Curtis Appoints New Faculty Members for 2025–26 School Year
Mekhi Gladden (Oboe ’22) joins the school’s chamber music faculty as the new member of Imani Winds
With the start of the 2025–26 school year, Curtis Institute of Music proudly announces the appointment of four new performance faculty members. Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra principal bassoon Julia Harguindey (’13), Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra associate principal trumpet Conrad Jones, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra principal flute Chelsea Knox, and groundbreaking harp soloist Noël Wan join Curtis’ celebrated faculty beginning this fall.
With these additions, every instrumental department at Curtis now has a minimum of two faculty members, ensuring that every student has the opportunity to benefit from multiple perspectives, strengthening the learning experience through team teaching. Not only does this help students feel comfortable in their learning environments, but it also increases the flexibility, access, and diversity of learning experiences. In the bassoon department, Ms. Harguindey joins her former teacher, Daniel Matsukawa (’92), principal bassoon of the Philadelphia Orchestra. In trumpet, Mr. Jones will teach alongside Michael Sachs, principal trumpet of the Cleveland Orchestra. In flute, Ms. Knox joins Jeffrey Khaner, principal flute of the Philadelphia Orchestra, with whom she studied at the Juilliard School. Ms. Wan joins Elizabeth Hainen, principal harp of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Curtis’ Maryjane Mayhew Barton Chair in Harp Studies.
“Each of these new faculty members brings distinctive skills and experiences to Curtis,” says Nick DiBerardino (Composition ’18, Community Artist Fellow ’19), provost and dean of the conservatory. “By expanding these instrumental departments with such extraordinary faculty, our students have the opportunity to benefit from more perspectives, empowering them to tailor their experiences in a completely unique way,” he continues.
Since it first opened its doors in October 1924, Curtis has sought to equip its students with the inspiration and the tools to forge successful careers—now and in the future. In addition to their outstanding artistry, these new Curtis faculty members exemplify creativity, leadership, and an entrepreneurial spirit—blazing distinctive professional paths and making a meaningful impact in their communities on and off the stage.
In addition to their major teachers at Curtis, students also benefit from working with the school’s chamber music faculty—among them, Imani Winds. This summer, Imani Winds announced that Mekhi Gladden (Oboe ’22) would join the ensemble and Curtis’ chamber music faculty, taking over for founding member Toyin Spellman-Diaz. “We were lucky enough to work with Mekhi during their last year at Curtis Institute of Music,” the Imani say. “We knew right away that Mekhi was such a special musician, and playing with them has already been a dream.”
Curtis also bestowed endowed chair titles on two current faculty members. Nick DiBerardino (Composition ’18, Community Artist Fellow ’19), provost and dean of the conservatory, will now also hold the Rock Chair in Composition Studies. The Rock Chair was established in 2008 by the late Milton L. Rock, longtime and generous supporter of Curtis, who also served on the boards of Curtis and the Bok Foundation. Ignat Solzhenitsyn (Piano and Conducting ’95) will hold the Sondra F. Matesky Chair in Piano Studies. Ms. Matesky—a trained pianist and photographer—passed away in 2020 at age 86, and generously endowed this chair through her estate.
ABOUT THE NEW FACULTY
Performance Faculty
Julia Harguindey, bassoon (’13)
Argentinian-born bassoonist Julia Harguindey joins the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra as principal bassoon at the beginning of the 2025 season, while continuing in her role as principal bassoon of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, a position she has held since the 2016–17 season. She also served as principal bassoon of the Nashville Symphony from 2016 to 2025.
An active and dedicated educator, Ms. Harguindey is on the faculty of both the Curtis Institute of Music and Carnegie Mellon University. She has performed with the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and appeared as guest principal bassoon with ensembles including the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and Les Violons du Roy in Québec. As a soloist, she performed The Five Sacred Trees by John Williams with the Nashville Symphony under the direction of the composer.
After moving to Montréal in 1991, she studied at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal and later at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Her principal teachers include Daniel Matsukawa and Mathieu Harel.
Conrad Jones, trumpet
Conrad Jones was appointed associate principal trumpet of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra by Music Director Manfred Honeck in April 2024. He has performed as guest principal trumpet with the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Toronto Symphony, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. During the summer season, he often performs at the Grand Tetons Music Festival and was principal trumpet of the Britt Festival Orchestra for seven years.
Mr. Jones came to Pittsburgh from the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, where he served as principal trumpet for seven years and was principal trumpet of the Tucson Symphony for the two seasons prior. During the 2015–16 season, he was acting second trumpet of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. A native of Long Island, New York, he attended the Cleveland Institute of Music before continuing his studies at the Colburn School in Los Angeles.
Chelsea Knox, flute
Chelsea Knox is principal flute of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. A sought-after performer, Ms. Knox has held positions as assistant principal flute of the Baltimore Symphony and principal flute of the New Haven and Princeton symphonies. She has been hailed by the New York Times for her warmth, precision, and clarity, as well as by the New York Classical Review for her “expressive life and full tone.”
An active orchestral and chamber musician, Ms. Knox has appeared with numerous orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, San Diego Symphony, and IRIS Orchestra. Ms. Knox has performed concertos with the Baltimore Symphony, Princeton Symphony, and Hartford Symphony. As a chamber musician, she has performed with the MET Orchestra Chamber Ensemble, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and the ETA3 flute, clarinet, and piano trio. Ms. Knox is a Yamaha performing artist.
Ms. Knox earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School in New York City as a student of Jeffrey Khaner. A native of Litchfield, Connecticut, she received her early training at the Hartt School of Music, where she studied with Greig Shearer. In her spare time, she is an active visual artist, and her work has been displayed in galleries in New York and Connecticut.
Noël Wan, harp
Lauded as “a huge talent with hidden power and amazing maturity” (Bart van Oort) and “not [a harpist] to be slept on” (Globe and Mail), Noël Wan 萬依慈 is an international prize-winning Taiwanese-Canadian-American harpist and an interdisciplinary scholar.
Recognized for her charismatic artistry and genre-crossing virtuosity, Ms. Wan has been a top prize winner of international competitions, including the Astral Artists National Competition, USA International Harp Competition, Debut Atlantic Touring Artist Competition, Prix Orford Musique, and World Harp Competition. As a solo performer, she is unparalleled in her versatility, playing everything from classical to jazz to pop to avant-garde. Currently, she is working on several projects for the electroacoustic harp: commissioned works by Paolo Griffin, Caroline Lizotte, and Liliya Ugay and original sound design under her new moniker the Mother’s Teeth.
Committed to both experimental thought and practice, Ms. Wan places the harp within, around, and against multiple fields, from futures studies to performance studies. Her present research/creation explores queer embodiment and digital sound creation through the concepts of the monstrous feminine and cyborg aesthetics. She is grateful to the Chimei Arts Foundation, Ontario Arts Council, and Florida State University for funding her research and professional development.
Ms. Wan is currently the assistant professor of harp and entrepreneurship at Florida State University, and she is an alumna of the University of Illinois (B.M., D.M.A.), where she was an Illinois Distinguished Fellow, and the Yale School of Music (M.M.).
Chamber Music Faculty
Mekhi Gladden (Oboe ’22), Imani Winds
Mekhi Gladden is an oboist and changemaker whose work bridges the worlds of music and medicine. Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, and based in Philadelphia, they began studying oboe at 15 through the Talent Development Program, later earning degrees at the Curtis Institute of Music and Thomas Jefferson University.
Mekhi has performed with leading orchestras across the U.S., including the Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Memphis Symphony, Princeton Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, and Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra. Committed to using music as a tool for connection and transformation, they have collaborated with Times Square Arts, Astral Artists, the People’s Music Supply, Sugar Hill Salon, and the Composers Conference at Avaloch.
A champion of new music and inclusive classical spaces, Mekhi actively commissions and premieres new works and is dedicated to mentorship and outreach. They were recently named winner of the Jan and Beattie Wood Concerto Competition, performing as soloist with the Brevard Music Center Orchestra.
Beyond the stage, Mekhi is a nationally certified pharmacy technician and vaccinator, working to expand access to medications, vaccines, and health literacy. Their dual commitment to care and creativity fuels a unique and deeply human artistic voice.
Mekhi now brings that voice to the Grammy-winning Imani Winds as the ensemble’s newest member, carrying forward the legacy of their mentor, Toyin Spellman-Diaz
About the Curtis Institute of Music
At Curtis, the world’s great young musicians develop into exceptional artists, creators, and innovators. With a tuition-free foundation, Curtis is a unique environment for teaching and learning. A small school by design, students realize their artistic potential through intensive, individualized study with the most renowned, sought-after faculty. Animated by a learn-by-doing philosophy, Curtis students share their music with audiences through more than 100 performances each year, including solo and chamber recitals, orchestral concerts, and opera—all free or at an affordable cost—offering audiences unique opportunities to participate in pivotal moments in these young musicians’ careers. Curtis students experience a close connection to the greatest artists and organizations in classical music, and innovative initiatives that integrate new technologies and encourage entrepreneurship—all within a historic campus in the heart of culturally rich Philadelphia. In this diverse, collaborative community, Curtis’ extraordinary artists challenge, support, and inspire one another—continuing an unparalleled legacy of musicians who have led, and will lead, classical music into a thriving, equitable, and multidimensional future. Learn more at curtis.edu.
