Curtis Institute of Music

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Curtis Institute of Music
Established: 1924
Type: Private
President: Roberto Díaz
Director: Roberto Díaz
Students: 167
Location: Philadelphia, PA, US
Campus: Urban
Website: http://www.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. According to statistics compiled by the U.S. News and World Report, it is one of the most selective institutions of higher education in the world second only to the Mayo Medical School. [1]

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, Mrs. 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 $12 million. [2]

The institute has served as a training ground for orchestral players to fill the ranks of the Philadelphia Orchestra, much like the Vienna Hochschule fur Musik (University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna) and the Vienna Philharmonic[citation needed] or the New England Conservatory and the Boston Symphony Orchestra [3], although pianists, singers, organists and composers are offered courses of study as well.

All pupils attend on full scholarship, but admission is extremely competitive. Besides singers, pianists, organists, conductors and composers, only enough students are admitted to fill a single orchestra. Accordingly, enrollment is in the range of 150 to 170 students. The acceptance rate is about twice as low as comparable conservatories, such as the Juilliard School, and three times as low as Ivy League institutions such as Harvard and Yale.

Contents

[edit] Past directors

Past directors of Curtis have included pianist Józef Hofmann, composer Randall Thompson, violinist Efrem Zimbalist, Sr., pianist Rudolph Serkin, John de Lancie, Sr. (principal oboe of the Philadelphia Orchestra for many years), and Gary Graffman, who was appointed in 1995 and retired at the end of the 2005-2006 school year, continuing on the piano faculty. The current president/director is Roberto Diaz, principal violist of the Philadelphia Orchestra until 2006 and member of the Diaz Trio; Diaz is also a Curtis alumnus and faculty member. The current conductor of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra is Otto-Werner Mueller.

[edit] Distinguished alumni

The Curtis Main Building

Many of its alumni have gone on to distinguished careers. Among them are:


Philadelphia portal

[edit] References

  1. ^ College Rankings, US News and World Report
  2. ^ Stoddard, Maynard Good (1 January 2000). "A Legacy of Music. The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia". The Saturday Evening Post. 
  3. ^ Fact Sheets, New England Conservatory
  4. ^ http://www.curtis.edu/html/70200.shtml

[edit] External links

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Colleges and universities in metropolitan Philadelphia
The American College • Arcadia University • Art Institute of Philadelphia • Bryn Mawr College • Cabrini College • Chestnut Hill College • Cheyney University • Curtis Institute of Music • Delaware Valley College • Drexel University • Eastern University • Gratz College • Gwynedd-Mercy College • Haverford College • Holy Family University • Immaculata University • La Salle University • Lincoln University • Manor College • Moore College of Art and Design • Neumann University • Peirce College • Penn State Abington • Penn State Brandywine • Penn State Great Valley • Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts • Philadelphia Biblical University • Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine • Philadelphia University • Reconstructionist Rabbinical College • The Restaurant School • Rosemont College • Rutgers University • Saint Joseph's University • Salus University • Swarthmore College • Temple University • Thomas Jefferson University • University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey • University of the Arts • University of the Sciences in Philadelphia • University of Pennsylvania • Ursinus College • Valley Forge Christian College • Villanova University • West Chester University • Westminster Theological Seminary • Widener University

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