Play On Philly’s Stanford Thompson and violinist Ray Chen to livestream talk on the role of today’s classical musicians, June 3

On June 3 at 4 p.m. ET, violinist Ray Chen and Play On Philly founder and trumpeter Stanford Thompson will conduct a free livestreamed conversation at Chen’s YouTube page. The “Opening Our Ears” conversation will center on actions classical musicians can do to help in the wake of the recent killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and similar incidents of Black Americans who have been killed by police. At his Facebook page, Chen, a native of Taiwan, says, “What is my role in all of this as a classical musician? Is this my fight if I’m not even American? This is something that I’m sure many of you have been thinking about over the past few days. People are hurting, and I believe it’s time we opened our ears and inform ourselves a little better. I’ve asked Stanford Thompson to a YouTube livestream to discuss tangible actions classical musicians can do to help.” Thompson notes on his Facebook page that he will “talk about some of the thoughts I’ve been having recently and the role classical music can play in self-discovery, reflection and action.” Play On Philly provides free daily music education to students in Philadelphia who lack access to musical instruction.