Curtis Symphony Orchestra
Comprised of outstanding talent and unmatched enthusiasm for musical collaboration, Curtis Symphony Orchestra stands as a cornerstone of the Curtis Institute of Music experience and a vital component of Philadelphia’s vibrant cultural scene. For 100 years, our exceptional students have sharpened their skills and broadened their musical horizons, as they prepare for professional careers with the world’s foremost orchestras and chamber ensembles.
2025/26 Season
Eschenbach Leads Bruckner 3
October 11, 2025 | Marian Anderson Hall, Kimmel Center
Join Grammy-winning conductor Christoph Eschenbach for Bruckner’s monumental Symphony No. 3. Also experience Samuel Barber’s witty and fast-paced overture The School for Scandal and Krzysztof Penderecki’s Concerto Grosso for Three Cellos, featuring Curtis alumni Nicholas Canellakis, Yumi Kendall, and Christine Jeonghyoun Lee—a striking work that blends lyrical beauty with bold dissonance and rhythmic intensity.
Osmo Conducts Bartók
January 25, 2026 | Marian Anderson Hall, Kimmel Center
Embark on a musical odyssey with renowned Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä for Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra—a dazzling, folk-inspired showcase highlighting every section of the ensemble, a celestial work inspired by planetary motion from Missy Mazzoli, a deeply personal tone poem from Henry Dorn, and the world premiere of a woodwind concerto by David Serkin Ludwig, featuring Grammy-winning quintet Imani Winds.
Yannick Leads Mahler & Dawson
March 26, 2026 | Marian Anderson Hall, Kimmel Center
Join Curtis Symphony Orchestra and Grammy winner Yannick Nézet-Séguin for William Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony, a groundbreaking 1934 work blending African American spirituals with classical symphonic traditions alongside Gustav Mahler‘s vivid and richly expressive Des Knaben Wunderhorn.
2024/25 Season
Great to Groundbreaking
Prokofiev & Time for Three
October 27, 2024 | Marian Anderson Hall, Kimmel Center
Experience a transcendent musical journey with renowned Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä, GRAMMY Award-winning ensemble Time for Three, and Curtis Symphony Orchestra. As we commence the historic centennial season, our program plays homage to the past while embracing the future with Jean Sibelius’s Finlandia, Jennifer Higdon’s Concerto 4-3, and Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5.
Dvořák & Price with Yannick
November 22, 2024 | Marian Anderson Hall, Kimmel Center
Embark on a musical odyssey with GRAMMY Award-winning conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Curtis Symphony Orchestra. In this enchanting evening, delight in groundbreaking works by luminaries Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Florence Price, harmoniously paired with Antonín Dvořák’s pastoral Symphony No. 8.
Ray Chen Plays Barber
December 13, 2024 | Marian Anderson Hall, Kimmel Center
Renowned violinist Ray Chen, celebrated for his “gorgeous tone” (Chicago Tribune) and “full-bodied lyricism” (New York Times), joins forces with Curtis Symphony Orchestra for an electrifying rendition of Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto, conducted by acclaimed artist and Curtis alumnus Teddy Abrams.
Yuja Wang Plays Rautavaara
April 26, 2025 | Marian Anderson Hall, Kimmel Center
Witness the breathtaking culmination of Curtis Symphony Orchestra’s 2024–25 series as acclaimed pianist and Curtis alumna Yuja Wang takes center stage. Celebrated for her “exceptional power, depth, and dazzle” (Los Angeles Times), Yuja collaborates with award-winning conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin to deliver a tour de force performance of Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Piano Concerto No. 1, a stunning work of musical and emotional extremes—raw, primal, and explosively cinematic, yet achingly romantic and quietly ethereal.
Special Thanks
Orchestral concerts are supported by the Jack Wolgin Curtis Orchestral Concerts Endowment Fund. Guest conductor appearances for each Curtis Symphony Orchestra performance are made possible by the Rita E. and Gustave M. Hauser Chair in Conducting Studies.
Orchestral concerts are supported by the Jack Wolgin Curtis Orchestral Concerts Endowment Fund.
