Students

Curtis has traditionally attracted students through its worldwide reputation, its offer of merit-based full-tuition scholarships, and its renowned faculty. These attributes have ensured a supremely gifted student body from around the world. To continue to compete for the most talented students, Curtis must offer the best educational opportunities; the most highly regarded faculty and programs; first-rate facilities, resources, and technology; and robust financial aid.

Once students arrive at Curtis, they should expect clear assessments of their progress, helping them to fulfill their potential. Curtis’s youngest artists, while meeting the same artistic standards as their older peers, need special and holistic attention across every facet of their experience. In addition to all this, Curtis must stimulate global awareness of its stature as the first choice for students seeking performance careers.

Among the strategic steps Curtis took in FY 2011 to strengthen its educational environment and the opportunities it offers students:

• reorganized the Performance Studies department to manage all performances through new, more effective systems and procedures, under the direction of a newly appointed Artistic Chair of Performance Studies
• implemented the Young Artists Initiative, focused on the artistic, educational, social, and personal well-being of precollege-age students
• made the global community of young musicians more fully aware of Curtis’s sterling reputation through a redesigned Curtis.edu with online application capability; social media; and broad-based visibility efforts – resulting in a record number of applicants, most of whom applied online
• achieved stable funding for financial aid through fund raising and careful monitoring of direct loans, ensuring that no student accepted on artistic grounds is unable to attend due to financial need

Photo: Candace DiCarlo