Citizen musician, entrepreneur, and youth advocate, Joseph H. Conyers - Principal Double Bass of The Philadelphia Orchestra - has spent the whole of his career as a multi-faceted 21st-century artist whose innovative work in music education and access has been recognized internationally. Awards for his many celebrated initiatives include the Sphinx Organization’s Medal of Excellence (2019) – the organization’s most prestigious recognition, the Theodore L. Kesselman Award from the New York Youth Symphony (2019), the C. Hartman Kuhn Award (2018) - the highest honor bestowed upon a musician of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Musical America’s 30 Top Professionals – Innovators, Independent Thinkers, and Entrepreneurs (2018). In 2015, Joseph was the inaugural recipient of the 2015 Young Alumni Award from his alma mater, the Curtis Institute of Music where he studied with Hal Robinson, former principal bass of The Philadelphia Orchestra, and Edgar Meyer. In 2021, Joseph’s broad-ranging career was featured on PBS in Jim Cotter’s Articulate featuring his work as Founder and 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.

A 2004 Sphinx Laureate, Joseph has been a bass soloist with numerous orchestras and has for several years been an artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He’s the Music Director of Philadelphia’s historic All-City Orchestra which for over 70 years has showcased the top high school musicians of the School District of Philadelphia, and he was named the Director of Artistic Development for the prestigious Boston University Tanglewood Institute in 2020. One of Joseph’s newest initiatives is as artistic director and founder of the newly formed Dubhe, a collective of some of the most influential chamber and orchestral musicians in the world with the goal of creating performances centered on authentic community connection, inclusivity, and lasting impact. A frequent guest clinician and public speaker presenting from coast to coast, Joseph, also a sought-after pedagogue with former students in orchestras across North America and Europe, serves on the double bass faculty of the Juilliard School.

Joseph has been a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 2010 when he was appointed Assistant Principal Double Bass. He served in the role of Acting Associate Principal Bass from 2017-2023, and he was appointed principal in May of 2023. He performs on the "Zimmerman/Gladstone" 1802 Vincenzo Panormo Double Bass which he has affectionately named “Norma.”

Find Joseph on social media @weatherclef

Cellist Yumi Kendall - Assistant Principal of the Philadelphia Orchestra - is a citizen artist whose inspiration comes from exploring human flourishing in music performance, community building, pedagogy, and organizational health.

As an orchestral and chamber musician, Yumi has played on many of the world’s prominent stages, including the Kimmel Center, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Suntory Hall, and Musikverein, and has been presented by such organizations as Marlboro Music Festival, Kingston Chamber Music Festival, 21st Century Consort, and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. By special invitation, Yumi has appeared as guest Principal Cello with the Toronto and Baltimore symphony orchestras, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra in Japan.

Sparked with curiosity to understand her personal agency amidst the collective effort of orchestral playing, Yumi earned a Master’s in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. As a speaker, Yumi shares her work at conferences, non-profit and corporate board retreats, workshops, and academically, presenting ideas and experiences from music performance, teaching, and striving for excellence in both, as well as positive psychology, including intrinsic motivation, cultivating meaning at work, and social connections.

Yumi is steeped in joyful childhood memories of music making with her family, especially her violinist brother Nick Kendall of Time for Three, and lessons with her grandfather, violinist pedagogue John Kendall, who introduced Suzuki education to the United States and trained teachers from around the world. Drawing on her vivid childhood experiences, working with young musicians opens new horizons for Yumi. She is a regular guest instructor at her alma mater the Curtis Institute of Music, as well as at the National Orchestral Institute, and serves on the boards of Project 440 and Wildflower Composers, with prior service for Astral Artists. A proud Suzuki alumna, Yumi founded The Suzuki Alumni Project as a way to celebrate Suzuki education and express gratitude to the movement’s teachers for believing in their students’ potential and that of all children.

Yumi remains forever thankful to her mentors: John Kendall, Nancy Hair, Carol Tarr, Alice Vierra, David Hardy, David Soyer, and Peter Wiley; and generous supporters Elaine Woo Camarda and A. Morris Williams, Jr., who established a Philadelphia Orchestra Chair for her and endowed it in perpetuity.