JOSEPH CONYERS

PRINCIPAL BASS, PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA

" …a lyrical musician who plays with authenticity that transcends mere technique." - Grand Rapids Press

BIO.

Citizen musician, entrepreneur, and youth advocate Joseph H. Conyers - Newly appointed 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 – an organization that helps young people use their interest in music to forge new pathways for themselves and ignite change in their communities. Based in Philadelphia, Project 440 has grown into a globally recognized resource of creative youth and workforce development education for high school students across America. 

A 2004 Sphinx 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.