill not many people have. Funding Project 440 will allow GenZ musicians to have another skill that will help them stand out everywhere! At Project 440, you don't have to be a prodigy. You just need to have potential!”

In the future, Kintan aspires to run her own non-profit music school in Indonesia. We are immensely grateful for the time and passion she has already invested in the Project 440 community, and cannot wait to see what she accomplishes as a member of our Board of Directors and beyond!