2025 PMAY ARTISTS' INITIATIVE GRADUATION CONCERT To Take Place In June

This free event is open to the public and will feature five outstanding PMAY Artists' Initiative graduates performing pieces from Sarasate, Schumann, Brahms and more.

The PMAY Artists Initiative works to change the face of classical music, locally and nationally by removing barriers to participation for students historically excluded from the symphony orchestra stage. Students who go through the PMAY Artists' Initiative program prepare for higher education and a career in music performance, and their success rates are astounding. This year's graduates have all received scholarships to their college or university of choice, with two of the five students receiving full scholarships. 

• Julio Martin-Navas, cello – Manhattan School of Music

• Liliana Ortiz, oboe – Eastman School of Music (full scholarship)

• Brahin Ahmaddiya, clarinet – Oberlin Conservatory (full scholarship)

• Miro Raj, violin – Harvard University

• Kenneth Felton III, percussion – University of Delaware

All five students are available for interviews and performances and would be happy to speak on the amazing opportunities that PMAY has afforded them in their music education and career journeys.

See the full program for the 2025 PMAY Artists' Initiative Graduation Concert here.

About the PMAY Artists' Initiative

Launched in 2017 with funding from The Mellon Foundation and sustaining funding by the Paul M. Angell Foundation, it is a collaborative of Settlement Music School, Musicopia, Philadelphia Sinfonia, PYO Music Institute, Project 440, and Temple University Music Prep, with affiliate partners including the School District of Philadelphia, and The Philadelphia Orchestra. Together, these partners provide subsidized lessons, instruments, masterclasses, summer programs, college advising, and more, leading students to life-changing higher education and accomplished careers in music. 

“The cost for a student to get everything they need to attend college for classical music can be $15,000 a year. Even with drive and determination, that price point can close many doors,” says Dr. Najib Wong, Director of the PMAY Artists' Initiative. “We are proud to support these students, many of whom are first-generation college students. Our mission is to prepare each student to be accepted into a top music conservatory or university program and go on to have a sustainable music career, and we have already seen incredible accomplishments from our graduates.” 

Since 2017, representation of BIPOC students has increased sixfold in the most advanced high school classical music programs in the region. Every student that has graduated from the PMAY Artists' Initiative has secured enough scholarship support that tuition cost is no longer a barrier-to-entry for their college or university of choice, and full scholarships have been received in each graduating class. More than 50 graduates have been offered over $8M combined in financial aid and scholarships to attend colleges and conservatories such as Curtis Institute of Music, The Juilliard School, and Cleveland Institute of Music. PMAY Artists have also seen unparallelled rates of success, with alumni being named Assistant Conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Fellow at the League of American Orchestras, and medaling in the national Sphinx Competition

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