Yannick Nézet-Séguin to Oversee Expanded Program as Head of Conducting
Acclaimed Conductor James Ross (’89) Appointed as Director of Orchestral Studies
Press Contacts:
Patricia K. Johnson | patricia.johnson@curtis.edu | (215) 717-3190
Ryan Scott Lathan | ryan.lathan@curtis.edu | (215) 717-3145
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PHILADELPHIA, PA—April 17, 2024—The Curtis Institute of Music is thrilled to announce that it will expand the scope of the school’s conducting program, creating a training program designed to provide the most promising young conductors with one-of-a-kind conducting mentorship in opera and symphonic repertoire. Renowned conducting pedagogue James Ross (’89), who has helped guide Curtis students in the art of orchestral playing and conducting for the last two school years, will join the faculty as Director of Orchestral Studies, starting in the 2024–25 school year.
As part of this appointment, celebrated conductor and current Curtis faculty member Yannick Nézet-Séguin will become the school’s Head of Conducting. Mr. Nézet-Séguin will oversee the full range of the school’s newly expanded conducting program and work individually with the conducting fellows in operatic and symphonic repertoire. Curtis’s enhanced conducting program will include a thoughtful emphasis on the art of operatic conducting, as well as orchestral—a rarity among conservatory conducting programs—and is patterned on Mr. Nézet-Séguin’s own singular career as music and artistic director of The Philadelphia Orchestra and music director of the Metropolitan Opera. Curtis’s program aspires to develop conductors with a similar dexterity in both areas, and provide them with the skills, experience, and confidence to build rich and varied careers.
In addition to receiving coaching specifically geared to opera conducting from Mr. Nézet-Séguin, Curtis’s conducting fellows will gain crucial experience in working with the school’s acclaimed voice and opera department under the guidance of Miloš Repický, the Hirsig Family Chair in Vocal Studies and principal opera coach.
“The expansion of Curtis’s conducting program is exciting for the future of leadership in our field,” says Mr. Nézet-Séguin. “The idea that Curtis will help create conductors who are equally at home in the worlds of both operatic and orchestral conducting—as I am—is unique in this country. These two worlds, so different in format, are woven together by the common acts of singing, shaping, and reacting,” he continues.
Curtis also will increase the number of conducting fellows from two to three, and lengthen the duration of the program from two to three years. All of these changes will be in place at the start of the 2024–25 academic year—Curtis’s recently-announced centennial, when the school celebrates 100 years of training the most exceptional musicians.
“Curtis is continually looking for ways to provide our students with the skills and experience to be at the forefront of classical music for years to come.” Says Roberto Díaz, president and CEO of Curtis. “By reimagining what conducting training looks like, we hope to inspire and empower our artists to shape not only their careers, but our art form,” he continues.
“Curtis has been a vital influence in my life since 1987 when I first entered the conducting program fresh from an active career as a horn player. It has been a lifelong source of friendships, colleagues, decent upbeats, and essential thinking behind good music-making,” says Mr. Ross. “What a joy for me now to return to this special world at Rittenhouse Square and to be asked to shape a next generation of inventive musicians in tandem with Yannick Nézet-Séguin as we explore this art form we love, what it means to our world today and tomorrow, and how we can make music truly come alive for everyone,” he continues.
Mr. Ross is well known for his expertise in orchestral training: he is the founding orchestra director of the National Youth Orchestra of the USA, where he oversees all artistic and educational activities during the orchestra’s annual summer residency and served as professor at the University of Maryland from 2001 to 2017. For the last two academic years, Mr. Ross has been helping the Curtis orchestra establish strong roots together and encouraging their artistry to grow and flourish. For three weeks this past September, Mr. Ross worked with Curtis’s students developing trust in their own ability to learn music quickly and meaningfully—skills they will rely on their entire careers. In ample demand as a conductor in his own right, Mr. Ross will maintain his position as music director of the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra.
For the last century, Curtis’s conducting graduates—which include Teddy Abrams (’08), Leonard Bernstein (’41), Alan Gilbert (’92), Miguel Harth-Bedoya (’91), Sarah Hicks (’99), Sarah Ioannides (’98), Paavo Järvi (’88), Vinay Parameswaran (’13), Robert Spano (’85), Michael Stern (’86), Kensho Watanabe (’13), and Barbara Yahr (’86)—have changed the classical music landscape. With this expanded conducting program, Curtis hopes to empower its graduates to further shape the direction of the orchestral and opera fields.
Curtis Institute of Music is grateful to Rita and the late Gustave Hauser, whose visionary generosity first established the Rita E. and Gustave M. Hauser Chair in Conducting Studies, which supports appearances by Curtis Symphony Orchestra guest conductors each year. Rita Hauser’s commitment to the future of conducting then established the Rita E. Hauser Conducting Fellowships in 2013, held by Curtis’s conducting fellows. An investment from Mrs. Hauser in 2024 is underwriting the Rita E. Hauser Conducting Fellowship program expansion, which begins in the 2024–25 academic year.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin is music and artistic director of The Philadelphia Orchestra, music director of Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain, and in September 2018, began his tenure as music director of the Metropolitan Opera. Widely recognized for his musicianship, dedication, and charisma, Mr. Nézet-Séguin has established himself as a musical leader of the highest caliber and one of the most exciting talents of his generation. His highly collaborative style, deeply rooted musical curiosity, boundless enthusiasm, and fresh approach to programming have been heralded by audiences and critics alike.
Mr. Nézet-Séguin has appeared with most of the world’s leading orchestras. He enjoys close collaborations with the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Chamber Orchestra of Europe. He is honorary conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic after serving as its music director from 2008 to 2018; and was principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic from 2008 to 2014. He has appeared repeatedly at the BBC Proms and many European and North American festivals, among them Edinburgh, Grafenegg, Lanaudière, Lucerne, Mostly Mozart, Salzburg, Saratoga, and Vail. He has conducted annually at the Metropolitan Opera since 2009, and has led productions at Teatro alla Scala in Milan; the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London; Netherlands Opera; and the Vienna State Opera. He records for Deutsche Grammophon.
A native of Montreal, Mr. Nézet-Séguin studied piano, conducting, composition, and chamber music at the Conservatoire de music du Québec. He continued his studies with renowned conductor Carlo Maria Giulini, and also studied choral conducting with Joseph Flummerfelt at Westminster Choir College. His honors include Musical America’s Artist of the Year (2016), the Royal Philharmonic Society Award, Canada’s National Arts Centre Award, and the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres du Québec. He holds honorary doctorates from multiple institutions, including the University of Québec in Montreal, Westminster Choir College, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Curtis Institute of Music, where he has served on the faculty as mentor conductor since 2013.
James Ross is a native of Boston, an improviser, a horn-blower, a dogged questioner of concert rituals, a man who likes to move, a phrase-shaper, and a firm believer in the humanizing impact of classical music on the lives of those it touches. Fueled by these traits, Mr. Ross is in his sixth season as music director of the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra. He has led the National Youth Orchestra of the USA as orchestra director since its founding in 2013 and taught conducting at the Juilliard School since 2011 and at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia since 2022. He served as professor and director of orchestral activities at the University of Maryland for 16 years and was also music director of the Orquesta Simfònica del Vallès in Barcelona, Spain. Mr. Ross’s principal conducting teachers were Kurt Masur, Otto-Werner Mueller, Seiji Ozawa, and Leonard Bernstein. He was artistic director of the National Orchestral Institute (NOI) at the University of Maryland from 2002 to 2012 where his leadership helped served as an impetus for change in the orchestral landscape of our country.
Mr. Ross is internationally recognized for his work advancing the future of orchestras through cross-genre collaborations especially with choreographer and MacArthur Fellow Liz Lerman, polymath designer-director Doug Fitch, and video artist Tim McLoraine. In 2019, he led inaugural courses of the Cuban American Youth Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra’s RCO Young. He wakes up every day imagining a creative re-boot for classical music. He loves art that is new no matter when it was written. He loves concerts that tell an inner story. And he loves helping conductors and orchestras find their own singular communal voices.
About the Curtis Institute of Music
At Curtis, the world’s most talented young musicians develop into exceptional artists, creators, and innovators. With a tuition-free foundation, Curtis is a unique environment for teaching and learning. A small school by design, students realize their artistic potential through intensive, individualized study with the most renowned, sought-after faculty. Animated by a learn-by-doing philosophy, Curtis students share their music with audiences through more than 100 performances each year, including solo and chamber recitals, orchestral concerts, and opera—all free or at an affordable cost—offering audiences unique opportunities to participate in pivotal moments in these young musicians’ careers. Curtis students experience a close connection to the greatest artists and organizations in classical music, and innovative initiatives that integrate new technologies and encourage entrepreneurship—all within a historic campus in the heart of culturally rich Philadelphia. In this diverse, collaborative community, Curtis’s extraordinary artists challenge, support, and inspire one another—continuing an unparalleled 100-year legacy of musicians who have led, and will lead, classical music into a thriving, equitable, and multidimensional future. Learn more at Curtis.edu.
Photo of Micah Gleason, Rita E. Hauser Conducting Fellow, by David DeBalko. Photo of Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Curtis Symphony Orchestra by David DeBalko. Photo of Benoit Gauthier, Rita E. Hauser Conducting Fellow, by Margo Reed. Portrait of James Ross by P.J. Barbour. Archival photo of Leonard Bernstein (’41) conducting the Curtis Symphony Orchestra celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Curtis Institute of Music by Neil Benson.
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A longtime member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two and the Johannes String Quartet, Ms. Lee has appeared with the Plzen Philharmonic, the Gangnam Symphony at the Seoul Arts Center, at Alice Tully Hall and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and toured frequently with the Musicians from Marlboro, including appearances at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City’s Town Hall, and the Kennedy Center. Passionate about teaching the next generation of violinists, she has previously served on faculty at Music@Menlo, Oberlin College, Curtis Summerfest, and Vassar College.
Hailed by the New York Times as “the hottest artist on the classical music planet,” internationally acclaimed pianist, educator, philanthropist, and Curtis alumnus 
In the episode, she notes that sometimes young singers feel boxed in by centuries of tradition in classical music but expresses her excitement to see all the contemporary classical works written today—compositions that leave room for personal interpretation. She expresses gratitude for her time at Curtis, the invaluable opportunities she received on stage and in the classroom, and the gift of entering her profession free of education debt.
performances of over 50 soprano and mezzo-soprano roles. Throughout her career, she graced the stages of such prestigious houses as the Opéra de la Bastille, Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Opéra de Lyon, Netherlands Opera, Staatsoper Stuttgart, l’Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Belgium, and Houston Grand Opera, and appeared as soloist with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic and the Czech Philharmonic before joining the faculty of Roberts Wesleyan University as the director of vocal studies and associate professor of vocal performance in Rochester, New York. Ms. Fee has also taught voice and French diction on the faculty of the Franco-American Vocal Academy in Périgueux, France, and since 2014, has been a member of the voice faculty of the Crescendo Summer Institute in Tokaj, Hungary.
When it came time to graduate from Westminster, I had a wonderful teacher who taught an opera course. After my student teaching in the fall of my senior year, he sat me down and asked, “Graduating in May, are we? What are you going to do?” I said, “I know one thing: I’m not teaching in public school. It’s not for me.” He laughed and said, “You know you have to sing, right?” I said, “Yes.”
My audition at Curtis was interesting. At Westminster, we had a small vocal group that did baroque music. The conductor of that group gave me a wonderful bravura aria by [Polish Baroque-era composer] Damian Stachowicz, with lots of runs and high notes. I learned it and used it for my audition at Curtis, along with a Mozart aria and some other pieces. I was singing mezzo at the time, and I had my four pieces but no opera experience. They were all there at the audition—Rudolf Serkin, Mme. Gregory, Max Rudolf, Dino Yiannopoulos, and Ms. Harshaw. At the time, I didn’t really understand what Curtis was: To me, it was just this music school in a house behind the Academy of Music, where Westminster Choir performed often. I just knew that I wanted to study with that teacher.
I started with the baroque piece, and then they asked for “Must the Winter Come so Soon” [from Samuel Barber’s (Composition ’34) opera Vanessa]. The woman playing the audition was also on staff at the Music Academy of the West, so it’s not possible that she didn’t know the repertoire. As she started playing the Barber, I realized something was wrong and said to her out loud, “Oh no, that’s the wrong tempo!” I think they might have wanted to see how I would handle that. In the end, I did just fine. Anyway, I got into both schools, and when the assignments came, I was put in Charles Kullman’s studio. [Eventually, Ms. Fee switched studios to work with Margaret Harshaw, followed her to Indiana, and ultimately, back to Curtis].
I was there with Sharon Sweet, Carlos Serrano (Opera ’77), Michael Myers (Opera ’77), and Sally Wolf (Opera ’77), now teaching at AVA. I spent time at IU from ’73 to ’76, went to Marlboro for the summer, and then went back to Curtis for the opera program in the fall of 1976. Then, in the spring of my opera certificate year at Curtis, which was Harshaw’s last year, Curtis got a call from Plato Karayanis (Voice ’56) asking for a baritone and a mezzo to come to NYC to audition for the first year of the Merola program. [Ms. Fee auditioned alongside baritone Carlos Serrano for Mr. Karayanis but was recommended for the inaugural Houston Opera Studio with Houston Grand Opera].
I had already decided to go to Europe, visit my friends who had fest positions there, and do some auditions. But I thought, well if he’s gone to this trouble, I’ll go ahead and do the HGO audition. So I went back to New York, walked into the cattle call, and saw all the divas with the hair, dresses, and makeup milling around. I went in for my turn and saw the little table with the phone David Gockley had spoken on when I called him to arrange my audition time. There he was with Carlisle Floyd. I walked in, and sang my entire package: Composer’s Aria, Cenerentola, a French aria, and I was probably still using “Must the Winter Come so Soon” [from Samuel Barber’s Vanessa] for my English aria. As I came down the steps of the little stage, Carlisle Floyd took my elbow, walked me out into the lobby with all the other singers, and said, “You’re exactly what we’re looking for. Can you come to Houston at the end of August? This program is to replace the need for American singers to have to go to Europe to start their careers.”
There were often performances in II-J, including Rigoletto and Pelléas et Mélisande. We did some big productions there with piano; we also performed at the Walnut Street Theatre, where I did a Così [fan tutte] with Julia Conwell (Opera ’77) as my Fiordiligi. I remember a wonderful performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream there. My nickname was “Hermia-on-the-Ground” because of one of the lines in the text. Gwendolyn Bradley (Opera ’77) was singing Tytania. Someone in the cast wore a long train in that production, and there I am, on the ground; they walk over me, and the train with all the dust and dirt is dragged over my head while I’m lying there. [Laughs] After Curtis, my life took a completely different direction than I had ever anticipated. Now, I’m in my second career and I’ve been teaching longer than my 20-year performing career.
Miss Harshaw started her Met career as a mezzo and then switched to soprano. As I understand it, she still holds the record for performing the most Wagner roles there because she sang all the mezzo roles and then all the soprano roles. She had years of experience and knew what she was doing. She had incredible training and was a remarkable teacher.
Then there were her stories. I would listen to stories for hours, learning about the profession. When an interviewer once asked her the most important qualities a singer must have to become a successful artist, she said, “Integrity, integrity, and integrity.” Now, I try to guide my students to their own natural instincts. I tell them that I can’t teach them how to sing, but I can show them that they already know how. As a singer, it’s probably never going to sound good to you in your own head. You may not like how you think it sounds, but you’re going to love how it feels.
Focus on your gift and on developing it to its fullest potential. Get the help you need. Speak up. Be your own advocate. Don’t just do what you see other people do. Do what’s right for you. There’s no written pathway now. When I was at Curtis and IU, there was a path you could follow that was already laid out: You went to Europe, sang for the agents, got a fest job in an opera house, and gained your street creds there. Now, you can make videos, put them up on Instagram, and start your career here. There’s no clear, defined pathway now. You can make your own pathway, but always be true to yourself. Don’t let other people take advantage of your talent, and don’t use it to get somewhere. Use it to say something. Whoever you are, you are unique, and you owe it to the world to discover your gifts and develop your art.