In Tuesday’s (12/6) Philadelphia Inquirer, Peter Dobrin writes, “When he gets on the No. 34 trolley to West Philadelphia, Stanford Thompson scans fellow passengers with the fervid eyes of an evangelist. The convert potential he’s calculating isn’t religious, but musical. … After stints abroad that were, in one way or another, about finding a higher purpose for music, his conscience pulled him three miles west of his alma mater to St. Francis de Sales School at 47th Street, just below Baltimore Avenue. … Drawing on several months’ experience in Venezuela with its El Sistema music program, he put together Tune Up Philly with the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra and in fall 2010 started his young charges on donated strings, brass, percussion, and (sans tricky oboe and bassoon) woodwinds. … Last month, the program received a major shot in the arm when Thompson opened the mail to find a $50,000 check from H.F. ‘Gerry’ Lenfest, chairman of the Curtis board. He had heard Thompson speak at a Curtis panel discussion and was moved to make a three-year commitment for a total of $150,000. Lenfest’s action was personal, but Curtis too has put its weight behind its graduate, giving chairs, stands, and other equipment.”
Posted December 8, 2011
