Curtis Institute of Music

The Curtis Institute of Music
Established	1924
Type	Private
Endowment	$130.5 million
President	Roberto Díaz
Director	Roberto Díaz
Students	167
Location	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Campus	Urban
Website	curtis.edu

The Curtis Institute of Music is a conservatory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that offers courses of study leading to a performance Diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in Opera, and Professional Studies Certificate in Opera.

History

It was established in 1924 by Mary Louise Curtis Bok, and was named in honor of her father, Cyrus Curtis. After consulting with musician friends including Josef Hofmann and Leopold Stokowski on how best to help musically-gifted young people, Bok purchased three mansions on Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Square and had them joined and renovated. She established a faculty of prominent performing artists and eventually left the institute with an endowment of US$12 million.

Looking southeast from Rittenhouse Square toward The Curtis Institute's Main Building at the corner of Locust Street (on the left) and South 18th Street (on the right) (2006).

Admission

The institute has served as a training ground for orchestral players to fill the ranks of the Philadelphia Orchestra, although composers, organists, pianists, and singers are offered courses of study as well.

All pupils attend on full scholarship, and admission is extremely competitive. Besides composers, conductors, organists, and pianists, only enough students are admitted to fill a single orchestra and an opera company. Accordingly, enrollment is in the range of 150 to 170 students. According to statistics compiled by U.S. News & World Report, it has the lowest acceptance rate of any college or university, making it the most selective institution of higher education in the United States.

Curtis accepts students of all races, although there is some evidence that suggests that this policy wasn't very strictly enforced several decades ago: Nina Simone claims that she was rejected in the early 1950s because of her race despite excellent credentials and audition performance.

Administration

Past directors

Past directors of the institute have included:

• Josef Hofmann (1926–1938) — pianist
• Randall Thompson (1938–1940) — composer
• Efrem Zimbalist, Sr. (1941–1968) — violinist
• Rudolf Serkin (1968–1976) — pianist
• John de Lancie (1977–1985) — principal oboist of the Philadelphia Orchestra for many years
• Gary Graffman (1986–2006) — pianist, continues on the piano faculty

Current administration

Roberto Diaz is President and director of the Institute. Diaz is also a Curtis alumnus and faculty member. He was principal violist of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1996 to 2006 and is a member of the Diaz Trio. Paul Bryan started his tenure as interim dean in January 2013.

Notable alumni

Many of its alumni have gone on to notable careers including:

A–L

James Adler, composer Milton Adolphus, composer, arranger, pianist Joseph Alessi, principal trombonist of the New York Philharmonic Adrian Anantawan, violinist Reid Anderson, bassist of The Bad Plus Shmuel Ashkenasi, first violinist of the Vermeer Quartet Rose Bampton, principal singer at the Metropolitan Opera during the 1930s and 1940s Samuel Barber, composer Leonard Bernstein, composer and conductor James M. Bigham, organist Jonathan Biss, pianist Natalie Bodanya, opera singer Jorge Bolet, pianist David Brooks, Broadway actor, stage director and producer Yefim Bronfman, piano Anshel Brusilow, violinist, conductor Norman Carol, concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra Keith Chapman, concert organist Ray Chen, violinist Shura Cherkassky, pianist Pearl Chertok, harpist and composer Young-Chang Cho, cellist Jasmine Choi, flautist Nicolas Chumachenco, violinist Katherine Ciesinski, mezzo-soprano Timothy Cobb, current principal bassist with the Metropolitan Opera Vinson Cole, operatic tenor Ken Cowan, organist, assistant professor of organ at the Westminster Choir College (Rice University) John Dalley, violinist, Oberlin String Quartet 1957-1959, one of four founding members of Guarneri Quartet 1964-2009; faculty Miles B. Davis, double bassist, class of 1974 and secretary of the Curtis Alumni Council John de Lancie, Principal Oboe of the Philadelphia Orchestra, faculty at Curtis and Director of the school 1977-1985 Stanley Drucker, principal clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic Julius Eastman, pianist, conductor, singer, composer Christopher Falzone, pianist Juan Diego Flórez, tenor Lukas Foss, composer, conductor and pianist

Frank Guarrera, baritone Anthony Gigliotti, clarinetist, former principal of the Philadelphia Orchestra Alan Gilbert, conductor, music director of the New York Philharmonic Richard Goode, pianist Olga Gorelli, composer and pianist Daron Hagen, composer, conductor, pianist, and stage director ((Charles E. Griffin, ((violist)) Hilary Hahn, violinist Burt Hara, clarinetist, principal of the Minnesota Orchestra Lynn Harrell, cello soloist Margaret Harshaw, opera singer David Hayes, Music Director of The Philadelphia Singers and Director of Orchestral and Conducting Studies at Mannes College The New School for Music Michael Hennagin, composer Shuler Hensley, singer and actor Jennifer Higdon, composer Lee Hoiby, composer Stanley Hollingsworth, composer David Horne, composer and pianist Eugene Istomin, pianist David N. Johnson, composer, organist and professor Arnold Jacobs, former tubist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and influential teacher of brass pedagogy (deceased) Paul Jacobs (organist), organ professor at the Juilliard School Paavo Järvi ((conductor)), Cincinnatti Symphony Orchestra previously, Deutchekammerphilharmonie Bremen Stephanie Jeong, Assistant Concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic Leila Josefowicz, violinist Judy Kang, violinist Sean Kennard, pianist Chin Kim, violinist, soloist, faculty at the Mannes College of Music and Queens College, City University of New York Jennifer Koh, violinist Paul Kowert, bassist for Punch Brothers Lang Lang, pianist Mark Lawrence, principal trombonist of the San Francisco Symphony Brian Lee, violinist, cousin of American-Taiwanese singer Christine Fan. Cecile Licad, pianist Joan Lippincott, concert organist, former head of the organ department at the Westminster Choir College Peter Lloyd, former principal bassist with the Minnesota Orchestra, Professor of Double Bass at the Colburn School Conservatory of Music David Ludwig, composer

M–Z

John Mack, oboist Virginia MacWatters, soprano Bobby Martin, pianist, saxophonist, vocalist, most notably with Frank Zappa Leon McCawley, pianist Jeremy McCoy, current assistant principal bassist with the Metropolitan Opera Anthony McGill, principal clarinetist with the Metropolitan Opera Gian Carlo Menotti, composer, librettist, and stage director, teacher at the institute Frank Miller, cellist Anna Moffo, soprano Alan Morrison, organist, faculty, The Curtis Institute of Music, Westminster Choir College Lorne Munroe, cellist, former principal of the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra Nokuthula Ngwenyama, solo violist, Indiana University faculty Sean Osborn, clarinet soloist, formerly with the Metropolitan Opera Eric Owens, bass-baritone Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, violist Listen to Milena on Instant Encore The Old City String Quartet Rob Patterson, Clarinet, University of Virginia, Lyrique-en-Mer, VERGE Ensemble Janet Perry, soprano Vincent Persichetti, composer André Raphel, conductor of the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra Gianna Rolandi, soprano, director of the Lyric Opera of Chicago's Ryan Opera Center Ned Rorem, composer, pianist, and writer Aaron Rosand, violinist Leonard Rose, cellist and teacher at The Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School

Matthew Rose, bass vocalist Nino Rota, composer and film composer Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, violinist Andre-Michel Schub, pianist Kathryn Selby, pianist Peter Serkin, pianist Rinat Shaham, mezzo-soprano David Shifrin, clarinet soloist, professor at the Yale School of Music Benjamin Shwartz, conductor Jacques Singer, conductor Muriel Smith, mezzo-soprano Ignat Solzhenitsyn, Former music director of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia ((Robert Spano)), ((conductor)) Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Leslie Spotz, pianist Susan Starr, pianist Arnold Steinhardt, violinist Michael Stern, music director and lead conductor of the Kansas City Symphony Michael Strauss, violist Jennifer Stumm, violist Kay Swift, composer Henri Temianka, violinist, conductor Benita Valente, soprano Yuja Wang, pianist Wendy Warner, cellist Peter Wiley, cellist with Beaux Arts Trio and Guarneri Quartet, Curtis faculty

See also

• Juilliard School

References

External links

• Official website