Blog

Meet our Speakers: Joseph Conyers

Joseph Conyers—assistant principal base for the Philadelphia Orchestra and arts entrepreneur.  As a musician, he is highly lauded and awarded, and as Executive Director of Project 440, he works hard to make a difference for young musicians in the Philadelphia area.  Named for the pitch (440 Hz or “A”) used to tune an orchestra, his organization has several exceptional programs in partnership with the school district of Philadelphia and other entities, including Carnegie Hall, The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Curtis Institute of Music, the New York State Summer School of the Arts, and The Settlement Music School (PA).  Students are given a unique experience that helps them to develop career and life skills, and encouraging them to develop both their musical, leadership, and entrepreneurial talents.  In 2016, over 500 young musicians participated in Project 440 programs.

Mr. Conyers stays busy.  In addition to his work with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Project 440, he also serves as the music director of Philadelphia’s famed All City Orchestra and is an adjunct faculty member at Temple University.  As our closing keynote, Mr. Conyers will speak to the importance of civic-minded and arts-based entrepreneurship and discuss how Project 440 fosters skills that prepare students to lead these endeavors in their future careers.  His talk will be the perfect segue to the final round presentations of our inaugural START UP Arts Entrepreneurship Competition.

Meet our Speakers: JiaJia Fei

JiaJia Fei is a digital strategist for the art world and the director of digital at The Jewish Museum in New York City.  Formerly the associate director of digital marketing at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, JiaJia curates all things digital for the Jewish Museum as well as her own personal flawless digital presence.  She’s a leader in tackling the tough questions museums face in regard to their role and identity in an increasingly digital world.  She’s written about the idea of digital as a dimension of everything, and spoken about Art in the Age of Instagram.

So, what exactly does a digital director do?  Digital directors and digital curators are becoming more common as part of a museum’s staff and are responsible for stewardship of a museum’s digital assets and digital presence.  They work to ensure that that digital presence adds value for the museum’s constituency. JiaJia will join us as our opening keynote speaker to talk about her work and the intersections of art and technology in the age of experience.  We believe her expertise will resonate with our AAEP students and alumni who are also on the forefront of revolutionizing the museum experience and the field of arts policy and administration as a whole.

By Miranda Rife, Student Coordinator, Barnett Symposium