Anthony McGill Interviewed by CBS New York

Black History Month: Anthony McGill, Principal Clarinet At New York Philharmonic Interviewed by CBS New York.

“What does it mean to be the African American principal clarinet at this fine institution?” asked Maurice DuBois.

“It’s amazing,” said McGill. “”That sort of representation does matter. To see people that do what you love to do, that come from places you came from, maybe they look like you, maybe are the same gender as you maybe, all these things we can relate to.”
Learn more about Curtis alum, clarinet faculty, and principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic Anthony McGill.


Curtis students, alumni, and faculty, are making remarkable accomplishments in the music world and beyond. Learn more about Curtis in the News.

On Tour With the Curtis Symphony Orchestra

The Curtis Symphony Orchestra recently completed a historic tour of the United States east coast—their first U.S. tour! Osmo Vänskä led the orchestra in a program featuring works by Beethoven, Sibelius, and Curtis alumna Gabriella Smith. Alumnus and piano faculty Jonathan Biss was the soloist, performing Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto. The tour began with performances at Immaculata University and here in Philadelphia, and then traveled the east coast, ending with a February 8 finale at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage.

Curtis Opera Theatre Presents Albert Herring March 5–8

PHILADELPHIA—February 20, 2020—The Curtis Opera Theatre presents Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring March 5 through 7 at 7:30 p.m. and March 8 at 2:30 p.m. at the Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater. Leading the new production are director Eve Summer, who makes her Curtis debut, and conductor George Manahan.

One of Britten’s few comic operas, Albert Herring turns the morality play on its head through the tale of a shy shop clerk. The titular character, played by tenors Ethan Burck (March 5 and 7) and Joseph Tancredi (March 6 and 8), is selected as his town’s May King in honor of his virtuous ways. Accepting the position reluctantly, Albert becomes increasingly despondent as the depth of his inexperience with love and life become the center of attention. The quirky hero resolves to spend his prize money on adventure, stays out all night, and concocts a wild explanation of his exploits that shocks his elders and wins the admiration of his peers.

Conductor George Manahan, the director of orchestral activities at the Manhattan School of Music and a frequent collaborator with the Curtis Opera Theatre, returns to lead the cast and members of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra in this fully staged opera, sung in English with English supertitles. Stage director Eve Summer leads her first production for Curtis. Scenic design is provided by Julia Noulin-Mérat, with costume design by Whitney Locher and lighting design by Benjamin Pilat. The Curtis Opera Theatre season is sponsored by the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation and the Wyncote Foundation.

Single tickets for $20–75 are available through the Kimmel Center Box Office at (215) 893-1999 or KimmelCenter.org.

The Curtis Opera Theatre has become known for imaginative productions, bold concepts, and absorbing theatre. Under the artistic direction of Danielle Orlando and Eric Owens, promising young singers work alongside established professional directors and designers, resulting in fresh interpretations of standard repertoire and contemporary works. All of Curtis’s 26 students in vocal studies are cast regularly throughout each season, receiving a rare level of performance in fully staged productions, in recitals at Field Concert Hall, and as soloists with Curtis on Tour and the Curtis Symphony Orchestra. Curtis’s educational approach opens professional opportunities for Curtis graduates, who sing with top opera companies across the United States and Europe, including La Scala, Covent Garden, the Vienna Staatsoper, Houston Grand Opera, the San Francisco Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera.

 


CURTIS OPERA THEATRE: ALBERT HERRING

Thursday, March 5 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 7 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 8 at 2:30 p.m.

Perelman Theater at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
300 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia

George Manahan, conductor
Eve Summer, stage director
Julia Noulin-Mérat, scenic designer
Whitney Locher, costume designer
Benjamin Pilat, lighting designer

 

BRITTEN         Albert Herring

Cast (in singing order)

Lady Billows
Florence Pike
Miss Wordsworth
Mr. Gedge (Vicar)
Mr. Upfold (Mayor)
Superintendent Budd
Sid
Albert Herring
Nancy
Mrs. Herring (Mum)
Boy (Harry)
Emmie
Cis
March 5 and 7
Merissa Beddows
Anastasiia Sidorova
Lindsey Reynolds
Andrew Moore
Colin Aikins
Thomas Petrushka
Ben Schaefer
Ethan Burck
Sophia Maekawa
Ruby Dibble
Jeremy Allen*
Dalia Medovnikov
Sarah Fleiss
 

March 6 and 8
Ashley Robillard
Anastasiia Sidorova
Ziyi Dai
Andrew Moore
Colin Aikins
Thomas Petrushka
Patrick Wilhelm
Joseph Tancredi
Hannah Klein
Ruby Dibble
Jeremy Allen*
Dalia Medovnikov
Sarah Fleiss*guest artist

 

Fully staged production with members of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, sung in English with English supertitles

Single tickets: $20–75, sold by the Kimmel Center Box Office, KimmelCenter.org, or (215) 893-1999.

The Curtis Opera Theatre season is sponsored by the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation and the Wyncote Foundation.

 

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Ensemble 20/21 Performs Julius Eastman

For the second season running, the Ensemble 20/21 will perform music by composer, pianist, and vocalist Julius Eastman. Eastman, a 1963 Curtis graduate, was largely overlooked during his career—in large part because his music did not shy away from addressing his identity as a Black, queer artist. Recently, advocates in the musical world have been shining a light on his work, hoping to help right some of the wrongs he faced during his life.

On February 22 the  Ensemble 20/21 presents #Persona, showcasing works by a range of composers who, like Eastman, incorporate facets of their identity—such as ethnicity, sexuality, religion, and national origin—into their music. On this occasion, baritone Patrick Wilhelm will perform Eastman’s Prelude to the Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc, one of many works in which Eastman used familar texts from Christian traditions and transformed them into political statements about society’s treatment of marginalized people.

Before the performance, artistic director David Serkin Ludwig and featured composer Reena Esmail will hold a pre-concert discussion further exploring themes of identity within music, art, and the creative process.

Curtis 20/21 Ensemble Presents #Persona on February 22

PHILADELPHIA, PA—February 12, 2020—The Curtis 20/21 Ensemble presents #Persona, the second of three programs in the contemporary music ensemble’s 2019–20 season, on Saturday, February 22 at 8 p.m. in Gould Rehearsal Hall at the Curtis Institute of Music. A preconcert conversation led by Artistic Director David Serkin Ludwig will begin at 7:30 p.m. The program and conversation will be streamed live at Curtis.edu/YouTube.

The program combines works by past and living composers, including several Curtis alumni, to explore the concept of identity through composition. By expressing their personal selves in the creation of these works, the composers highlight their individual ethnicity, sexuality, religion, or national origin. The student musicians of the Curtis 20/21 Ensemble are preparing this intriguing repertoire in collaboration with the internationally-known chamber ensemble Imani Winds, guest coaches for the #Persona program.

Prelude to the Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc by Julius Eastman (Piano and Composition ’63) opens the concert. The work for solo baritone voice is a companion to a larger work for ten cellos and depicts the saints who appeared to religious martyr Joan of Arc in Eastman’s noted minimalist style.

Recent Curtis alumni Chiayu Hsu (Composition ’00) and Riho Maimets (Composition ’14) offer chamber works with their Urban Sketches and Infinite Blue Heights, respectively. A selection from David del Tredici’s Three Baritone Songs and Reena Esmail’s The Light is the Same highlight the versatility of the Curtis student performers.

The program closes with Luciano Berio’s eclectic Folk Songs, which sets familiar songs from countries including Armenia, France, and Azerbaijan, in a haunting work for strings, flute, harp, percussion, and voice.

The preconcert conversation, beginning at 7:30 p.m. in Gould Rehearsal Hall, features David Serkin Ludwig and composer Reena Esmail as they discuss composition as a means of personal expression.Tickets for $20 are available from Curtis Patron Services at (215) 893-7902 or Curtis.edu/Ensemble. The concert and preconcert conversation will also be streamed live at 7:30 p.m. EST on YouTube (Curtis.edu/YouTube) and Facebook Live (Facebook.com/CurtisInstitute).

Flexible in size and scope, the Curtis 20/21 Ensemble performs a wide range of music from the 20th and 21st centuries, including works by Curtis students and alumni. The ensemble has appeared at major U.S. venues such as the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and the Miller Theatre, as well as international venues. The ensemble has presented concert portraits of iconic composers in residence Unsuk Chin, John Corigliano, George Crumb, Krzysztof Penderecki, and Chen Yi, among many others. Of the ensemble’s Joan Tower portrait program, the New York Times wrote, “Ms. Tower could hardly have hoped for more passionate performances.” The Curtis 20/21 Ensemble is led by artistic director David Serkin Ludwig.

 


 

CURTIS 20/21 ENSEMBLE: #Persona

Saturday, February 22 at 8 p.m.
Gould Rehearsal Hall, 1616 Locust Street, Philadelphia
Preconcert conversation at 7:30 p.m.

 

EASTMAN

 

Prelude to the Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc
Patrick Wilhelm, baritone
DEL TREDICI

 

“Matthew Shepard” from Three Baritone Songs
Patrick Wilhelm, baritone
Reese Revak, piano
HSU

 

Urban Sketches
Yan Liu, clarinet
Sai Sai Ding, cello
Tianxu An, piano
MAIMETS

 

Infinite Blue Heights
Aimi Kobayashi, piano
Szuyu Su, piano
ESMAIL

 

The Light is the Same
Fuki Wang, flute
Russell Hoffman, oboe
Yuhsin Su, clarinet
Thomas Roy-Rochette, bassoon
Kenshi Miyatani, horn
BERIO

 

Folk Songs
Sage De-Agro-Ruopp, mezzo-soprano
Naomi Ford, flute
Yoonseo Kang, percussion
Thomas Kolakowski, percussion
Alexandra Tihonova, harp
Chi-Ta Chen, viola
Nygel Witherspoon, cello
Yuwon Kim, conductor

 

Tickets: $20, sold by Curtis Patron Services at (215) 893-7902 or Curtis.edu/Ensemble.

Streamed live on YouTube (Curtis.edu/YouTube) and Facebook (Facebook.com/CurtisInstitute) at 7:30 p.m. EST.

Generous support for the Curtis 20/21 Ensemble is provided by the Daniel W. Dietrich II Foundation.

 

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