2018–19 Season Begins at the Curtis Institute of Music

PHILADELPHIA, PA—September 13, 2018—The 2018–19 season begins at the Curtis Institute of Music in October, with programming that includes orchestra, opera, chamber music, family concerts, and free student recitals, totaling more than 200 performances in Philadelphia now through May.

This year, 171 students—ages 13 to 31, hailing from 20 different countries—come to Curtis, “both a conservatory and a buzzword…known for taking the best music students in the world” (Washington Post). In this intimate environment, they are nurtured by a celebrated faculty, supported by a tuition-free policy, and inspired by the school’s distinctive “learn by doing” approach.

Curtis Opera Theatre overview: 

• October 4, 5, 6, 7: The Curtis Opera Theatre season begins as Leonard Bernstein’s centenary year closes, pairing the composer’s jazz-inflected Trouble in Tahiti—a prequel to A Quiet Place, presented during the 2017–18 season—with Purcell’s regal Dido and Aeneas, in a unique double bill titled Trouble in Paradise.
• November 14, 16, 18: Stephen Sondheim’s wildly popular Victorian melodrama, Sweeney Todd, comes to the Prince Theater.
• March 7, 8, 9, 10: The March production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni sees the return of the imaginative young director R.B. Schlather and fast-rising conductor and Curtis alumna Karina Canellakis.
• May 2, 4, 5: Empty the House is an intimate, poignant exploration of forgiveness by Curtis alumna and Opera Philadelphia Composer in Residence Rene Orth. It has been revised and orchestrated since its 2015 premiere in the Curtis Opera Studio and features a libretto by Mark Campbell. Don Giovanni and Empty the House are presented as part of Curtis Opera Theatre at the Perelman, in partnership with Opera Philadelphia and the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts.

Curtis Presents overview:

• October 13: The Curtis Presents series continues to bring distinguished faculty, alumni, students, and friends together in the timeless setting of Field Concert Hall. In Kindred Spirits, Curtis guitar faculty member Jason Vieaux and violin alumnus Nigel Armstrong navigate a seamless tapestry of sound influenced by classical, jazz, bluegrass, rock, Latin, folk, and whatever else inspires them. They will present the same program at the National Gallery of Art on October 14.
• November 4: Together with duo partner and pianist Vladimir Stoupel, violinist Judith Ingolfsson (’92) returns to the Field Concert Hall stage in this Musical Homecoming.
• March 3: The culmination of a tour across the United States for Curtis on Tour, members of the Curtis Opera Theatre present Brahms’s enduringly popular Liebeslieder Waltzes. At the piano are Mikael Eliasen, the beloved outgoing artistic director of the Curtis Opera Theatre, and Danielle Orlando, principal opera coach.
• March 31: Pianist Meng-Chieh Liu (’93) has earned a place among the most respected musicians of his generation. In this special afternoon, entitled A Silver Touch, he offers a program of chamber concertos with Curtis musicians, including the school’s string quartet in residence, the Vera Quartet.

Curtis Symphony Orchestra overview:

• October 28: The opening concert of the CSO season celebrates the 90th birthday of Gary Graffman, renowned piano soloist and former president of Curtis. Alumnus Haochen Zhang (’12) performs Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto, a romantic powerhouse and staple of the Graffman legacy, and the dynamic Giancarlo Guerrero leads the orchestra in Stravinsky’s Petrushka. The program opens with Brio by 2018–19 Composer in Residence Augusta Read Thomas.
• January 27: Signature works by Ives, Copland, and Dvořák frame the Philadelphia premiere of the Tuba Concerto by Curtis faculty and alumna Jennifer Higdon (’88), one of today’s most popular and widely performed composers, who creates a virtuosic showcase for Curtis tuba faculty member and alumnus Craig Knox (’89). Mark Russell Smith (’87) conducts.
• April 14: Beloved and captivating conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads the orchestra through the evocative colors and nuance of Ravel’s Une Barque sur l’océan; the steely grays and dusky impressionism of Claude Debussy’s Nocturnes; and the sweeping majesty of Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 (“Romantic”).
• All three programs will also be performed at Immaculata University on October 27, January 26, and April 13, respectively.

Curtis 20/21 Ensemble overview:

• November 10: The first concert of the series pairs Peter Maxwell Davies’s melodrama Eight Songs for a Mad King with alumnus Julius Eastman’s Joy Boy. Eastman, a gifted and idiosyncratic composer and pianist, was one of the first vocalists to take on the Eight Songs in performance.
• February 2: Curtis alumnus and world-renowned pianist Peter Serkin joins the Curtis 20/21 Ensemble and the Vera String Quartet to perform Arnold Schoenberg’s Ode to Napoleon, written in response to the rise of authoritarianism and World War II. The program features additional politically-charged works by Curtis alumni and other living composers.
• March 23: The Curtis 20/21 Ensemble performs works by the 2018–19 composer in residence, Augusta Read Thomas, in this musical portrait. The Grammy award-winning composer, who works individually with student composers at Curtis as part of her yearlong residency, will participate in an on-stage conversation prior to the performance.

Family Concerts overview:

• October 21, March 31: Awakening a sense of wonder in listeners ages 5 to 12, Curtis Family Concerts share music with young audiences through interactive, educational presentations. These hour-long performances take place in a friendly setting, uniting entertainment with exploration. This season’s offerings include an interactive exploration of rhythm inspired by the children’s book Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins, which tells the story of a band of monkeys that explore what hands can do; and the premiere of a children’s opera by Community Artist Fellow Nick DiBerardino, based on the West African folktale of Anansi the Spider.

Student Recital Series:

• With over 100 free performances this season, the Student Recital Series continues its celebrated legacy as the leading concert stage for some of the finest young musicians in the world. Recitals take place most Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays and are featured year-round on YouTube, WHYY’s On Stage at Curtis, and WWFM’s Curtis Calls.

Curtis on Tour:

• Curtis on Tour, the Nina von Maltzahn global touring initiative of the Curtis Institute of Music, is an embodiment of the school’s “learn by doing” philosophy and offers students real-world, professional touring experience alongside celebrated alumni and faculty. Fall tours include a return to Greece for the Nights of Classical Music Festival and stops in Miami and Phoenix with a piano quartet. Additional details will be available throughout the season.

View the complete season. Additional programming details to be announced throughout the year.

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