Category: Admissions

The Viano Quartet and Chris Rogerson (Composition ’10) honored by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

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The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) has announced that nine individual artists and one ensemble, the Viano Quartet, the current Nina von Maltzahn String Quartet-in-Residence at Curtis, have been selected for the Bowers Program, a highly competitive three-season residency in which participants perform, tour, and teach alongside CMS artists. The Chamber Music Society also announced that Curtis musical studies faculty member Chris Rogerson (Composition ’10) was chosen as the winner of the Elise L. Stoeger Prize, an honor that recognizes significant contributions to the field of chamber music composition. The Bowers Program and Stoeger Prize reflect CMS’s ongoing support and development of chamber music artists and composers throughout their careers, on stage and off.

Congratulations to violinists Lucy Wang and Hao Zhou, violist Aiden Kane, cellist Tate Zawadiuk, and composer Chris Rogerson! Learn more about all the artists chosen for this year’s Bowers Program HERE, and read the official press release HERE.

Visit the websites of the Viano Quartet and Chris Rogerson. Photos of the Viano Quartet by Jeff Fasano Photography. Photo of Chris Rogerson courtesy of artist’s website.

Meet the Community Artist, String Quartet, and Conducting Fellows

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Curtis is proud to offer several professional diploma programs designed to mentor artists at the beginning of significant careers. Through intensive training with key mentors and real-world performance and teaching opportunities, these young musicians are creating impact as leaders at Curtis and throughout the Philadelphia community. Explore their activities below and learn more about applying for similar programs in the 2022–23 academic year.

Three Curtis graduates are hard at work this year as Community Artist Fellows. Justin Goldsmith (String Quartet ’20) returns for a second fellowship year, along with Ying Li (Piano ’19) and Grace Takeda (Viola ’21). They will work with community partners in Philadelphia to provide rich artistic experiences to underserved communities and participate in the city-wide Rehearsing Philadelphia project, in partnership with Drexel University’s Westphal College of Media Arts & Design and artist Ari Benjamin Meyers.

Meet the fellows and explore ongoing partnerships.

The Viano String Quartet has joined Curtis as the string quartet in residence for 2021–22. Recently added to the roster of Opus 3 Artists, the quartet comes to Curtis with an impressive list of accomplishments and experience, including top prizes at the Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2019 and a residency at the Colburn School which concluded this past spring.

Read more in the full announcement and view content from a recent tour on Instagram (@vianostringquartet)

Conducting fellows Robert Kahn and Jacob Niemann return for another year on the podium. Closely involved with efforts to reinvent large rehearsals online and helping to facilitate inventive ways to engage with audiences, both conductors look forward to leading student ensembles in-person. See Robert in action conducting the world premiere of MERCY, an opera/film from the Curtis Opera Theatre, in early November. Jacob makes his Verizon Hall debut with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra in April.

Meet the New Students: Adrian Wong

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Composition student Adrian Wong grew up in Hong Kong and completed his Bachelor of Music at the University of Michigan this past spring. He credits his undergraduate experiences with much of his musical growth, but is looking ahead to new—and some unexpected!—collaborations and opportunities at Curtis.

 

 

What has been your most important musical experience until now?

My most important musical experience so far has been completing my undergraduate degree and meeting so many performers and professors who would advocate for my music. Thanks to them, I’m having a piece premiered by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra soon and already have a choral piece published by Hal Leonard.

What was your favorite part of orientation?

I never thought I would play dodgeball in Gould Rehearsal Hall … but we did! It was definitely the most fun I’ve had during orientation. The whole right side of my body was sore the next couple of days! Exploring the art exhibits at Wonderspaces was also really eye-opening and inspiring. Concepts for a myriad of pieces flashed through my head as I was walking through that space.

What are you looking forward to most about attending Curtis?

Becoming friends with the best young performers in the world and collaborating with them to write music that we are all excited about. It’s only been a couple of weeks and I already have a piece planned for countertenor and string quartet!

What was the last performance you participated in?

I was very lucky to have a string quartet (about eggs!) premiered at the Lake George Music Festival in August. While I collaborated with other festivals and ensembles during the pandemic, it was the first live new music concert I’ve been to in ages. It reminded me what a valuable experience live music is and how, no matter the fidelity of the recording, live music can never be truly replicated.

What have you done to explore Philadelphia so far?

Due to missing home and living in Ann Arbor—a place with no Chinatown—for four years, I have eaten at five different ramen places in Philadelphia within the first week and a half of being here!

Meet the New Students: Alexandra Cooreman

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Alexandra Cooreman from Brussels, Belgium is among Curtis’s newest students who assembled at the Philadelphia campus this fall. A violinist in Ida Kavafian’s studio, she has won top prizes at international competitions and recently represented Belgium in the Eurovision Young Musicians competition in Edinburgh. She shares her enthusiasm for a new start at Curtis and remembers some of her most impactful performances as a student at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel.

 

 

What has been your most important musical experience until now?

One I will remember until the end of my life is when I played nearly every night on a musical cruise called the Queen Elisabeth Music Voyage, organized by the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel. It was in 2016, I was thirteen years old. There was a concert every night with exceptional musicians and artists like Augustin Dumay, Maria Joao Pires, Miguel Da Silva, and Kerson Leong. Since the night I performed my last concert on that cruise, I really decided I want to play concerts all the time and travel from one country to another. This is the life I would like to have.

 

What excited you most about Curtis after attending orientation in August?

I got to meet so many new people and all are the same age as me! I have always spent time with people much older than me because I was homeschooled. Even when I was still at school, the other students didn’t understand why I had to practice so much. But now, I am lucky to have amazing friends at Curtis, who are just like me. I am really looking forward to experiencing all the great opportunities Curtis has to offer!

 

What was it like traveling to Curtis from abroad?

It was quite difficult to travel to the United States, but finally everything went well. The only thing that couldn’t be done is getting the permission to travel with my mother to the U.S.

 

What are your non-musical hobbies?

I love cooking! That is my second passion. I have been doing this for four or five years now. I was actually selling my food in Belgium. I have a cooking website called PetitChefAlex. (https://www.instagram.com/petitchefalex/)

Meet the New Students: Nathan Peebles

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Nathan Peebles, from Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, entered the Curtis Institute of Music in 2021 and studies horn with Jennifer Montone and Jeffrey Lang. With degrees from the Yale School of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music, he is an active orchestral performer and previously served as a teaching artist for the Music in Schools Initiative with New Haven Public Schools. He shares his excitement for Curtis and Philadelphia—which won’t be dampened by uncooperative weather!

 

 

What was the last performance you participated in?

My last performance was an outdoor wedding celebration during the summer. It was my first professional service in over a year and it felt good to see people smiling in regards to the live music they heard.

 

Tell me about something interesting that took place during orientation?

Our beach trip to Ocean City was a memorable moment to say the least. After about five minutes on the sand, a torrential downpour ensued. We took shelter underneath the awning of a deep-frying joint and enjoyed each other’s company as we became completely soaked. The relaxing day we had envisioned didn’t come to fruition, but everyone made the best out of the situation and still enjoyed themselves.

 

What are you looking forward to most about attending Curtis and living in Philadelphia?

Working with the wonderful faculty and staff that are here to help realize my goals as a human and musician. (And also eating all the delicious food that Philly has to offer…)

While we are on the east coast, I still feel a somewhat Midwestern homey-ness here in Philadelphia. I’m really looking forward to getting to know this city better.

 

Are there any hobbies you’ve been able to focus on during the pandemic?

Just like everybody else during the pandemic, I started baking artisan bread. I eventually started working with sourdough and realized that my perfectionist ideals as a musician were both helping and hindering my journey to make beautiful and tasty loaves.

Can you share some fun facts?

My first car was a white 1989 Chevrolet Caprice which resembled a boat, my favorite book series is A Song of Ice and Fire (which I read after watching Game of Thrones), and I basically grew up in a national park (Cuyahoga Valley National Park).