Profiled in Ebony Magazine as one of 30 Leaders 30 and Younger, Joseph H. Conyers is the newest member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra double bass section.  He joined the Atlanta Symphony after a three and a half year tenure as principal bass of the Grand Rapids Symphony (MI) and four summers as a member of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra (NM).

Described by the Grand Rapids Press as “a lyrical musician who plays with authenticity that transcends mere technique,”  Conyers performed as soloist with the Grand Rapids Symphony in a concerto commissioned by the GRS and written for him entitled “Prayers of Rain and Wind” by John B Hedges.  He has also soloed with the Alabama Symphony, Dekalb Symphony Orchestra (GA), the Albany Symphony (GA), Flagstaff Symphony (AZ), the Savannah Symphony and Civic Orchestras, and the Sphinx Symphony having won second prize at the 2004 Sphinx Competition in Detroit, MI.

Conyers has performed throughout the United States and Europe. He has served as principal (solo) bass of the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra with whom he traveled extensively and recorded on the Naxos label.  He has also served as assistant principal bass for Symphony in C (formerly Haddonfield Symphony).  Conyers has been a fellowship student and held principal positions at numerous music festivals including the Tanglewood Music Center, the Aspen Music Festival and School, the Verbier Music Festival in Switzerland, Brevard Music Center, and the Britten-Pears Music Festival in England.  Conyers has performed in a number of orchestras including the Boston and Detroit Symphonies, Minnesota Orchestra, and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in a number of prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, and the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria.

A recipient of numerous awards and honors, Conyers attended The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and graduated with his bachelors degree studying with both Hal Robinson, principal bass of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and double bass soloist Edgar Meyer. Other mentors have included David Warshauer, Daniel Swaim, and Albert Laszlo. He was the inaugural recipient of the Sanford Allen Award (a $10,000 prize) from the Sphinx Competition, and in February of 2010, he was the first Sphinx Competition laureate to serve on the distinguished jury panel for the competition.

Sometimes juggling a studio of over a dozen students, Conyers is committed to education and community engagement through music.  He is heavily involved in developing curriculum for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Sound Learning program – a program that integrates music into the school curriculum at local elementary schools.  He was an adjunct professor of bass at Calvin College (MI), and continues a connection with the school as faculty at the annual Calvin College String Summit.  In 2009, Conyers served on faculty at the Masterworks Music Festival in Winona Lake, IN.

Conyers is the co-founder of Project 440, a nonprofit organization in his hometown of Savannah, GA. Formerly known as MusicAlive!, the organization has reached thousands of youths – exposing children and adults to classical music throughout the Savannah region.  Broadening on that mission and acknowledging how the classical music industry must continually evolve with our ever changing world, Project 440 educates musicians from around the country how to become active, relevant, and integral pillars within their communities.

Conyers performs on the “Zimmerman/Gladstone” 1802 Vincenzo Panormo Double Bass.