Heart-warmer: Philadelphia timpanist flies deprived kids to Italy

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.’

Read Don’s travel journals here.