Michelle Cann & Imani Winds

  • Curtis Presents, Curtis 100
  • Apr 23, 2025 @ 7:30 p.m.

Additional tickets now available.

Lauded as “exquisite” by the Philadelphia Inquirer and “a pianist of sterling artistry” by Gramophone, Michelle Cann, Eleanor Sokoloff Chair in Piano Studies at Curtis, has become one of the most sought-after pianists of her generation. In this Curtis Presents concert, Cann joins forces with renowned faculty members, the 2024 GRAMMY-winning ensemble Imani Winds—Brandon Patrick George, flute; Toyin Spellman-Diaz, oboe; Mark Dover, clarinet; Kevin Newton, horn; and Monica Ellis, bassoon—for a night of breathtaking performances and unparalleled artistry.

Program

PAQUITO D'RIVERA A Little Cuban Waltz
LALO SCHIFRIN La Nouvelle Orleans
POULENC Trio for oboe, bassoon, and piano
VALERIE COLEMAN Portraits of Langston for flute, clarinet, piano & narrator
POULENC Sextet for Piano and Winds

Artists

  • Michelle Cann Piano

    Grammy Award-winning pianist Michelle Cann has been lauded as “exquisite” by the Philadelphia Inquirer and “a pianist of sterling artistry” by Gramophone. Recent engagements include appearances with Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Grant Park Music Festival, and Orquestra Sinfônica Municipal de São Paulo. She is a recipient of the Sphinx Medal of Excellence and the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award, and she served as the inaugural Christel DeHaan Artistic Partner of the American Piano Awards.

    In August 2026, Cann performed the world premiere of Valerie Coleman’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Colorado Music Festival and conductor Peter Oundjian. Highlights of Cann’s 2026-27 season include performances of the Coleman Concerto with the Detroit Symphony, as well as performances of Gershwin Concerto in F with the Charlotte Symphony, Brahms Concerto No. 1 with Phoenix Symphony, and Florence Price Concerto in One Movement with Chineke! Orchestra at London’s Southbank Centre. Her recital appearances include Philadelphia Chamber Music Society in collaboration with the Dover Quartet, as well as solo recitals presented by Northeastern Illinois University’s Jewel Box Series and University of North Carolina Greensboro.

    Recognized as a leading interpreter of the piano music of Florence Price, Cann performed the New York City premiere of Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement with The Dream Unfinished Orchestra in 2016. Her recording of the concerto with the New York Youth Symphony won a Grammy Award in 2023 for Best Orchestral Performance. She won a Grammy Award in 2025 for Beyond the Years: Unpublished Songs of Florence Price, recorded with soprano Karen Slack. Cann’s acclaimed debut solo album Revival, featuring music by Price and Margaret Bonds, was released in 2023.

    Cann holds degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Curtis Institute of Music. She joined the Curtis piano faculty in 2020 as the inaugural Eleanor Sokoloff Chair in Piano Studies and also serves on the piano faculty of the Manhattan School of Music.

    Read the artist’s full bio.

  • Imani Winds Wind Quintet

    Imani Winds is the 2024 Grammy winner in the Classical Compendium category for Jeff Scott’s “Passion for Bach and Coltrane” released on their recently formed record label, Imani Winds Media.

    Celebrating over a quarter century of music making, the three time Grammy nominated group has led both a revolution and evolution of the wind quintet through their dynamic playing, adventurous programming, imaginative collaborations and outreach endeavors that have inspired audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Lean more

Special Thanks

Curtis’ Centennial Season is made possible through the support of Derek and Sissela Bok, the Mary Louise Curtis Bok Foundation, Deborah M. Fretz, Charles C. Freyer and Judith Durkin Freyer, Lisa and Gie Liem, Mark and Robin Rubenstein, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 

Mainstage productions were financed in part by a grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development.

Curtis Institute of Music receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

    • Date Apr 23, 2025
    • Time 7:30 p.m.
    • Location Curtis Institute of Music, Field Concert Hall
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