Education & Community Outreach
WRTI is passionate about championing music as a vital cultural resource and dedicated to expanding access to music education.
Joseph V. Labolito
We look to empower students of all ages and inspire local communities by expanding access to music education. WRTI works with a network of dedicated partners to increase opportunities for learning about and appreciating music.
You can donate now to champion and expand WRTI's education initiatives!
Interested in learning more or supporting WRTI's commitment to music education? Please contact Lydia Veilleux, our Education Outreach Manager, at lydia@wrti.org or visit Education and Community Outreach FAQs.
WRTI is proud to highlight the accomplishments of young musicians in our local communities.
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Meet Lily Carmichiael and Emma Lockmer, Philadelphia Ballet Orchestra conducting apprentices. -
The lauded Panamanian-American conductor Kalena Bovell is a tireless advocate for music education, and a believer in omnivorous listening. She spoke with WRTI's Meg Bragle during a recent run of 'The Anonymous Lover' with Opera Philadelphia, where she made her company debut. -
Meet double bassist Luke Halpern, a senior at Friends' Central School and Principal Double Bassist of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra. -
Meet 16-year-old violinist Danae Truxler, a member of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, Temple Music Prep Center for Gifted Young Musicians' Youth Chamber Orchestra, and a Philadelphia Music Alliance for Youth (PMAY) Artist. -
Meet drummer Mekhi Boone, a first-year student at Temple University's Boyer College of Music and a regular player in the house band at Chris' Jazz Cafe. -
Meet 18-year-old Collin Parker-Szekely of Abington, PA, pianist in the Advanced Study Myer Schwartz Piano Trio at Settlement Music School and cellist in the Temple Music Prep Center for Gifted Young Musicians Youth Chamber Orchestra. -
Meet twenty-year-old jazz vibraphonist Nora Theberge, a jazz performance major at Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University. -
In partnership with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and Jasper Chamber Concerts, WRTI brought performances to two local Philadelphia schools in October. -
Meet bassoonist Adam Kraynak, an undergraduate student majoring in bassoon performance at Temple University's Boyer College of Music and Dance. -
Dedicated to expanding opportunities for women and nonbinary artists in improvised music, Next Jazz Legacy will continue for at least another three-year cycle, thanks to a $1.25 million gift from the Mellon Foundation. -
Meet 14-year-old violist Percy Smith-Holzbaur, a Philadelphia Music Alliance for Youth (PMAY) Artist and member of the Philadelphia Young Artists Orchestra. -
Meet 16-year-old guitarist Marel Hidalgo, bandleader of the Marel Hidalgo Quartet and member of the NJPAC TD Jazz for Teens program. -
Meet composer Cecelia Olszewski, a composition student at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University, and founder and president of the Cosmia Opera Collective. -
Meet harpist Maya Lindsey, a student at the Curtis Institute of Music, who got her start on the instrument with the Lyra Society. -
Meet 14-year-old percussionist Sydney Charlene Vance, a member of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, Philadelphia Youth Symphonic Band, and a Philadelphia Music Alliance for Youth (PMAY) Artist. -
Meet 16-year-old oboist Liliana Ortiz, a member of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, Settlement Music School's Advanced Wind Quintet, and a Philadelphia Music Alliance for Youth (PMAY) Artist. -
Meet hornist Evan Bretz, a section leader in the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra and a mechanical engineering student at Rowan University. -
Meet conductor and clarinetist Sara Bock, a first-year student majoring in clarinet performance at Temple University's Boyer College of Music and Dance. -
Meet 18-year old classical and jazz trumpeter Aidan Peterson, a member of Settlement Music School's Helen K. Schwartz Advanced Jazz Ensemble and the Juilliard Pre-College Orchestra. -
Meet Nicole Hom, an undergraduate flute performance major at Temple University's Boyer College of Music and Dance. -
WRTI's mission is to champion music as a vital cultural resource in our community. One way we live our mission is to partner with organizations that we believe in. -
Meet 14-year-old classical and jazz bassist Spencer Ellington Chambers, a member of the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz Ambassador Ensemble and the Juilliard Pre-College Symphony. -
Meet Katie Neary, an 18-year-old jazz saxophonist and a first-year jazz studies performance student at Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University. -
During a recent visit arranged by Play on Philly and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Sheku Kanneh-Mason answered some questions not only from schoolchildren but also from WRTI. -
Meet 17-year-old vocalist Ifika Rowe, a member of the Pennsylvania Girlchoir and a senior at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA). -
Superstar cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason spent a recent afternoon with young musicians, courtesy of Play On Philly and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. He brought his instrument and some good advice. -
Meet 16-year-old cellist and pianist Nina Braum-Bharti, member of the Musicopia String Orchestra and a mezzo in the Germantown Friends School A Capella. -
Meet 15-year-old trombonist Henry Koban Payne, winner of the 2023 Composition and Arranging Contest at the Jazz at Lincoln's Center's Essentially Ellington Competition. -
Meet violist Helen Qi, member of Temple Music Prep Center for Gifted Young Musicians' Youth Chamber Orchestra, and rising freshman at Yale University. -
Meet 15-year-old tubist, Keith Holmes, principal tubist of the Play on Philly Children’s Orchestra. -
Meet 16-year-old violinist Gabriela Salvador Riera, concertmaster of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra and a Philadelphia Music Alliance for Youth (PMAY) Artist.
