About Curtis

The Curtis Institute of Music is widely considered one of the world's leading conservatories. When Mary Louise Curtis Bok first opened the doors in 1924, her mission was to train exceptionally gifted young musicians for careers as performing artists on the highest professional level. Today Curtis follows many of the same principles set forth by Mrs. Bok: the school provides full-tuition scholarships to all of its students, ensuring that admissions are based solely on artistic promise. A Curtis education is uniquely tailored to the individual student, with personalized attention from a celebrated faculty and unusually frequent performance opportunities.

Students may pursue a Diploma or Bachelor of Music degree. Vocal students may also pursue a Master of Music degree or Professional Studies Certificate. Currently over 160 students from the United States and sixteen foreign countries study with Curtis's celebrated faculty, which includes Richard Danielpour, Roberto Díaz, Mikael Eliasen, Leon Fleisher, Pamela Frank, Gary Graffman, Jennifer Higdon, Ida Kavafian, Seymour Lipkin, Marlena Kleinman Malas, Edgar Meyer, Otto-Werner Mueller, Joan Patenaude-Yarnell, Aaron Rosand, Joseph Silverstein, members of the Guarneri Quartet, and many of the principal players of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

In keeping with Curtis's philosophy that students "learn most by doing," the Institute offers over one hundred public performances a year, including orchestra concerts, operas, and solo and chamber music recitals.

This distinctive approach to musical training has produced an impressive number of notable artists, from such legends as Leonard Bernstein and Samuel Barber to current stars Juan Diego Flórez, Alan Gilbert, Hilary Hahn, Jennifer Higdon, and Lang Lang. Given the school's small size, Curtis alumni have had a disproportionate influence on the musical world. Seventeen percent of the principal chairs in America's top twenty-five orchestras and four music directorships in the top fifty are held by Curtis-trained musicians, and more than sixty alumni have performed with the Metropolitan Opera.

The Curtis Institute of Music is operated under a charter granted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and is included in the list of "Colleges and Universities in Pennsylvania Approved by the State Council of Education for the Granting of Degrees." The Curtis Institute of Music is a fully accredited member of the National Association of Schools of Music. In 1993 The Curtis Institute of Music was granted accreditation by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools; it was reaccredited in 1998.

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