A conductor, musician, and educator, Jeri Lynne Johnson is determined to make classical music accessible to all Philadelphians. Born in the midwest, she made Philly home to the Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra, a diverse ensemble that she founded in 2008.
Roadblocks along to the way in her career helped inspire her to tackle the lack of inclusion in the classical music space, both in terms of audience and performers. After auditioning for several conductor positions, one music director in California made it clear to Johnson that while she was highly qualified for the job, they couldn’t hire her for the position.
“I didn’t look like what their audiences expected a conductor to look like,” Johnson states.
Although she was the recipient of the prestigious Taki Concordia Conducting Fellowship in 2005, she still faced several job rejections almost immediately following her acceptance of the award. The fellowship was established by Marin Alsop, music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, to support women in the early stages of their conducting careers. Alsop is the first woman to head a major American orchestra.
“I felt that classical music needed to take a fresh approach to equity and inclusion in order to continue to keep the art form relevant to younger and culturally diverse audiences.” – Jeri Lynne Johnson
Johnson was motivated to put the words diversity, equity and inclusion into action, so she created her own orchestra to reflect the community it serves which, according to Johnson, is 56% African American and 34% Caucasian.
The Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra is comprised of musicians from some of the best music conservatories around the world; they also come from a variety of ethnic backgrounds including African American, white, Middle Eastern, Latino and Asian. In 2018, Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra received the PNC Arts Alive Award for Innovation in honor of Peggy Amsterdam.
Black Pearl became known as the 21st century orchestra in Philadelphia, a model that is now imitated by orchestras across the country. “I felt that classical music needed to take a fresh approach to equity and inclusion in order to continue to keep the art form relevant to younger and culturally diverse audiences,” Johnson explained. Hence, its tag line, Many Cultures, One Pearl.
In a TED Talk in 2013, entitled, “How to Bring Classical Music to the Next Generation,” Johnson shares with the audience that it wasn’t the music she loved and grew up listening to that needed changing, it was the orchestras that needed to “bring sexy back to classical music.”
Johnson fell in love with classical music at a young age, “I started piano at age four and saw my first orchestra concert at age seven.” While most kids were rocking out to Madonna and Michael Jackson, Johnson was grooving to Sir Georg Solti and Leonard Bernstein.
A graduate of Wellesley College and the University of Chicago, Johnson pursued her passion for music eventually winning the Jorge Mester Conducting Scholarship in 1998 to attend the Aspen Music Festival. Johnson has worked with leading orchestras around the world including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony in the UK, and the Weimar Staatskapelle in Germany. At Carnegie Hall, Johnson conducted while Jay Z, Alicia Keys, and The Roots performed.
When asked if her approach to conducting is different, Johnson said, “I approach the music with passion, curiosity, and humility and try to create a collegial and engaging work environment for the musicians by encouraging them to share their ideas and expertise on how to execute my interpretation of the composer’s works.”
Innovative community engagement is a major initiative for Johnson. Black Pearl is the only organization in the country to win three Knight Foundation Arts Challenge grants. The “Orchestrating Youth Leadership” workshop for middle and high school students teaches at-risk youth the art of conducting. Since 2009, Johnson has shared vital tools for conducting that can be transferred to life learning skills.
Black Pearl’s Open Rehearsal with iConducti is an interactive program that invites audience members on stage with Johnson to take over conducting for a few minutes and feel first hand how a conductor connects with the musicians.
Johnson has worked with a number of young African-American musicians through youth orchestras and encouraged them to continue studying. “Hopefully seeing me in my position and role as a conductor may have helped inspire them to continue to work hard and know that there are people who look like them succeeding at a high level in the industry.”
At age 13 Arnetta Johnson discovered the trumpet, and today at almost age 25, NPR has named her one of 20 artists to watch in 2019. “Her singles, ‘Meet Me There,’ ‘Who Are You’ and ‘I’m Just Sayin’ have only heightened excitement about her forthcoming album, If You Hear a Trumpet, It’s Me,” says J. Michael Harrison, WRTI radio host.
She grew up in the city of Camden, New Jersey, but Arnetta was too busy to notice what has been named one of the poorest and most violent cities in the United States. “It was okay. My mom had me in so many after-school programs. Between art camp, basketball and church choir, I didn’t have time to hang outside.”
Nasir Dickerson, Jamal Dickerson and Hassan Sabree, teachers at Creative and Performing Arts High School in Camden were Arnetta’s first mentors. In middle school, she received her first professional gig performing with the Little Jazz Giants, a band of young musicians ranging in age from eight to 18, created and managed by Unity Community Center (UCC) in Camden, New Jersey. UCC was started by Robert and Wanda Dickerson over 40 years ago. The Dickersons opened their hearts and doors to at-risk youth in Camden in order to teach them the principles of African music and dance, along with life-saving skills.
It was as a “Little Jazz Giant,” when Arnetta first fell in love with jazz. She played hard bop at festivals around the Delaware Valley, which included the Cape May Jazz Festival, and Chicken Bone Beach Festival. “She was part of the scene at a young age,” recalls J. Michael Harrison, WRTI radio host. “One of the young folks that grabbed the opportunities, whether performing with young bands out of Camden, or the Philadelphia Clef Club.”
When Arnetta entered Creative Arts High School in Camden, she soon became the “band geek.” Troy Shelton, Arnetta’s manager, says, “They dubbed her the trumpet chic at Creative Arts.”
Road to Berklee
“I almost didn’t make the deadline,” Arnetta says referring to getting into Berklee College of Music in Boston. “Desi Seck, who worked as a theater director for a company in Camden helped me with the application. She just liked to help kids.”
With the cool confidence of a seasoned jazz musician, Arnetta embraced her journey into Berklee. “I auditioned months after the deadline. Jamal Dickerson took me and six musicians on a Greyhound bus because I needed a band to play with.”
“At Berklee I found Darren Barrett, it’s exactly what I wanted to sound like.”
Darren Barrett, a Berklee alum and professor, is a critically-acclaimed jazz trumpeter from Canada who has headlined international stages and performed with some of the greatest musicians, from jazz legend Donald Byrd to pop performers Common and Talib Kweli.
And just like Barrett, Arnetta received a full scholarship to the music college. “It was a big difference, going from being with a bunch of kids who look like you, to being the only black kid in the class,” recalls Arnetta. She was also one of only a few female instrumentalists at the school who stuck to playing a horn, as many of the female students were singers or piano players.
WRIT host Harrison recalls inviting an excited Arnetta to come on his radio show, “She would be appearing in Philly while she was at Berklee and I had been following her and paying attention to the 13, 14, 15 year old Arnetta, fearlessly on her musical journey”
Arnetta adds, “I always listened to his show and WRTI, and it’s where I found out about various musicians like Tia Fuller.” It wouldn’t be long before the saxophonist became another mentor to her.
Arnetta’s first industry gig came with Janelle Monáe and Monáe’s Black Girls Rock. “It definitely opened my eyes to the entertainment world,” laughs Arnetta. “Going into hair, makeup and wardrobe and then rehearsing the music. It’s a whole other industry than jazz.”
Next up for Arnetta… Beyoncé.
“The gig was the audition,” says Arnetta. “It just happened. The music director knew about me.”
Arnetta has performed at Super Bowl XLIX featuring Beyoncé and toured with the chanteuse as a featured trumpeter on both her Formation and On The Run II tours.
While performing with pop legends was exciting, Arnetta considers jazz drummer Terri Lynn Carrington as the first major artist she performed with. “She is a legend in her own right having performed with Herbie Hancock and others.”
Playing with Tia Fuller, Esperanza Spalding, Geri Allen, Buster Williams, Christian McBride and more, “was cool,” but Arnetta is ready to have my own tour. “Arnetta’s goal is to stand jazz on its head,” says Shelton. “We call it disruptive jazz. Disrupt, uplift, inspire and bridge the chasm of where jazz is and take the sound to where jazz ain’t. Instead of sampling jazz for hip hop, Arnetta is creating some hip hop sounds sampled from jazz.”
In five years Arnetta hopes to be in her super prime, working with jazz musicians and hip hop artists.
In her video Arnetta and Sunny, featuring band members Simon Martinez, Henry Trife, Eric Whatley, Lawrence Farmer, and Josh Thomas, Arnetta shows she isn’t afraid of “the jazz police,” in fact, she doesn’t even see them.
President, Carlos Gonzalez Jr., walked past the stacks of unwrapped Christmas presents towering in the corner of the conference room, a few floors above the American Cable Company warehouse in Northeast Philadelphia. “I still have to wrap my grandkids presents,” he smiles.
“Welcome to American Cable Company.”
“None of this would have happened if my dad hadn’t won the lottery to leave Cuba with me, my sister and mom in the late 60’s,” Gonzalez says with outstretched arms pointing to the shelves lined with toy sized John Deere and Caterpillar trucks and cranes.
“When we got off the plane in Miami, the person greeting us asked my dad where he wanted to go and he said, north. We ended up in Queens New York. I still remember the milk crate on the fire escape we used as a refrigerator and how our laundry would get frozen stiff on the outside clothesline.”
Six months after arriving in New York, Carlos Sr. accepted a job as a painter, and relocated his family to North Philadelphia. It wasn’t long before Carlos Sr. was supervising 50 people. “He was a leader,” Gonzalez says.
“He worked so hard, had an idea, and made it happen.”
After a day of painting, Carlos Sr. would hand make replacement auto battery terminals– a part sought after by area mechanics.
“I would go around Philly collecting scrap metal.” Read More
Dr. Nair will be officially inaugurated as President on October 13th. A weeklong series of events entitled: Reimagining Our Higher Education Community: From Inclusion to Justice will begin on October 8th.
Dr. Ajay Nair is the first person of color to be appointed president of Arcadia University, one of the first university presidents in the United States of Indian heritage who was born and raised in Philadelphia and one of the first leaders in higher education to be called a disruptor. Read More
Bill Leinweber, President and CEO of National Disease Research Interchange (NDRI) admits that NDRI’s work is complicated, because medical research is complex. For nearly 40 years, NDRI has accepted the challenge of meeting increasing demands of the medical research community, who rely on high-quality, healthy, and diseased biospecimens to conduct lifesaving research.
“There is not another organization that does everything we do, “explains Leinweber. “We serve researchers across the full spectrum of the life-sciences and provide everything from brain to miniscule tissues that scientists may need.”
The phone rings daily at NDRI, and trained call center staff work 24 hours per day, 7 day per week, 365 days per year to screen offers for tissues and organs from donors ranging from cadaveric to those being evaluated for transplant.
The requests are quite specific and follow strict protocol.
From Left to Right: Steven Yoon, Principal and Chief Marketing Officer, Bassetts Korea Co., Ltd. with Michael Strange, President, Bassetts Ice Cream in South Korea store
“I am certain that my great, great-grandfather would be both amazed and proud that Bassetts Ice Cream is now available on the opposite side of the world,” said Michael Strange, President of Bassetts Ice Cream.
In 1861, using a mule-turned churn on his farm in Salem New Jersey, Lewis Dubois Bassett invented what would become America’s oldest ice cream – Bassetts. And it’s safe to say that Mr. Bassett was not thinking of selling his ice cream to South Korea or anywhere outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at that time. Read More
Six first-generation Philadelphia-Americans, whose families immigrated from Italy, Poland, India, Syria, Nicaragua, Trinidad, and France, share their experiences regarding living in Philadelphia, and assimilating into a new country and culture.
Maury Z. Levy, 67, columnist for SJ Magazine and former, award-winning Editorial Director of Philadelphia Magazine. His father came to Philadelphia from Poland and his mom was born in Philly.
Emma Teelucksingh, 18, is a college student at the University of Scotland and was raised in a global household. Her mom was born in Tunisia to a French father and British mother; her dad is from Trinidad and Tobago.
Patrizia D’Adamo, 49, Director, US Operations, Travel and Tourism. Her parents came to Philadelphia from Italy.
Ajay Raju, Esq., 47, Chairman and CEO, Dilworth Paxson. He arrived to Philadelphia from India at age 14.
Joseph Assali, 21, is a Temple University student. His parents are from Syria.
Miriam E. Enriquez, Esq., 38, is the Director of the Office of Immigrant Affairs for the City of Philadelphia. Enriquez was born in the United States, but spent much of her childhood living in several different Latin American countries, including Nicaragua, her family’s country of origin.
The early years and mixing cultures
Levy: The language was always a challenge. When my parents spoke to each other or other older members of the family in front of the kids, they spoke Yiddish, which is a mix of Polish, German, Russian and the kitchen sink. Over the years, I started to understand what they were saying better and better. My mother often cooked like she was from the old country, I didn’t like or eat any of that. I wanted to eat American food, like my friends.
Teelucksingh: When I was younger, I always thought it would be so much easier to just have a normal, American family. It was challenging having so many labels thrown on me that sometimes I felt I didn’t belong anywhere, not in my dad’s culture, nor my mom’s, or in American culture. I’ve never faced any real prejudice because of my ethnicities, but it wasn’t always easy, especially when I was younger. Kids can be quite cruel sometimes. I remember once my dad packed me some leftover food for lunch, which was traditional Indian dal and rice, when I opened it up at school the next day, some boy started commenting on its appearance and smell. Being a shy six year-old in a predominantly White community, it really upset me, to the point where I was ashamed of my food and of my Indian heritage.
Standing: Left to right: Patrizia’s cousin Marinella Cipollone, Mom, Venia D’Adamo
Seated: Grandmother, Mariannina Sonsini holding Patrizia D’Adamo
Right bottom: Brother Marco D’Adamo
D’Adamo: As a child I was not aware I was different until I started school. I spoke only Italian until age five, so kindergarten was a difficult adjustment. I can remember not knowing “Ring around the rosy.” When I was younger I was a little embarrassed about being “different.” [At the start of ] every school year when the teacher was taking roll call on the first day and they got to my first name and paused, not knowing quite how to pronounce the name Patricia with a “z”- Patrizia. I remember feeling different and weird for having to come home earlier than everyone else when there was a party during my high school years.
Raju: When I was a teenager, I asked my dad if I could get an after-school job at a restaurant. In India back then, teens didn’t typically go to work unless there was some financial imperative for the family, my dad was offended at the perceived implication that his income wasn’t enough to support the household. Needless to say, he wouldn’t let me take the restaurant job. Naturally, I snuck off and began working as an usher at a nearby movie theater, telling my parents that I was going to the library to study. The ruse went perfectly until another Indian family saw me at the theater and, of course, dropped the dime to my parents. But the happy ending to that story is that my dad’s refusal to let me take a wage-paying job is what prompted me to start my own business, AJ’s DJs (which was precisely what you’d think it is). My entrepreneurship was far more palatable to my parents’ prideful sensibilities, and I suppose that may explain why I’ve been an entrepreneur ever since.
Left to right: Dad, Grandmother holding Joseph Assali, Mom
Assali: I realized at a young age that I was different from the other students, and was often mocked for my ethnic appearance and food. As I got older, the jokes became racist and vulgar, especially as Arabs gained more of a negative stereotype in America. One time following the September 11 attacks, our house was egged, and another time a group of people in a car even threw shaken-up soda cans at me and my sister while we were playing outside. These experiences often made me feel embarrassed to be Syrian-American when I was a child.”
Enriquez: Growing up, we did not have many Latinos in our neighborhood or in school. I was always “the only Latina.” That said, my house was always different from those of my friends but my friends enjoyed the culture shock at times. We spoke Spanish, ate Nicaraguan rice with every dinner, and gallo pinto as often as possible, and had a statue of the Virgin Mary in our front yard. When there was a party there was always some salsa or merengue music playing and there was plenty of dancing. At some point, el palo de mayo (a traditional Nicaraguan dance) would play and all would join in. I loved the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” because although the family was Greek, the immigrant experience was the same. We even had our elderly grandmother living with us! She only wore black because she was mourning the death of my grandfather, who died in 1973 in Nicaragua. And unlike the family in that movie, we did not have the Nicaraguan flag on our garage door, but we did have it displayed proudly outside our house.”
On navigating two different cultures
Teelucksingh: Obviously being of mixed race and having immigrant parents presents its challenges. I feel as though sometimes it was hard for them to relate to my American life (school, friends, values, etc.), but they were so keen on becoming a part of this country themselves that I don’t think I was ever not allowed to assimilate. I think the greatest challenge for me was managing my home life and “outside” life. As a child, I would sometimes act differently around my parents versus my friends.
Raju: Like any immigrant, when I first arrived in America I was supremely aware that I was different. But I was also aware that I had a unique and fleeting opportunity to create my own identity and narrative. While I’ve often used my ethnic background as a means to make connections, and while I certainly celebrate my heritage, I’ve never let it define or limit me. Very early on, I made the decision not to present myself first and foremost as “ethnic” but as “Ajay.” In my high school, I was never known as the “Indian guy” but rather the “guy with the hair.”
Assali: I learned English and Arabic at a young age, which allowed me to communicate with my grandmothers that often took care of me as a child. At school, I would speak English to my friends and teachers and learn American values and norms, and then come home to a completely different culture with our own values and customs and speak mainly Arabic to my family. I would experience two very distinct and often conflicting cultures each day, and it was confusing for me at first to simultaneously adhere to both of them. I eventually learned to combine the values and ideals important to me, while still being able to recognize and respect aspects of both cultures.
Left to right: Cousin Louise and Miriam Enriquez
Enriquez: I integrated into American culture with the help of school, of friends and good old American television. My family welcomed integration into the American culture, they love the United States. But they made sure that we held onto our Nicaraguan traditions as well. We spoke Spanish, we listened to music, heard all about, “Como eran las cosas en Nicaragua…” (how things were in Nicaragua) and of course ate our traditional Nicaraguan meals. My grandmother was always reminding me to speak Spanish. She would tell me that if I didn’t speak Spanish and didn’t practice my Spanish I was going to lose it. Now, more than ever, I try to practice my Spanish, more and more, as I find myself not wanting to lose my native tongue.
The impact of growing up as a First Generation American
Left to right: Dad, Louis (Lew) Maury, and Maury LevyLevy: It helped me a lot. My grandparents came here with nothing. The clothes on their backs and the money in their pockets. They had to work twice as hard as anyone else to be successful. My father taught that tradition to me, and I worked my ass off. My last two years of college, I went to school full-time and had a full-time job. I slept about three hours a night.
Teelucksingh: It has given me such a well-rounded view of the world. I’ve gotten to experience so many different cultures and aspects of life. I’ve also had to make my own way in this country which I like to believe has made me a stronger person.
D’Adamo: I mentioned how growing up with Italian parents helped shape my career by nourishing an interest in language, travel and exploration. I inherited not just language and culture, but also a determination that would push me to do the best I can and provide the best opportunities for my own children. I was provided the gift of American citizenship. As a young adult, Philadelphia was a place I wanted to run far away from for many years preferring the opportunity to live and work abroad. It is actually only recently that I have learned to embrace this city and all that it has to offer to the people that live here. I am now proud to be from Philadelphia and part of a community of first generation Italian-Americans.
Raju: Being a first generation American has given me a unique perspective, namely, that I don’t need to follow any preordained path, but that I can forge my own. It’s an atavistic human compulsion to find a tribe to belong to, so it can be a traumatic experience when, in the case of an immigrant, you’re displaced from the tribe you had known and forced to find a new one. But landing where we did, my family lucked out, in the Northeast in the 1980’s, all mothers were everybody’s mother. My neighborhood was tight-knit but quick to embrace me and my family. I know that my experience could’ve been very different, and that’s why I’ve made it a personal and professional mission to return that embrace wherever and however I can.
Assali: I have learned the rich history of America and the opportunities it has to offer, and my education here has been invaluable for my future. I am fortunate to have been given such incredible opportunities to succeed while living here, but I am also very aware of the struggles faced by Syrians that have remained in their country or facing challenges across the world. Being a first-generation American has granted me considerable insight into the plight faced by innumerable immigrants and refugees worldwide. Living in America with my own distinct ethnic history has definitely opened my eyes to things that are truly important in life, as well as things that we often take for granted while being fortunate enough to reside in a country able to provide everything we could ever want.
Enriquez: Being a first-generation American has shaped me personally and professionally by allowing me to have a greater appreciation for what this country and this wonderful city has to offer. I am so grateful that this city welcomed my family and they were able to make it their new home. Now professionally, as the administration and the Office of Immigrant Affairs continues to work towards making Philadelphia a welcoming place, I am inspired by all the new immigrants who are choosing to call Philadelphia home. We need to make sure that their experience is a good one, and that like my family, they will continue to call Philadelphia home for years to come.
Photo: Myriam Siftar, President, MTM Linguasoft and her team
Translation affects every aspect of our lives in business and personally and literally makes the world go round. Every letter and phrase needs to be converted precisely to perfectly match not only the language but also the culture.
In The book, Found in Translation: How Language Shapes Our Lives and Transforms the World, authors Nataly Kelly and Jost Zetzsche write of translation errors that are not only costly but also dangerous. HSBC was forced to launch a $10 million rebranding campaign to repair the mistranslated slogan, “Assume Nothing,” which was translated to “Do Nothing” in various countries.
WTCGP trade specialists counsel client companies to connect with a professional translation service company before entering a new market. Read More
Nasir Dickerson, Jamal Dickerson and Hassan Sabree, teachers at Creative and Performing Arts High School in Camden were Arnetta’s first mentors. In middle school, she received her first professional gig performing with the 
Photo: Myriam Siftar, President, MTM Linguasoft and her team