Summer 2026 Internship at Philadelphia Sinfonia

Philadelphia Sinfonia is participating in the 2026 Bloomberg Arts Internship, hosting two paid interns for eight weeks of arts administration work. Interns will tackle real projects in marketing, recruitment, research, and donor development, building concrete skills and a portfolio of completed work along the way.

Dates: June 22 to August 14, 2026
Location: Center City Philadelphia
Compensation: Paid by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance

About Philadelphia Sinfonia

Philadelphia Sinfonia Association is a tuition-based youth orchestra program for advanced student musicians from across the Philadelphia region. Our students perform challenging orchestral repertoire under the direction of Music Director Linus Ip. Our recent season included a collaboration with the Philly Pops at the Kimmel Center as part of America250 programming.

Behind the music is a small organization. A single full-time staff member handles development, marketing, enrollment, and communications. That means a clear backlog of meaningful projects, and a summer internship that actually moves the needle on what Sinfonia can do.

Two Internship Focus Areas

Two interns will spend the summer on four connected projects in marketing, recruitment, research, and donor development. Each intern leads on one focus area but contributes across all four, since the work is interconnected.

Focus Area One: Marketing and Outreach

Help a working youth orchestra reach more students and tell its story better.

Content Library

Organize and tag existing video and photo assets
Produce 20 to 30 short-form social clips from rehearsal and concert footage
Create captions and transcripts for existing videos
Build a content calendar for fall auditions and early-season promotion

Recruitment Pipeline

Build a regional contact database of school music directors, private teachers, and feeder ensembles across PA, NJ, and DE
Map known feeder programs and identify outreach gaps
Design a standard outreach calendar of emails, postcards, and follow-ups

Good fit for: a student who likes making things and is curious about how organizations communicate. Interest in writing, design, or social media is a plus; experience is not required.

Focus Area Two: Research and Development

Help a working youth orchestra understand its field and reconnect with its alumni.

Peer and Market Research

Research other youth orchestras in the region
Compare tuition, audition structure, repertoire, and messaging
Document what makes Sinfonia genuinely distinctive
Produce a concise report with positioning recommendations Sinfonia can act on

Alumni Research

Clean and expand Sinfonia’s alumni database using LinkedIn and public sources
Identify rough giving capacity tiers using basic prospect research methods
Build a pipeline of alumni stories worth featuring
Draft 8 to 12 profiles or interview summaries

Good fit for: a student who likes asking questions and finding patterns. Interest in writing, research, history, or nonprofit work is a plus; experience is not required.

A Typical Week

Each week balances independent project work with regular check-ins, reflection, and exposure to the broader arts community. The rhythm is consistent enough to plan around, varied enough to stay engaging.

Monday: Week kickoff with the Managing Director. Review priorities, set deliverables, identify obstacles.
Tuesday: Independent project work with supervised research and production sessions as needed.
Wednesday: Project work plus a short midweek check-in. Occasional conversations with the Music Director, board members, or program partners.
Thursday: Project work, often the deepest focus day. Drafting, editing, and review.
Friday: Longer reflection meeting. What you learned, what questions came up, how the work connects to arts administration more broadly.
Periodic: Cultural immersion experiences arranged by the Cultural Alliance, plus occasional visits to partner organizations.

What You’ll Learn

Technical Skills

CRM and database work in Neon, our constituent database
Spreadsheet-based data cleaning and segmentation
Basic prospect research methods
Short-form video and photo editing
Social media content production

Professional Skills

Writing across multiple formats: outreach emails, alumni profiles, research summaries
Interviewing and translating raw material into publishable content
Editorial judgment and editing
How small arts nonprofits actually operate
Connecting marketing, enrollment, and donor work as one system

Your Supervisor

Robert Hodges, Managing Director

Robert joined Sinfonia in 2025 after a decade at The Rock School for Dance Education, where he served as Director of Academics and later Interim Director of Operations. In that role, he oversaw the academic education of middle and high school students throughout the school year and supervised cohorts of 5 to 7 interns during the school’s residential summer intensive. He holds a Master’s and Bachelor’s in American History from Rutgers and completed doctoral coursework at the University of Maine. He is currently pursuing a Master of Business Administration at Eastern University. He believes good supervision means clear expectations, genuine feedback, and treating interns as colleagues whose work matters.

Logistics

Program dates: June 22 to August 14, 2026 (eight weeks)
Hours: 21 hours per week, primarily in-person
Compensation: Wages paid directly by the Cultural Alliance
Location: Sinfonia’s offices in Center City Philadelphia
Clearances: Sinfonia staff hold all required PA and FBI clearances
Equipment: Workstation, software access, and supplies provided

Questions, Answered

Do I need to play an instrument to apply?

No. You don’t need to be a musician, and you don’t need to know classical music. What matters is that you’re curious about how arts organizations work and willing to do focused project work. We’re happy to teach the music context as it comes up.

What if I’m interested in both focus areas?

That’s fine, and common. You can express interest in either or both. During the first week, we’ll talk through your interests, prior experience, and learning goals, then assign focus areas in a way that works for both interns. Each intern still contributes across all four projects to some degree.

What if I’ve never used the software you mentioned?

Most interns won’t have used Neon CRM or done formal prospect research before. We expect to teach, not assume prior experience. Some basic comfort with spreadsheets and computer work is helpful, but everything specific to Sinfonia’s systems will be trained on the job.

Is the work fully in person?

Mostly yes. The day-to-day work happens at our offices in Center City, and in-person collaboration is part of what makes the experience valuable. Occasional remote work for focused writing or research is possible when it makes sense.

Will I get to see Sinfonia perform?

Sinfonia’s main season runs during the school year, so there are no regular concerts or rehearsals during the summer internship. The work itself is arts administration, not performance support. You’ll see plenty of recent rehearsal and concert footage while working on the content library, and you’re welcome to attend any summer events that come up.

How do I apply?

Applications go through the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, which runs the Bloomberg Arts Internship program. Visit philaculture.org for current student application information. If you have questions about Sinfonia specifically before applying, feel free to email us directly.

Next Steps

The Bloomberg Arts Internship is administered by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. To apply for an internship at Sinfonia, you’ll go through their student application process. The Cultural Alliance handles matching, so be sure to express interest in Philadelphia Sinfonia when applying.

Have a question about the work itself, or want to learn more about Sinfonia before applying? Email robert@philadelphiasinfonia.com.