Play On Philly! transforms lives in the country's toughest neighborhoods.
Stanford Thompson, founder and executive director of Play On Philly!, transforms the lives of children through music. His organization seeks to, “...enrich the lives of Philadelphia youth by providing daily musical instruction in communities that have little access to music education.” Play on Philly! supports disenfranchised youth as they cultivate resilience through rigorous and connected music instruction.
A classically trained trumpeter, Mr. Thompson is an educational innovator and lifelong advocate for the transformative power of music. With six TED talks across the United States and in Kenya to his credit, Mr. Thompson spreads a universal message: music instruction has the power to unlock a path of inner growth for children. With music instruction comes greater access to self discipline, tackling complex tasks and increased self esteem.
We talked with him about Play On Philly’s success, his inspirations, and secrets to living a life driven by a sense of purpose.
How did you become involved in the TEDxPhilly talk? How have your TED Talks brought light to Play on Philly!'s mission?
TED awarded Dr. Jose Antonio Abreu the TED Prize in 2009 and his TED Prize wish was to create a training program that would place 50 individuals around the world creating programs inspired by the El Sistema program he created in Venezuela. I enrolled in that training program in the 2009-10 year and launched our initiative shortly after. Through those connections at TED, I presented at TED 2010 in Long Beach, two appearances for TEDxPhilly, and once at TEDxPeachtree (Atlanta, GA), TEDxLMSD (Lower Merion, PA), andTEDxNairobi (KENYA).
The TED appearances have helped us spread the word about our work and the TED community has helped us raise funds and build new partnerships that we continue to utilize to this day. Overall, these experiences have helped me learn to clarify what we are striving to do. The first appearance on the TED stage was when I was 23, which was a pretty nerve-racking experience. So those experiences really help one to see that when you are given a platform to speak about your main passion, then new opportunities can be born.
How did your own love of music begin?
I grew up in a musical house. My mom and dad are both professional musicians and also retired music educators. Between me and my seven siblings we always played music growing up. Music has always been my outlet. I learned a long time ago that when I played music it provided me with the most amount of balance.
What is your favorite jazz song, classical piece and selection that your students play?
Miles Davis is one of my favorite artists. I’d have to say “So What?” from his Kind of Blue Album. Johannes Brahms is one of my favorite composers and I would probably say hissecond symphony, I think, brings out every emotion about life. My students love to play the Rocky theme. It is always great to be around the site and hear them humming it to themselves everywhere they go.
(Photo:Students collaborating in the POP program)How do you set goals for your organization? How do you keep everything running smoothly? Is there a computer program or app that you recommend?
“We set the goals around the needs of the community. We have taken a look at some of the biggest issues that our kids face. The biggest issue in the city of Philadelphia is education, the quality of education. We know that there are lots of good teachers and good schools, but we also know that the vast majority of these kids are not going into the classroom and taking full advantage of what they have.
So we set our goals by saying, “How can we help set these kids up for success?” We want them to go back into their classrooms and be more effective learners. We want them to be more effective citizens and community members when they go back into their neighborhoods, and because of that we see our kids every single day for multiple hours, and we bring in the best teachers and loan them quality instruments.
When you really listen to the community you need to be ready to act on what they need. Talk to your community and listen to them...there is no computer app to replace this.”
How many schools do you partner with?
“We have three programs that engage three hundred students. We offer programming up to six days a week and students receive six hundred hours of music instruction each year. We give about twenty five concerts a year.”
(Photo: Students spend two hours a day, each week day, working on new musical challenges in the Play On Philly! program )
Is there a favorite success story you can share about your students?
“There are dozens of stories of kids really figuring out their identity through music. The idea that the kids can call themselves “musicians” now and are all working towards similar goals...I think about one of our bassoon players. Her name is Empress. She is in her fourth year. She selected one of the most difficult instruments in the entire program. I have seen her grow tremendously, musically and away from it. This past summer she went to a bassoon festival in Ottawa, Canada. We worked with her mother and helped them get ready for the trip. We helped buy materials she needed, plane tickets and helped see her off at the airport. To see that it was the first flight they took was moving. She went to this program on a full tuition scholarship. It was great to see her and her friend preparing for this...it got all of us energized that we could give this level of support for her. She learned so much...She didn’t want to come back home!”
(Photo: Through ensemble experiences POP students learn the value of dedicated work towards a shared goal )
What’s in store for Play on Philly!?
“We are currently launching a vision fund. We want to double the size of our program in the next three years. With that, it allows us to open up two more schools in Philadelphia. We can begin to hire our most advanced students as teachers. It will help us build an early childhood program. We work with kids as young as five now and would love to work with kids as young as two. It will give us the financial backing to sustain our program and growth for the next couple of years.
I hope that this work encourages more people in Philly and around the country to do work and step up to the plate...to do the best that they can to contribute to their community. I encourage people to get involved in the way they can. For some people that will mean giving money. For some it will mean using the skill set they have to help benefit others...and to artists to realize that we do more than just entertain people...that what we do, and what we know, can be a powerful tool for social development.”
(very Play on Philly! student is encouraged to develop and share their talents in the ensemble and in their community 