Curtis Institute of Music
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| Established | 1924 |
|---|---|
| School type | Private |
| President and Director | Roberto Diaz |
| Location | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Enrollment | 162 (fall 2005) |
| Campus | Urban |
| Homepage | 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. It is considered by some to be America's top conservatory and one of the leading musical institutions in the world.
It was originally established in 1924 by Mary Louise Curtis Bok, to some extent 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 in Vienna) and the Vienna Philharmonic or the New England Conservatory and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, although pianists, singers, organists and composers were offered courses of study as well.
All pupils attend on full scholarship, but admission is extremely competitive, as Curtis has the lowest acceptance rate of any college or university in the world.[citation needed] 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.
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[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
Many of its alumni have gone on to distinguished careers. Among them are:
- Samuel Barber, American composer
- Harold Bennett, former principal flutist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
- Leonard Bernstein, composer and conductor
- Jonathan Biss, American pianist
- Jorge Bolet, Cuban-American pianist
- Jesse Ceci, Violinist
- Juan Diego Flórez tenor
- Richard Goode, pianist
- Stewart Goodyear, Canadian pianist
- Daron Hagen, American composer
- Hilary Hahn, violinist
- Shuler Hensley, singer and actor
- Jennifer Higdon, American composer
- Lee Hoiby, American composer
- Stanley Hollingsworth, American composer
- Arnold Jacobs tubist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and influential teacher of brass pedagogy
- Lang Lang, pianist
- David Ludwig, American composer
- Gian Carlo Menotti, American composer
- Frank Miller, cellist
- Leon McCawley, pianist
- Anna Moffo, soprano
- Janet Perry, soprano
- Vincent Persichetti, composer
- Ned Rorem, American composer
- Nino Rota, Italian composer and film composer
- Peter Serkin, pianist
- Benita Valente, soprano
- Ignat Solzhenitsyn, music director of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia
- Joseph Alessi, principal trombone new york philharmonic
- Jacques Singer, conductor
- Jasmine Choi, flutist
Menotti was also a teacher at the school.
