“As kids are just about wrapping up their first month of school across the United States, one millennial, Stanford Thompson, is continuing to make his mark through music,” writes Karim Abouelnaga in Thursday’s (9/21) Forbes.com. “In 2010, Thompson founded Play On, Philly! (POP),” a program that provides free daily afterschool music instruction for Philadelphia students ages five through eighteen, plus a six-week summer program. “ ‘Students in our programs score higher on standardized tests in English and math. They also have better study skills and demonstrate better executive functioning skills like determination and focus,’ said Thompson…. Thompson started playing the trumpet at the age of 8 and was studying with members of the Georgia State University Faculty and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra…. He attended the Curtis Institute of Music… Today, he serves on a handful of organization boards that have increasing music access at the core of their missions. Since 2010, Thompson and his team have secured over $9 million in funding…. ‘We have all the resources we need to provide those who are poor, marginalized and vulnerable with access to the arts,’ … said Thompson.” Thompson is on Forbes’s 2017 “30 Under 30” list of “leading young change-makers and innovators in the U.S.”
Posted September 25, 2017
