Philadelphia Orchestra Appoints Joseph Conyers as Principal Bassist

Last year, Harold “Hal” Robinson retired from his position as the principal bassist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, which he joined in 1995. Now the orchestra has announced the seat has been filled by the incredible Joseph Conyers, who has been with the orchestra since 2010 and an associate principal since 2017. He is also the first black principal instrumentalist in the orchestra’s history.

“[It] does mean a lot to me,” he told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I really don’t think of this as work I’ve done. It’s work we’ve done. There’s been a community of support between my family at home, my church community at home, the many before me [who were] Black who were not given the opportunity to pursue something like this but fought so I could have the ability to do it. This is something that I feel is collectively celebrated and I am just a result of that work and action.”

Conyers is a teacher at music schools like the Juilliard School. He’s also the founder of Project 440, which is a nonprofit organization that teaches “oung people how to use their interest in music to forge new pathways for themselves and ignite change in their communities.”

He’s also a prolific Instagrammer and has a solid YouTube channel loaded with jaw-dropping clips of orchestral excerpts and solos, plus advice on the double bass. He has two online courses with Discover Double Bass called Orchestra Chops.

Congrats to Joseph Conyers!