Michael Tilson Thomas - Project 440's Essential Role in Music

By Michael Tilson Thomas

Michael Tilson Thomas working with Joseph Conyers and the All-City Orchestra.

It is a pleasure to write these words of appreciation about Project 440.

Project 440 takes its name from the frequency of the note “A” to which orchestras tune. 

Orchestras have been in existence for some four hundred years and have brought both performers and listeners together in ways that defined and re-imagined the spirit of their times and passed it on to the future. Such is the case of Project 440 which gives young people the opportunity to learn essential life, leadership, and entrepreneurial skills through the shared medium of music. Some of them will become musicians. All of them will have an understanding of the language of music and the desire to share its caring message with others in creative new ways. 

There are two essential moments in the life of an artist and of an artistic organization. One is inventing yourself. The other is going the distance. Project 440 has done both. Since 2010, under the leadership of Joseph Conyers, it has created and sustained an educational and artistic partnership with all of Philadelphia sharing music educational opportunities into all communities, partnering with its school system, and encouraging young people to become effective partisans of music and the rich cultural heritage it expresses.

Joseph Conyers has a wonderful way of connecting people. His experience as a principal player in the Philadelphia Orchestra and his awareness of the many cultures of young people right at this moment give him a can-do spirit that is inspiring to young people and seasoned professionals. The faces of the Project 440 participants glow with the devotion that Joseph Conyers and his team bring to this project.

Welcoming Mason to the Project 440 Team!

Mason is an intern from the Bloomberg Arts Internship Program and will be spending the next 7 weeks working with Project 440!

Q: How did you find out about this internship?

A: During the school year, my art teacher brought me a flyer for the Bloomberg Arts Internship and I signed up that very night. When I was assigned to Project 440, I did a little digging through the website to learn more about the organization. Needless to say, I was very excited to start working here.

Q: What is your relationship with music? What does music mean to you?

A: Music has always been a part of my life. I started singing straight out of the womb and I haven’t stopped since. I play guitar and bass and started a band called Mystic Prize with my friend Willem about a year ago. Since then, we’ve released a few singles, an EP, and full length album and we are still working hard at creating more. I think I get my musical inclination from my dad, who played trombone for the better half of his adolescence.

Music, to me, is the ultimate form of self-expression. Anyone can make music. It has so many different forms, evokes many different emotions, and can be very tangible. If you have something to say, an instrument can give you the words to say it. There are so many messages that can be expressed universally through a simple instrumental, just the thought of it is empowering. Music can break language barriers. Whenever I am feeling something strongly but can’t find the words, I pick up my guitar and sing whatever falls out of my mouth. It doesn’t even feel like I’m thinking, I’m just doing. It is liberating. They don’t have to be the right words, but they are the truth, and having that honesty with myself is something magical that I only find through music.

Q: Describe yourself in 3 words.

A: Oof, this is difficult, I have so many words. I guess I’d say that I am goofy, creative, and friendly (and for my boss, super hardworking!).

Q: Do you actually like long walks on the beach?

A: Eh. I’d prefer a nice hike in the woods followed by a cooling swim in a lake!

Q: What do you hope to gain from interning at Project 440?

A: I hope the professional environment will improve my self-motivation and organization. There are a lot of things to get done throughout the work day, and taking them one step at a time in an organized manner is very important. Just within my first week here, I can already feel myself getting better with time management and organization. Every task I complete feels like I am contributing to something bigger than myself, which definitely makes me feel more motivated to do the work.

East Falls Now - Using Music to Train Entrepreneurs

by John T. Gillespie

Just as Chopin captivated 19th Century Paris salons with his virtuosity on the piano, so the young musicians of Project 440 captured the hearts and minds of Henry and Kathy Donner’s guests with Beethoven’s obeo trio.

But Beethoven, inspiring and critically performed as he was, was not the focus of a Sunday afternoon in April in the Donners’ living room on Apologen Rd. Music, the discipline with the power to inspire and train men and women for productive lives, was.

Project 440 stands for 440 Hz, or middle A on the musical scale, the note musicians use to tune their instruments. In this case it could also stand for music’s importance in life.

Joseph Conyers, bass for the Philadelphia Orchestra and founder and executive director of Project 440, says the program treats music as a means, not an end, to a successful life. “Project 440,” he says, “fosters musicians’ passion and helps them build skills to amplify their future success.”

With students drawn from the city’s leading public high schools—Masterman, Centra, Girard, Northeast High, the High School for the Create and Performing Arts, Benjamin Rush and the All City Orchestra—the project has a ready pooled potential members.

The project offers two after-school options. Doing Good teaches young people the ins and outs of social entrepreneurship, leaderships, and community service. Instruments for Success focuses on college and career preparedness—all through the lens of music.

Claire, a Project 440 student, said that “Participating in Project 440’s Doing Good allows me to do just that: good. Being part of this organization also has allowed me to learn new entrepreneurship skills and meet new people with a similar goal. The things I was able to learn in this class will stick with me throughout my future endeavors.”

The Donners have become cultural mavens in the neighborhood. They hosted a recent musicale at Germantown Friends School and invited City Councilman and realtor Allan Domb to their home for a political tutorial on taxes and city government.

Henry Donner is a member of the board of Project 440 and a fervent admirer of the organization and its founder.

“Anyone who has met the Orchestra’s Joseph Conyers recognizes he is a force of nature—bright, articulate, thoughtful, engaging, an accomplished classical musician with impactful social purpose realized in a non-for-profit organization he created.

“Project 440, through its two flagship programs, Doing Good and Instruments for Success, teaches high school students from across Philadelphia about social entrepreneurship, community service, and college and career preparedness—all through the lens of music.”

Click here to view the full June edition!

Transcribed from East Falls Now, John T. Gillespie.

Teaching Artist Spotlight: Emily Cooley

Meet Emily Cooley, a local composer and Teaching Artist (TA) for Instruments for Success! Read about how she got involved with Project 440 and what she has taken away from being a TA.

Q: How did you get involved with Project 440, and what drew you to this organization? 

I first heard about Project 440 when I was a student at Curtis. I think the organization has a very unique role in Philly’s music scene - I love that Project 440 builds connections between young musicians and the larger community. 

Q: What is your favorite part of being a Teaching Artist (TA)?

I like hearing about students’ interests and goals. There are so many different paths our students want to explore, both in college and beyond. It’s inspiring to meet students who have very specific goals, but I also relate to those who aren’t quite sure what they want to do, because that was me in high school.

Q: Like most of the Project 440 staff, you wear many hats outside of your work as a TA. Can you speak about what other projects/ensembles/organizations you are involved with outside of Project 440?

I’m a freelance composer, and I teach a lot of private composition and piano students in the Philly area. I also help run a concert series in New York called Kettle Corn New Music. 

Q: You are a working professional, but is there anything that you learned while being a TA for Instruments for Success?   

Where you go to college doesn’t determine your future success! I don’t think I ever got that message when I was in high school.

Q: If you could give any advice to your high school self with regards to college applications and career choices, what would it be?

Probably to leave my options open and always take time to reflect on both my past choices and potential future interests. That’s something I’m trying to do now as well.

Project 440 Teams Up with The Mann Center, School District of Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Orchestra

Project 440, The Mann Center for the Performing Arts, School of Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Orchestra are teaming up to host a free program for the students of Philadelphia. This is a summer experience built to serve rising 8th grade through 12th grade instrumental students in the School District of Philadelphia.

All City Orchestra Summer Academy (ACOSA) will help extend the All City Orchestra program into the summer months, giving the opportunity for students to enjoy a high-quality music learning experience close to home.

The two-week program will be held from July 15 to 26 at the Mann Center, which is the same time the Philadelphia Orchestra will be in residence for concerts at the Fairmount Park amphitheater.

Project 440 will be providing enrichment support to the program in conjunction with the students' musical learning experience. This includes life skills, college and career prep, and mind and body classes for the students to take their learning throughout their lives and careers.

Project 440 will hold sessions in Mindfulness and Movement, Smart Practice Tools, Community Engagement and Interactive Performance, and Leadership and Entrepreneurship. Susanna Loewy, Project 440 Program Director, added “All of these sessions will be led by Project 440 Teaching Artists. We believe that music should be used as a tool to help students gain and apply important 21st century skill sets that will help them during their careers.”

Joseph Conyers, Project 440 Executive Director and All City Orchestra music director, explained that the goal of ACOSA is not to create more professional musicians. “Our goal is to use music as the tool with which to teach important life skills that are transferable into any industry they wish to pursue - literally using music as an instrument for success,” he said. He continued by saying “If students do, however, want to pursue music, not only will we be able to identify and connect them with a local artistic partner through ACOSA, but those students will have the entrepreneurial mindset to become successful at their craft.”

We are excited to be working with such great partners on a project designed to help the young people of Philadelphia grow and develop. You can read more about ACOSA in an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer by clicking here.

Recommended Stories

Congratulations and Thanks to the Seniors with Project 440

As the school year, Doing Good, and Instruments for Success comes to an end, we want to start by congratulating them on all of their hard work and accomplishments. The students in our programs have gone to school to learn from the amazing teachers in Philadelphia while also taking time after school to learn and prepare for college and their future careers. We have enjoyed spending time with these young leaders and want to thank them for joining us in this learning experience, especially the members of the Youth Advisory Council (YAC).

YAC consists of alumni of Project 440 programs, the School District of Philadelphia, and other young leaders from throughout the region with a passion for music education. Participants meet monthly and receive leadership, project management, governance and advocacy training. The mission of YAC is to use peer to peer influence to ensure diverse representation in Project 440’s programs and to provide feedback on program content. You can read more about YAC here!

We want to give a special thanks and shoutout to the YAC members for helping us grow and better serve the young people of Philadelphia. Here is the list of graduating seniors:

Chloe Cooper

University of Tampa

Music Education

Claire Casanova

Temple University

Music Education

Malinda Voell

Temple University

Flute Performance

Marquise Bradley

Cleveland Institute of Music

Clarinet Performance

We are very excited to see what each and every one of our seniors accomplishes as they take the next steps in their lives. Congratulations!

Recommended Stories

Congratulations to the Doing Good Class of 2019!

We celebrated the 2019 Doing Good Graduation on May 9th and could not have ask for a better night! Doing Good is a 30-week intensive after-school entrepreneurial program that provides guidance to high school musicians who want to positively impact their communities. The unique curriculum challenges students to view their curiosity about the world as a window through which they can see the needs, gaps, and opportunities they are best equipped to address. Click here to learn more about Doing Good!

The graduation served as their final project for the program, presenting their community based artistic projects that they have begun to the graduation attendees! This year’s projects were:

T. Arts

Javon miner 

Our plan is to give, inspire, and expose the arts to students who need it to a program that will allow children who attend non-arts schools, to put on a show that includes both film acting and musical theater. They will have time to practice and perform each of their numbers, and get to enjoy the thrill of the dramatic arts.

Center City Chamber Orchestra+ (CCCO+)

Daniel Kim & Justin Williams

We plan to contribute to the Center City Chamber Orchestra - an orchestra created by students, performed by students, and led by students - by creating an educational component to their programming.

Generation Music

Chloe Cooper, Claire Casanova, Nayyirah Wood,

Kintan Silvany & Naomi Lukov

To educate the youth in classical music with a series interactive workshops and lessons through student knowledge of music.

Project Princeps

Jake Richards, Sarah Casanova & Grace Flickinger

To give every child the chance to experience the power of books through musically minded entrepreneurial ventures.

We want to send special thanks to our program director and teaching artist Susanna Loewy, teaching artist Nozomi Imamura, and the Curtis Institute for Music for sharing their space with us.

Recommended Stories

Project 440 Receives Support from Marple Newtown High School Tri-M Music Honor Society

On May 7th, 2019, the Marple Newtown High School held their induction ceremony for the newest chapter of the Tri-M Music Honor Society. During this celebration, they announced that they donated $1,100 to Project 440 in support of our programs and the work we do for the communities in Philadelphia. The support of a group of hard-working and generous young people is one of our greatest motivators, and we are excited to continue working for the young people of Philadelphia.

The Tri-M Music Honor Society students recently completed a service project in which they raised $1,100 to donate to an organization they believed in. During one of their meetings, Jake Olimpi (Advisor of Tri-M) mentioned Project 440 and explained our mission and programs. Olimpi said this about the students’ reactions, “Their eyes lit up. Applying skills learned through music to the real world is something we strive to teach here at Marple Newtown so it only made sense to contribute to a program that helped students so close to our school.”

As our programs begin to wrap-up and we congratulate our graduating seniors, we want to also thank and congratulate the students of Marple Newtown’s Tri-M Society on a successful service project and a generous donation. We hope to continue to inspire these students and can’t wait to see what they accomplish in their futures!

Recommended Stories

Project 440 Student Spotlight: Javon Miner

Meet Project 440 Doing Good student, Javon Miner! Our interview highlights how participating in Project 440 has influenced his outlook on a career in the arts.

Q. Can you tell me about yourself and your relationship with music?

My name is Javon, and I’m an actor from Philadelphia. Even though acting is my main passion, I’ve also dabbled with music. I’ve been playing the drums for awhile now, and I’m currently trying to learn how to play the piano.

Q. How did you hear about Project 440 and what is your involvement with us?

I heard about Project 440 in late 2018. They came to my school to promote it to my class.

Q. I heard that you thought there might be a “catch” to Project 440 providing a stipend to students for completing our programs; after being in Doing Good for a whole year, what is the verdict?

When they told the class that they are willing to pay students who are involved in the program, the first thought in my mind was that there was a catch, but after being in the program I realized that there wasn’t anything suspicious about it. It was straightforward in fact. You had to be there and do the assignments. That’s it. Your attendance and the work you do is counted toward you stipend.

Q. Has participating in Doing Good changed the way you view music and the arts as a career path?

Being apart of the Project 440 program helped me understand that music is not only something that gives people pleasure. It can also be used as medicine. Music can be a way that people cope with problems they may have. It can also be used to convey certain messages and meanings to its audience.

Q. Has Project 440 helped you in pursuing your future goals?

Ms. Susanna is the person who teaches my class alongside Mr. Nozomi. She contacted a friend of hers and and helped set up a meeting for me and her friend to discuss my real-estate interest. After that I was offered an internship with the firm. All thanks to my teacher.

Recommended Stories

Project 440 Teaching Artist Spotlight: Nozomi Imamura

Meet Project 440 Teaching Artist, Nozomi Imamura! Our interview highlights how and why he got involved with this organization, as well as an in-depth understanding of how he practices what he preaches to the next generation of social entrepreneurs.

Q: How did you get involved with Project 440, and what drew you to this organization?

I first started working as a teaching artist during Project 440’s summer music program at Philadelphia International Music Festival. And now I co-teach one of the curriculums called Doing Good. To be completely honest, Joseph Conyers is one of my biggest inspirations as a musician, educator, and fitness enthusiast, and I wanted to have opportunities to work with him.

Q: What is your favorite part of being a Teaching Artist?

Being able to connect, mentor, and inspire people to open up their potential through music.

Q: Like most of the Project 440 staff, you wear many hats outside of your work as a Teaching Artist. Can you speak about what other projects/ensembles/organizations you are involved with outside of Project 440?

I am a Community Artist Fellow from the Curtis Institute of Music, and through the fellowship program I work as a band director at South Philadelphia High School and work closely with the Project HOME. I am also a regular substitute member for regional orchestras around Philadelphia.

Q: You have also worked in Japan as a performer; do you see a need for programs that Project 440 offer in Japanese society as well?

I have only performed in Japan for a few times, but seeing how community based projects and interactive performances are becoming more and more common and needed, I think it would be great to have curriculums that Project 440 offers in Japan.

Q: If you could give any advice to your high school self with regards to college applications and career choices, what would it be?

Be yourself and don’t try to fit in. When you find something you can be passionate about, take risks and pursue it!

Recommended Stories