On Saturday evening, Music and Artistic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin named double bassist Joseph H. Conyers the new Principal Bass (Carole and Emilio Gravagno Chair) of The Philadelphia Orchestra.
Following tenures at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (GA), Grand Rapids Symphony (MI), and Santa Fe Opera (NM), Conyers has held The Philadelphia Orchestra’s Assistant Principal Bass (Mark and Tobey Dichter Chair) since 2010, and served as acting Associate Principal Bass since 2017. When he was hired, Conyers was the first Black musician hired to the Orchestra in 36 years, and now he makes history again as one of the few Black principal players in a major American orchestra. For the principal position, Conyers competed alongside more than 100 other bassists from around the world in multiple rounds of auditions, and was chosen as the new section leader.
In addition, Conyers is a Founder and the Vision Advisor of Project 440, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit; sits on the double bass faculty of The Juilliard School and Temple University; has served as Music Director of the Philadelphia School District’s All-City Orchestra since 2015; and has led the Young Artists Orchestra at Boston University Tanglewood Institute since 2021.
Nézet-Séguin shares, “Joseph Conyers has been an integral part of The Philadelphia Orchestra, providing exceptional artistic commitment from within the bass section and throughout the community, including as a teacher, mentor, and inspiration to young musicians. I am ecstatic to welcome him to this well-deserved new role as we continue to spread joy through music together.”
Conyers adds, “From listening to the classic Eugene Ormandy recordings of the famed Philadelphians as a child to hearing that fabulous Philadelphia Sound in person while a student at Curtis, I could only dream to one day be a part of such an historic institution. Now, in my new role, I’m honored to carry on a bass tradition that has spanned over a century all while encouraging young people all around the world that they, too, can follow in my footsteps. On top of the many artistic adventures that I know await me, this appointment is a catalyst in my quest to continue providing opportunities for young people through the power of music, and I can’t wait to get started!”
Originally from Savannah, GA, Joseph Conyers co-founded nonprofit Project 440 (formerly Savannah Chamber Players) in 2007, a nonprofit organization that aims to provide young musicians with the tools to help them use their passion for music to fuel their purpose in life. When Conyers joined The Philadelphia Orchestra, he brought the organization to Philadelphia and has worked tirelessly ever since to ensure the organization’s success.
Conyers currently serves as Project 440’s Vision Advisor and as lead ambassador for its mission to provide every young person with the opportunity and tools for individual growth and community impact through music. Project 440 educates the whole person to expand beyond the development of musical technique – using music as the spark to help young people grow as individuals and members of their community. Programs emphasize entrepreneurship, leadership, and service and teach a toolkit of durable 21st century life skills that will serve students throughout their lives, whatever path they choose.
In 2019, world-renowned violinist Hilary Hahn selected Project 440 as the recipient of a $25,000 gift accompanying the 11th Glashütte Original Music Festival Award she received for achievements in encouraging young musicians and promoting classical music education. In 2021, London-based The Borletti-Buitoni Trust (BBT) selected Project 440 as one of eight awardees, and the only U.S. recipient of its international BBT Communities grant.
“Project 440 serves a crucial purpose within the arts world,” said Hahn. “They reach across a broad socio-economic spectrum to high school students, helping them to take leadership roles in their communities and rehearsing life skills within the shared language of music. Many organizations are doing great work around personal leadership, but the way Project 440 goes about it is different from anything I’ve seen. I believe that music can be a starting point for so many kinds of conversations. Musical study has parallels across multiple disciplines: daily practice, self-guided development, the translation of history into the present day, empathy, communication, and collaboration. To harness that shared basis into a sense of purpose in the wider world not only helps music, it helps the world.”
Citizen musician, entrepreneur, and youth advocate Joseph H. Conyers 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). Conyers’ broad-ranging career was featured on PBS’s Articulate, which highlighted his work as Founder & Vision Advisor of Project 440.
A 2004 Sphinx Organization Laureate, Conyers 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. He is the artistic director and founder of the newly formed Dubhe, a collective of some of the world’s most influential chamber and orchestral musicians 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, Conyers serves on the double bass faculty of The Juilliard School. He performs on the “Zimmerman/Gladstone” 1802 Vincenzo Panormo Double Bass that he has affectionately named “Norma.”
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