Project 440 isn't saying "Goodbye" we are saying "Have fun on your next adventure Leonard!"

On June 7th we said goodbye to our amazing intern Leonard. He will be working with the Philadelphia Orchestra for the rest of the summer!

Leonard's Personal Statment

Q: What aspects of this internship surprised you the most?

A: What surprised me the most from my time at Project 440 was how much work can get done with so few people working for the organization. The team of Project 440 may be small, but the things they can get done are truly remarkable. When I was a senior in high school, I remember Project 440 offering a number of workshops for All City musicians. Back then, I thought Project 440 must have been a fairly large organization to be able to offer so many workshops for high school students. Little did I know that all of those workshop were planned and put into fruition by as little as one or two people. I learned that the efforts of a few good people can positively change the lives of a disproportionately large amount of students, and I will never forget that.

Q: What aspects of the internship did you enjoy the most?

A: One of my favorite parts of the internship was being able to see all of the work I did for Project 440 pay off. There were a couple projects which I had been working on for many months and to see them finally completed is the greatest feeling. Some intern work can get fairly tedious, but when it is all finished, that feeling of accomplishment is worth it. Another great aspect of the work was all of the influential people I got to meet and work with over the past seven months. Each person has individual wisdoms which they are happy to pass down and I hope I was able to give my part as well. There is no equivalent to the relationships I have made through Project 440.

Q: What are the key things you learned from the internship?

A: The most important thing I learned is what I previously mentioned: That the efforts of a few good people can positively change the lives of a disproportionately large amount of students. However, that is not all I learned from my time at Project 440. I learned that a laptop is really all you need to manage a successful organization. I learned that real world experience is much more educational than classroom lectures. I learned that it helps to know people, especially in the arts. Lastly, I learned that it is okay to ask questions if you need help. As an intern, you are not expected to know all the answers right from the get go and I was able to grow from this position because I didn’t know everything. With guidance, I have improved in many areas, including writing, communication, and innovative decision making, all because I was not afraid to ask for help.  

Recommended Stories

Its graduation season and we're so proud of our Doing Good graduates!

June 7th was a big event for the young musicians you see pictured above. They have officially graduated from our new flagship program, Doing Good!

Doing Good is a 30-week intense after-school program that teaches high school music students the basics of social entrepreneurship and community engagement. This program is broken up into two semesters. The first semester the students get to learn the “ins and outs” of social entrepreneurship, leadership, and community engagement. During the second semester, they get to put their skills to the test by creating and executing their projects. A special thank you to our two amazing teaching artists Susanna Loewy and Michael O’Bryan! Want to read more about Doing Good? Here's a link!

This year's project were: 

Teens with Ambition
Imani Sanders-Rasul & Aj’ee Robinson

Two students collaborated to design and host a youth-centered event that addresses the lack of access students have to after-school and out-of-school time programs. The event consisted of a concert and resource fair that brought together a variety of arts, media, social justice, and leadership programs across the region. The team also provided free food and refreshments as a draw to students.

“Everyone is so talented in this program, and it was really nice to be in the same room as other musicians who cared as much as I do.”

— Imani Sanders-Rasul

Open Genre Music Book
Joseph Trachtman, Oleksandr Kashlyuk & Percy Weaver

This trio of students identified a common thread amongst themselves: they all loved music but hated practicing. They also imagined, and surveyed, other students with similar feelings. Their solution was simple: build a process that allows students to take their favorite songs, from any genre, and put them into templates that can be utilized for practice on their instrument of choice.

“Doing Good taught me about the ins and outs of starting a business, and the difficulties and challenges of working with others. It’s one thing to have a good idea. It’s much more difficult to actually make something concrete.””

— Joe Trachtman

Generation Music
Claire Casanova & Chloe Cooper

Generation Music saw two students collaborate to design a music appreciation curriculum for middle schoolers currently involved in band and orchestra programs. Their goal was to increase the general interest of students of color for classical music, ultimately hoping to impact the orchestral world and diversify its participants. Generation Music has since been approved for fiscal sponsorship through Fractured Atlas and is continuing their work.

“Project 440 gave me the opportunity to experience what teaching students would be like, and has helped me decide that I do want to go into music education.”

— Claire Casanova

Center City Chamber Orchestra
Marquise Bradley, Davey Hiester, Jeramie Miller & Percy Weaver

A quartet of minds brainstormed an opportunity to create chamber music with minimal help from adults. They succeeded in making that happen and created a youth led chamber orchestra called The Center City Chamber Orchestra (CCCO). Since the end of Doing Good, CCCO has established a board and is currently planning additional performances for spring 2019. One of the founding members of CCCO shared, “The Doing Good program has allowed me to see how far you can take music without actually playing your instrument, and it has also has helped me to learn leadership skills that I wouldn’t have learned in school. 

“The Doing Good program has allowed me to see how far you can take music without actually playing your instrument and its also has helped me learned leadership skills that I wouldn’t have learned in school.”

— Marquise Bradly

This program is supported in part by a generous grant from the American Orchestras’ Futures Fund, a program of the League of American Orchestras made possible by funding from the Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation. 

Recommended Stories