For Dr. Stephen E. Codella, music was more than something playing in the background. It was part of who he was.
From piano lessons as a young child to guitar, drums and saxophone, music followed Codella throughout his life. He played saxophone in the jazz band at Saint Joseph’s Prep, formed bands with friends and even taught friends how to play instruments so they could join him.
As he got older, he began writing his own music. Even while completing his medical residency at Temple University Hospital, Codella continued performing with his band at venues throughout Philadelphia.
Now, his love of music is creating opportunities for a new generation.
The Stephen E. Codella, MD Memorial Foundation has invested $10,000 to bring Musicopia’s Modern Band program to students at Eugenio Maria de Hostos Charter School in Philadelphia, expanding access to music education while honoring one of Codella’s lifelong passions.
“Steve had a lifelong love of music, and it brought him tremendous joy throughout his life,” said Mark Codella, Stephen’s father and founder and president of the foundation. “This investment is about sharing that joy with young people who deserve the opportunity to discover what music can mean in their own lives.”
The $10,000 commitment will support the implementation of Musicopia’s Modern Band program at the school, including curriculum development, teacher support and programming designed to engage students through contemporary music.
Rather than focusing solely on traditional music education, the Modern Band model gives students opportunities to learn and perform music they recognize and connect with, while developing musicianship, collaboration, creativity and self-confidence.
Students can explore genres that reflect their cultural identities and interests, including rock, pop, hip-hop, R&B and Latin music.
For the Codella family, the program was an especially fitting way to honor Stephen.
“Music was Stephen’s lifeblood,” Mark said. “Music was so much a part of Stephen that it feels like we are giving a part of Stephen to others.”
Stephen was exposed to music practically from the beginning. His parents saw Billy Joel perform on New Year’s Eve in 1989, three months before Stephen was born, and music remained a constant throughout his childhood.
His parents regularly played rock from the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s at home, giving Stephen and his sister, Alexandra, an early appreciation for music. Stephen gravitated toward instruments while his sister favored dance.
Stephen began studying piano at the New Jersey School of Music when he was about 5 or 6 years old. Guitar lessons followed in fifth grade, along with drums and saxophone.
Music eventually took over an entire room in the Codella home.
The family had a dedicated band room with a full drum set, keyboard, guitars, basses, amplifiers and microphones where Stephen and his friends could play.
“There was always music in our home filled with joy and friends,” Mark recalled.
Even when Stephen was away at college or medical school, returning home often meant returning to an instrument. He would sit at the piano or pick up a guitar, either playing another artist’s song or working through something he was composing.
Stephen was a product of the 1990s, and his musical tastes reflected it. His favorites included Blink-182, Death Cab for Cutie, Bayside, Silverstein, Green Day, Taking Back Sunday, My Chemical Romance, Jack’s Mannequin and Manchester Orchestra, among others. Alternative and emo music heavily influenced his own writing, though he also appreciated classic rock, jazz and hip-hop.
Some songs still immediately bring Stephen back to his family.
Anything by Blink-182 can spark a memory, while Mark said Sia’s “Chandelier” reminds him of Stephen singing and being goofy. Stephen also loved playing “Konstantine” by Something Corporate whenever he found a piano.
The night before his best friend’s wedding, Stephen and members of the wedding party even came across a piano in an alley. He sat down and played the song in its entirety.
But music wasn’t only something Stephen enjoyed for himself. It became a way to connect with others.
His family later heard from one of Stephen’s friends about a medical resident coming off a difficult shift at the hospital who saw Stephen driving in around 7 p.m. to begin a night shift. Music was blasting from his car as Stephen sang and tapped on the steering wheel.
The sight alone was enough to lift the resident’s spirits.
“That’s what music did for Stephen,” Mark said. “It brought pleasure to him and he subsequently connected with others and brought joy to them.”
After Stephen’s death, his family established the Stephen E. Codella, MD Memorial Foundation to support programs reflecting the values and passions that defined his life.
Education, medicine, music and hope became central to its mission.
The foundation has endowed a four-year scholarship at Saint Joseph’s Prep, where Stephen attended high school, for a student who remains in good academic standing.
Its work in medicine includes a research endowment at Temple University Hospital supporting national research presentations by fellows in the Pulmonary/Critical Care department at Temple Lung Center. The foundation recently recognized its fourth recipient.
Stephen received his oncology care at Fox Chase Cancer Center, and his family’s experience there also inspired another part of the foundation’s work.
The foundation supports a young-adult cancer support group at Fox Chase by providing comfort bags containing items such as slippers, Wawa gift cards, puzzles, journals and watercolor kits to help patients pass the time during chemotherapy. Each bag also includes two of Stephen’s favorite snacks: popcorn and M&M’s.
Finding a way to incorporate Stephen’s love of music into the foundation’s mission was equally important.
That desire took on even greater meaning before the foundation’s most recent gala, when Alexandra discovered old text messages from her brother.
Stephen had received a tax refund during the COVID pandemic and wrote that he wanted to donate the money to charity, specifically something that supported inner-city education and music.
For his family, the discovery helped confirm they were headed in the right direction.
The connection with Musicopia had actually begun during Stephen’s cancer treatment.
The family first learned about the organization while driving back and forth to Fox Chase and hearing about Musicopia on WRTI, Temple University’s public radio station. After Stephen died in 2022 after a battle with cancer, Musicopia was among the organizations to which the family asked people to donate in his memory.
Those donations raised enough money to send a number of students to perform at the Kimmel Center.
Mark and his wife, Cathy, later connected with Musicopia leadership, and discussions continued over several years about finding another way for the foundation to support the organization’s work.
Founded in 1974, Musicopia works to connect children and their communities through collaborative music and dance experiences. The organization serves more than 25,000 students annually through school-based music and dance education and other programs throughout Greater Philadelphia.
When the opportunity arose to establish a Modern Band program at Eugenio Maria de Hostos Charter School, the connection to Stephen became clear.
The school was looking to expand its music offerings, and rock music had been Stephen’s first love.
“His desire to help inner city education and music made this an easy fit,” Mark said. “The chance to bring the gift of music to children who might not get this opportunity otherwise is something we are proud of.”
Before making the commitment, the family also had an opportunity to see the school’s existing music program firsthand.
The Codellas sat in on a string-band rehearsal conducted by the school’s music leader.
“We knew this is where we wanted to dedicate our support,” Mark recalled.
The foundation and Musicopia formally celebrated the partnership with a check presentation at Eugenio Maria de Hostos Charter School on Sept. 15.
The investment isn’t intended to be a one-time contribution.
“This is not a one and done endeavor,” Mark said.
The approximately $10,000 annual cost goes toward providing the education and programming itself. Simply donating instruments, the family believed, wouldn’t accomplish the larger goal of establishing a sustainable Modern Band program.
The foundation hopes to continue its commitment annually so the program can grow and remain available to future students.
The effort has also received support from others. Cunningham Piano donated two digital pianos, the Codellas’ nephew contributed a drum set and other supporters donated violins, guitars, clarinets and additional instruments.
Beyond learning how to play, the Codellas hope students will develop skills that carry into other parts of their lives.
They want participants to learn to listen, cooperate and contribute to a shared goal while developing a sense of identity, community and personal growth.
“We can only hope they get joy out of the opportunity to play an instrument, to experience what it is like to fill the air with beautiful sounds, and that they have the excitement to come back for more,” Mark said.
Looking several years into the future, the family already has ideas about what success could look like.
They hope students become excited and committed to learning, grow together into a cohesive group and generate enough enthusiasm to sustain the program for future classes.
There is also one possibility that would unite two of Stephen’s greatest passions.
“Since Steve’s two biggest passions were music and medicine it would absolutely be rewarding to see these students play in a therapeutic setting such as the lobby of Temple University Hospital,” Mark said.
Such a performance could bring music to patients, families and staff while giving students a place to showcase what they have learned.
If the program succeeds in its first years, the foundation also hopes there could eventually be opportunities to expand its support to additional schools or communities.
For Stephen’s family, every scholarship, research opportunity, comfort bag and musical experience created through the foundation is another way to carry forward the person they knew.
“I think I speak for myself, my wife, and my daughter in saying that we are gratified that what is a horrible situation for any parent or sibling to find themselves in has become a way of paying tribute to Stephen’s honor by giving a piece of Stephen to others,” Mark said.
Mark believes his son probably would have been embarrassed by all the attention being given to him. Stephen wasn’t someone who sought recognition.
But after discovering his messages about the importance of giving back and supporting education and music, his family believes he would understand exactly what the program could mean for the students beginning their own musical journeys.
And there is one milestone the Codellas are already eager to see.
“I am sure he would look forward to these students’ first recital as do we.”
