Curtis Institute of Music

The Curtis Institute of Music educates and trains exceptionally gifted young musicians to engage a local and global community through the highest level of artistry.

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Checking in on Curtis Summerfest

The Young Artist Summer Program kicks off this week, but first, let’s take a quick look back at this summer’s completed programs!

In June, adult musicians spent a long weekend at Curtis, participating in coachings and chamber rehearsals, as well as performing together in a program-wide orchestra led by David Hayes. Pianists performed solo works for each other in an evening workshop with Amy Yang.

Participants perform at Chamber Music and Orchestra for Adult Musicians.

Then, singers and harpists descended on Curtis for a pair of nearly simultaneous programs! At the Elizabeth Hainen Harp Colony, young participants performed in master classes and ensembles, with an eye towards preparing for careers in music, while adult harpists joined in to reconnect to the legacy of Salzedo Harp Colony. The colony’s mock audition proved particularly helpful as two participants went on to win Lyon & Healy awards later in the summer.

Harpists Madeline Jarzembak (center) and Subin Lee (right)at the 2017 Lyon & Healy Awards.

Meanwhile, young singers were participating in their own master classes as part of the Young Artist Voice Program, a two-week program where the singers spent time with faculty who work with professionals—discovering conservatory life and what it really means to be a professional opera singer. Singers studied privately with Curtis faculty, including director of Curtis Opera Theatre Mikael Eliasen.

 A morning lesson with voice faculty Marlena Malas.

As June came to a close, harpists made way for flutists, as Jeffrey Khaner Flute Festival commenced. Students participated in an intense schedule of master classes with Jeffrey Khaner, as well as sessions on the intersection of musical and mental skills with Carolyn Christie, and instrument maintenance skills with Yamaha’s Tomoji Hirakata.

Flute choir rehearsal with Mimi Stillman.

Be sure to stay tuned over the next few weeks as the Young Artist Summer Program gets under way! For more from Curtis Summerfest, follow @CurtisSummerfest on Instagram, and @Summer_atCurtis on Twitter!

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GERSHWIN "Someone to Watch Over Me"

George Gershwin: “The Man I Love” Kirsten MacKinnon, soprano Mikael Eliasen, piano Performed on Friday, January 15, 2016 Field Concert Hall, Curtis Institute...

Curtis is on YouTube! Subscribe to our channel for weekly uploads of performances from recent seasons, plus bonus videos including interviews with Curtis faculty and students, behind the scenes content, live performances, and more. This week, we're kicking off our new YouTube presence with a set of  American songs, performed by soprano Kirsten MacKinnon, mezzo Sophia Fiuza Hunt, and pianist and Curtis Opera Theatre artistic director Mikael Eliasen!

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Midori to join the faculty of the Curtis Institute

Curtis is thrilled to announce the newest member of our violin faculty: Midori! In addition to worldwide renown as a violinist, Midori Gotō is a devoted advocate for community engagement, having started numerous non-profit and community-based programs and serving as a UN Messenger of Peace. In light of Curtis's commitments to artistic excellence, serving local communities, and of course, learning by doing, it would be hard to find another artist who has better exemplified our core principles while building a one-of-a-kind career.

She will make several visits to Curtis during the 2017-18 season to work with our violinists and community artists, before joining us full-time in fall 2018. Welcome to the Curtis family, Midori!

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No matter what venue Curtis on Tour visited over the past two weeks, concertmaster Maria Ioudenitch always had the best seat in the house to observe soloist Peter Serkin. She shares one memorable experience below.

Maria observes Peter Serkin as he performs in Vienna. Photo: Igor Ripak Ask a handful of students, staff, or faculty members, "what was one of your favorite parts about this tour?" and many of their answers will be along the lines of, "being in such incredible cities and the greatest halls of the world.” And who can argue with that? From the vast yet charming paths of Helsinki to the jaw-dropping beauty of the Konzerthaus in Berlin, we are always left wondering, “is there really something more beautiful?” I have come to learn that indeed, there always is. 

But ask me what one of my favorite parts was, and I'd say it was when Mr. Serkin saved a fly during his magical, otherworldly interpretation of the Aria from Bach's Goldberg Variations, performed as an encore.

But before I get to that, a word about silence. Have you ever heard a silence that made your ears ring? That is what Mr. Serkin, and Maestro Osmo Vänskä achieved in the second movement of the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 during our performance in Wroclaw, Poland. 

Mr. Serkin warms up on a quiet stage in Wroclaw, Poland. Photo: Ania Filochowska

It first started with Mr. Vänskä and our pianissimo. No one else can get a sound like that out of our orchestra. We move through our phrase, guided by his presence on the podium, winding our dynamic down to a stunning nothing. And then comes in Mr. Serkin with the purest tone, one note dissipating brilliantly through the air. It was a drop of musical gold. 

We live through the second movement together, and the last note is played. Then silence. 

No one dared breathe. The music filled each soul on stage and in the audience. The silence was so loud, it was almost unbearable: 1200 people sitting, each with their own stories, their own problems, their own of happiness and pain, and right there and then, we were all One. Listen to true music making, and you can know peace. 

(Keep in mind, that this silence was practically a physical miracle for a good percentage of us sitting on stage, with colds and other bugs brought on by a whirlwind tour. And still, Brahms healed us all, if only for a moment.) 

Fast forward a bit, and the audience is on their feet -- clapping wildly. Mr. Serkin comes on stage once, twice, and at the third bow turns to me, "it sounds like they're booing, should I play something?" 

I laugh. "What?! Of course, please play, please play!" 

And then, the Aria.

I won't say a word about it, because there is no point. The magic was there, and it will always be just there, frozen in that moment. 

What I will recall, however, is the fat fly who decided to interrupt the magic. After a few manic seconds buzzing around, it landed on Mr. Serkin's left hand pinky. I could see his eyes peering curiously at the fly. The fly got the memo and buzzed off of the finger and onto the key, dangerously close to the fingertip. The next note he was to play, was with that pinky, on that key. He hesitates, stretching time more than usual, looking intently at the stubborn fly, until the fly kindly buzzes away, after which Mr. Serkin's pinky finally comes down on the key, continuing the phrase which was caught in a gorgeous standstill. 

If his finger went down earlier, the fly would have probably been caught in between the keys. 

Now, whether or not Mr. Serkin really wanted to save that fly is another story. (Which I will pursue a bit later.) 

But there's something about the gentleness and generosity with which Mr. Serkin approached all of this that is absolutely encompassing of the entire experience that we have had with him on tour. Someone else in this situation might have forcefully put down the finger or moved quickly to get the fly to fly away faster, but Mr. Serkin used time and patience. The music wasn't going anywhere. The music didn't stop on account of the fly—it kept flowing through him and through us. Time, patience, peace. 

Mr. Serkin takes a bow as Maria looks on. Photo: Igor Ripak

We are all caught up in our own worlds, our own desires and complaints. This tour was a great test for all of that. How lucky we are, to have been to all of these places, to have worked with such artists, such soldiers of music!  There was no doubt that from the beginning, I would learn so much from Mr. Vänskä. We have all loved him ever since he worked with us two years ago. Without him...well...I'd like to not think what this tour would be without him. 

But who knew how grateful I would be for this little golden moment in time with Mr. Serkin and the fly.

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Student correspondent Lyman McBride checks in with a report from Curtis on Tour’s stop in London:

What’s it like riding in a London cab? Three of us enter the back seat, two in the regular seats you would expect to see in the back of a car, and me in a chair that pulls down like the handicapped chairs on the “L” in Philly. We shout to the driver, “take us to Cadogan Hall!” The driver apparently has no idea where it is, but in London, when people get in your cab, you drive. We’re immediately moving. We keep trying to explain where the hall is, and he heads generally in the right direction. At each stop he asks other cab drivers about it. At a certain point the cab carrying the other half of our load-in crew pulls up on the side. “Hey, have you figured out where this Cadogan Hall is?” barks our cab driver. The response just as quick: “Yeah I’m just lookin’ it up right now. It looks like it’s at the bottom of Sloane Square.” The light turns green and we are off again. We reach our destination in no time, we exit the cab and pay, and we are at the hall for the rehearsal.

What’s it like entering a museum in London? I can’t speak for the British Museum, or any of the other famous museums. I can’t even speak for the Victoria and Albert Museum on any day other than the Friday of our concert. The museum stays open late on Fridays and apparently has a strong following. I only have 20 minutes before I must return to Cadogan Hall for our concert. I dodge people perched on the steps and enter the doors, finding myself immediately engulfed in sound. In front of me is a string of people handing out maps and pamphlets and checking bags. Patrons pointing, and figuring out where to go. And on top of it all jazz-rock music blares over the loudspeakers. I enter and turn left. As I pass a few exhibits rather quickly, a sign, “Raphael,” catches my eye. I enter and a high ceiling towers above me. Gigantic paintings on the wall stare down from 20 feet up. To my right are 30 people on yoga mats with an instructor at the head leading a class. I smile and slowly look around. The room is a collection of cartoons—preliminary paintings—that Raphael used to design tapestries for the Sistine Chapel. The content is the Biblical book of the Acts of the Apostles, which my wife and I are currently studying. Later, when we talk online, I realize that Raphael’s vision of these familiar scenes has changed my own.

This experience feels positive to me. I have often thought about the presentation of classical music to modern audiences. Do you think the Victoria and Albert Museum would be nearly so well frequented if you had to show up exactly at 8 p.m. for a two-hour tour of a single exhibit? During the tour you are not allowed to talk, take pictures, eat anything, drink anything, move loudly, or laugh. So much as coughing will draw scornful faces. You are expected to look at the pictures and read your program which has some information about them, and like it. I have often thought of a concert hall as a museum for these classic and great musical artworks. But our presentation is far too stuffy. We need to continue moving in the direction of more yoga nights, more movie nights, more accessible lectures before and after, more talking during performances, more eating and drinking. People should enjoy the experience 21st-century style, not have to step back into a 150-year-old experience.

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We had a whirlwind trip through London this weekend, seeing the sights, running into some airline trouble, and finally making our way to beautiful Salzburg, Austria. Next up, we’ll visit Vienna, and then make two stops in Poland!

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Trombonist Lyman McBride is one of over 100 Curtis students on tour in Europe. Below, he shares some thoughts after the Curtis Symphony Orchestra’s performance in Berlin, Germany.

It’s Tuesday night, May 23, and I’m about to leave the Konzerthaus Berlin. I’ve finished my part in the concert and I want to go back to the hotel and rest, when I meet a friend who is surprised to find that I am not attending the post-concert reception. After some light convincing, I find myself again in my tuxedo, heading for the Beethoven-Saal, where the reception is being held.

I enjoy some easy conversation with some friends when I make eye-contact with a couple to my left. They approach and ask how I’m doing. They are from Berlin, and often attend the Berlin Philharmonic. “Our favorite piece was the Penderecki! We think that it suits this orchestra well.” I gladly thank them, though in my mind I think back on the experience playing it just two hours before. It didn’t feel comfortable or easy. Regardless I’m glad it came off that way!

I listen to our school’s president give a round of thanks to important members of the tour. “And I thank, with much gratitude, Osmo [Vänskä], for being here.” I join in applause along with a few hundred other people standing around me. I peer over my right shoulder and see the famous conductor less than 10 feet from where I stand. A few days ago we saw his baton immortalized in a glass case just inside the Helsinki Music Centre. Just to my left I notice Benjamin Schmid, a world-famous violinist touring with us. Just a little further away, Peter Serkin. It is with these musicians that I rub shoulders on a daily basis. Just a year ago, I couldn’t have imagined such a sight. Today I am one of them.

I leave the reception quite glad to have attended. I go to the hotel, I sleep, and in the morning, I again strap on my running shoes. Berlin is more than one of the strongest musical centers in the world. It was here that the most recent marathon world record was set. For me, ground is holy. I run the streets where the marathon took place and think, “here a man ran a 4:40 mile pace for over 26 miles.” I cross the Brandenburg gate and Kennedy flashes in my mind, speaking the famous quote: “Ich bin ein Berliner!”—and Reagan, 25 years later: “Tear down this wall!” I find my way to checkpoint Charlie and gaze upon the old station where many Germans were killed attempting to escape a communist East Germany.

Feelings like this can’t be taught. They are shown. One may study about this in school, but until they come, they cannot truly say, “I understand.”

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Time to load up another cargo plane—next stop, Bremen!

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Three different perspectives on our rehearsal and performance in Helsinki!

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Matthew Rose, the great British bass, on why we should all hurry to hear the Curtis Institute's orchestra on its visit to London this Friday

Lovely endorsement by Curtis alum Matthew Rose - hope to see you this Friday at Cadogan Hall!

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Curtis Orchestra is off to Europe, with us on their tail

The Curtis Symphony Orchestra's nine-city tour of Europe opens in Helsinki this weekend, with a "cozy" hall in Salzburg, an expansive one in Dresden and assorted adventures along the way.

Philadelphia Inquirer music critic David Patrick Stearns is following the Curtis orchestra on tour - watch for more as he reports live from the scene over the next few weeks!

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Represent Curtis in style with apparel and accessories from our brand new school store! Order by May 21 and you can take 20% off of two or more items: use promo code "20P517" at checkout. Happy shopping! 🛍️ 🛍️

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What does it look like when over 120 students and staff have to board 4 busses in under 15 minutes?

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River cruise in Helsinki! Photos by David Ludwig and Timmy Chooi.

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Shoutout to Timmy Chooi, the brilliant photographer (and violinist!) responsible for most of the images you’ve seen so far! Check out @curtisinstitute on Twitter and Instagram for more!

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Good morning from Helsinki—and from Philadelphia, good afternoon TO Helsinki! Follow us @curtisinstitute on Instagram for more photos from our European tour!

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Boarding the plane to Finland - Helsinki, here we come!