The inaugural What’s Up Pop Up

Stanford Thompson is the dynamic founder of Play On Philly! an El-Sistema-inspired program serving hundreds of children from Philadelphia's low income communities who study music every day after school. A 2009 graduate of the esteemed Curtis Institute of Music, Stanford was inspired by his experience as an Abreu Fellow, when he spent several months in Venezuela learning about that country's government-sponsored music program that involves some.200,000  children and has led to the development of one of the world's great orchestras, the Simon Bolivar Orchestra.

Bringing that vision home, Stanford founded Play On Philly and has become one of our nation's most articulate and passionate advocates for using music to intervene in the lives of low-income children. Hear about his experiences at Play On Philly and his vision for classical music's future.