Our mission

Creativity. Diversity. Commitment.

WE DISRUPT INEQUITY IN CLASSICAL MUSIC THROUGH MENTORING AND FINANCIALLY SUSTAINING THE MUSICAL AMBITIONS OF YOUNG, PROMISING PHILADELPHIANS

 

As Philadelphia’s premier merit-based program for financially challenged young, aspiring musicians, we provide individualized, focused support, resources, and access to the best educational opportunities in Philadelphia and beyond. We prepare each Primavera Artist for acceptance into the world's top conservatories and university music programs.

Our Directors and staff work closely with every Primavera Artist’s parents, private instructors, and youth orchestra and chamber music directors to make sure that our students are afforded every opportunity for growth.  With a combined thirty years of educational and professional experience, we designed our program to offer the highest level of support to each young Artist. 

In 2014, Rachel Segal, David Segal, and Kenny Bean came together to solve a problem. All three had spent their lives in and around music, and all three had come to the same conclusion: that talent should never be lost because of financial circumstances. Rachel's career as a violinist had focused on performance and stretching boundaries while Kenny's had focused on teaching and youth development. We found that our individual focuses complemented each other’s in surprising, and what turned out to be inseparable, ways. Our commitment is to narrowing the access gap in Philadelphia for financially challenged young musicians. 

We believe that what makes a great musician is the right combination of ability, guidance, and resources. Choosing to specialize in a field means that you are completely devoted to it; that you will protect it as if it were your own. That is the energy that sets us apart.

Since our beginning, we have facilitated the success of young musicians. With a generous endowment from the estate of Dr. Norman Holland-Hull and the inspiration of Maestro Joseph Primavera, whose knowledge and commitment over more than five decades as the Music Director of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra produced members of every major symphony orchestra in the United States, we started The Primavera Fund and the Norman Holland Hull Instrument Library.  Maestro Primavera used to say that "instrument cases don't make court cases" and he was right, as studies consistently show a link between music education and personal achievement, which in turn lowers risk factors for at-risk youth.  The missing ingredient for these young people from financially challenged backgrounds was having the right tools and individualized guidance to reach their goals. We provide the tools and mentoring needed for each Primavera Artist to excel and realize their dreams.

 

 
 
Primavera Artists at a Sterling Masterclass with Danielle Belen.

Primavera Artists at a Sterling Masterclass with Danielle Belen.

Executive Director with Maestro Joseph Primavera in Beijing, Summer of 2002.

Executive Director with Maestro Joseph Primavera in Beijing, Summer of 2002.