Heart-warmer: Philadelphia timpanist flies deprived kids to Italy

Heart-warmer: Philadelphia timpanist flies deprived kids to Italy

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norman lebrecht

August 01, 2015

Here’s one to warm the cockles of our hearts.

Don Liuzzi, principal timpanist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, has been conductor of the Philadelphia All-City Orchestra for the past ten years. The players are high school kids from poor areas of the city, mostly Latino and African-American.

Don is about to step down from the podium, handing over to assistant principal bass Joseph Conyers.

A friend tells us: ‘Don’s love for the program and the students has been a constant. To close out his 10-year tenure, Don raised the funds to take the orchestra on an all-paid week-long tour of Italy. Many of the students had never left the country before; some had never been out of the Philadelphia area. A few were unable to obtain passports and could not go. It has been a life-changing experience for many of them.’

philly kids

Read Don’s travel journals here.

Comments

  • Robert Fitzpatrick says:

    Congrats and thanks, Don, for your 10 year tenure. I can’t wait to see and hear your successor conduct! I’m glad to see All-City Orch on the move.

  • CDH says:

    “Unable to obtain passports…” That bodes no good for “some” if the IRS finds out.

  • Joe Hannigan says:

    Here’s Don narrating a short clip about the trip for their Kickstarter campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMqcS-OxE_Y

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