Category: Tour

Curtis Institute of Music Fall 2021 Preview

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PHILADELPHIA, PA—August 10, 2021—The 2021–22 season begins at the Curtis Institute of Music in October, with a mix of in-person performances and robust digital offerings, including opera, chamber music, family concerts, and free student recitals through December. Detailed ticketing and venue information for audiences and a complete media calendar of Spring 2022 performances will be shared at a later date.

Each season Curtis celebrates the excellence of the living artists of today through composer residencies: the 2021–22 composer in residence is Tania León. A recent Pulitzer Prize-winner known for “inspiring generations of artists” (International Musician), Ms. León will lead master classes, coach student musicians for public performances, and more during her residency. Highlights include a portrait concert in the spring.

Audiences in Philadelphia and across the globe will enjoy the artistry of the 153 student musicians of Curtis—ages 14 to 30, hailing from 23 different countries. “Both a conservatory and a buzzword … known for taking the best music students in the world” (Washington Post), for nearly a century Curtis has provided each member of its small student body with an unparalleled education alongside musical peers and a celebrated faculty, with nearly 200 yearly performances fueled by a “learn by doing” philosophy.

 

Fall 2021 Highlights

  • With twice-weekly events, the free Student Recital Series returns to the Philadelphia campus on Friday, October 15. Recitals of varied repertoire performed by the extraordinary young musicians of Curtis take place most Mondays and Fridays in Gould Rehearsal Hall with limited audience. Free reservations should be made in advance. Recitals highlights are featured year-round on WHYY’s On Stage at Curtis and WWFM’s Curtis Calls; and full-length broadcasts are available weekly at Curtis.edu/YouTube. Added performances are expected in the spring in the newly refurbished Field Concert Hall.
  • Curtis Opera Theatre reimagines La clemenza di Tito for the silver screen. Entitled MERCY, the opera/film production directed by Chas Rader-Shieber and Alek Shrader creates fantastical new worlds around Mozart’s noble drama of ancient Rome. In-person screenings begin November 4.
  • Awakening a sense of wonder in our youngest listeners, Curtis Family Concerts share musical concepts through interactive exploration and entertainment. Curtis artists, in partnership with First Person Arts, perform works inspired by personal stories on November 13.
  • Alumni Josef Špaček, Timotheos Petrin, and George Xiaoyuan Fu represent Curtis on Tour at top venues across Europe, beginning at the Nights of Classical Music at the Gennadius Library festival in Athens on September 21. Another dynamic ensemble of renowned alumni artists reconnects with music lovers in Latin America through a new virtual tour this October.

 

Spring 2022 Highlights

All dates and programs are subject to change

Curtis Symphony Orchestra:

  • January 28: Conductor Peter Oundjian leads the Curtis Symphony Orchestra and organ soloist Alan Morrison in their highly anticipated return to Verizon Hall. A celebratory program includes works for strings by Jessie Montgomery and George Walker and Richard Strauss’s dramatic tone poem Also sprach Zarathustra. Morrison dazzles in Samuel Barber’s Toccata Festiva.
  • April 29: A newly minted member of the piano faculty, Yefim Bronfman performs Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the orchestra in Verizon Hall to close the season. Robert Spano conducts Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5.

Curtis Opera Theatre:

  • March 3, 4, 5, 6: Eve Summer directs a fully staged production of Così fan tutte at Philadelphia’s Prince Theater. Sung in Italian, Mozart’s comic score follows pairs of lovers through unlikely scenarios that put their relationships and fidelity to the test.
  • May 5, 7: Premiered by the San Francisco Opera in 1994, The Dangerous Liaisons mirrors the plot of the 18th-century French novel. A tale of revenge and seduction, a string of deceits leads to unexpected and ultimately tragic consequences.
  • Dates TBD: Curtis presents a double bill of American opera by two of the school’s most distinguished alumni: The Medium by Gian Carlo Menotti and Triple-Sec by Marc Blitzstein. The performances will be filmed in Fall 2021 for a Spring 2022 video release.

Ensemble 20/21:

  • Under the leadership of new director Nick DiBerardino, Curtis’s contemporary music ensemble emphasizes 21st-century works from Purple Project for Democracy competition winners Alexis C. Lamb and Camilla Tassi, and student and faculty composers from the University of Pennsylvania.
  • Recent Pulitzer Prize-winner Tania León visits Curtis as the 2021–22 composer in residence. Highlights of her residency include a portrait concert by Ensemble 20/21. Of the ensemble’s previous Joan Tower portrait program, the New York Times wrote, “Ms. Tower could hardly have hoped for more passionate performances.”

Special Events and Collaborations:

  • Rehearsing Philadelphia, a meta score by Berlin-based artist and composer Ari Benjamin Meyers, is jointly produced and presented by Curtis and Drexel University’s Westphal College of Media Arts & Design and supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. This large-scale public project explores how we can come together as a city through musical rehearsal with live and virtual events from March 21–April 10. To learn more visit RehearsingPhiladelphia.com.

Additional programming and relevant ticketing and venue information will be updated frequently throughout the fall. A full media calendar is pending. Visit Curtis.edu/Performances for the most up-to-date information.

 

 

CURTIS INSTITUTE OF MUSIC
FALL 2021 CALENDAR OF EVENTS

CURTIS ON TOUR IN EUROPE
Tuesday, September 21–Tuesday, September 28

Josef Špaček (’09), violin
Timotheos Petrin (’17), cello
George Xiaoyuan Fu (’16), piano

September 21–24 Athens: Nights of Classical Music at the Gennadius Library
September 26 Berlin
September 28 Paris

More information at Curtis.edu/Europe.

Curtis on Tour is the Nina von Maltzahn global touring initiative of the Curtis Institute of Music.

 

STUDENT RECITAL SERIES
First Recital—Friday, October 15
Gould Rehearsal Hall

With an average of 100 free performances each year, the Student Recital Series provides a platform for the extraordinary young musicians of Curtis, and world-renowned faculty and guest artists also join for special residency recitals throughout the season.

In the fall semester, recitals take place most Mondays and Fridays in Gould Rehearsal Hall for in-person audiences. Limited space is available; free registration is required. For a complete listing of the week’s performances and to register visit Curtis.edu/Calendar.

Highlights from the Student Recital Series are featured year-round on WHYY-TV’s On Stage at Curtis and WWFM Radio’s Curtis Calls. Full-length broadcasts are available weekly at Curtis.edu/YouTube.

 

CURTIS ON TOUR BROADCASTS: LATIN AMERICA
Starting Friday, October 16
Virtual tour, broadcast online

Mimi Stillman (’99), flute
Bella Hristova (’08), violin
Roberto Díaz (’84), viola
Gabriel Cabezas (’13), cello
Michelle Cann (’13), piano

October 16 Mexico
Date TBD Lima, Peru
Date(s) TBD Chile

More information at Curtis.edu/LatinAmerica.

Curtis on Tour is the Nina von Maltzahn global touring initiative of the Curtis Institute of Music.

 

CURTIS OPERA THEATRE
MERCY
Screenings begin November 4
Prince Theater
1412 Chestnut Street

Chas Rader-Shieber, writer and director
Alek Shrader, writer and director
Grant Loehnig, music director
Robert Kahn, conductor

MOZART Selections, La clemenza da Tito
(with original music for percussion)

90-minute opera/film with members of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, sung in Italian with English subtitles

More information at Curtis.edu/Mercy.

The Curtis Opera Theatre is generously supported by the Ernestine Bacon Cairns Trust, the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, and the Wyncote Foundation.

CURTIS FAMILY CONCERTS
Storytelling Through Music
Saturday, November 13 at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Gould Rehearsal Hall

This interactive concert celebrates the power of music and storytelling working as one. Curtis students and Community Artist Fellows perform works inspired by personal anecdotes and crafted in partnership with professional storytellers from First Person Arts. Audiences are invited to explore their own experiences as they participate in games and performances designed to engage the whole family!

The Curtis Institute of Music received funding from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts.

 

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Curtis Announces Andrew Lane as Vice President, Touring and Artist Management

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The Curtis Institute of Music is pleased to share the news that Andrew Lane has been promoted to Vice President, Touring and Artist Management, taking on an important leadership role as Curtis expands its global presence and launches a new artist management initiative. Since 2013 Mr. Lane has been an innovator and driving force for Curtis on Tour, the school’s Nina von Maltzahn global touring initiative, extending its performance reach to over 110 cities in 23 countries and developing lasting partnerships with institutions around the globe. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he has overseen the success of virtual tours, ensuring that audiences in the U.S. and abroad continue to have access to high-quality performances and educational offerings. As vice president, he will further grow these offerings, integrating strategic priorities in touring and technology.

Notably, Mr. Lane oversaw the recent launch of Curtis’s artist management initiative, which currently represents the GRAMMY-nominated Dover Quartet and critically acclaimed pianist Michelle Cann. He will lead the development of this new aspect of the school in the coming years.

“We have absolutely loved working with Andrew and are excited to continue doing so with his well-deserved promotion,” said the members of the Dover Quartet. “To work with him is to be in great hands and in the best company!”

Mr. Lane has stewarded the significant expansion of Curtis on Tour since joining the staff in 2013, including booking and managing more than 300 performances around the world. Highlights include Curtis Symphony Orchestra tours to Europe (2017) and the U.S. East Coast (2020); annual tours in North and South America, Europe, and Asia; and professional performance engagements for Curtis students and alumni, including several debuts with major orchestras and concert presenters.

“We are so pleased to learn of Andrew’s promotion,” said Don Roth, Ph.D., executive director of the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts at the University of California, Davis. “Working with him is always a productive, constructive, and creative process—and we are so glad to see his work recognized as he moves into this important new role.” The Mondavi Center has been an annual presenter of Curtis on Tour performances since the program’s inception.

Prior to joining Curtis, Mr. Lane worked at Opus 3 Artists where he booked chamber music and orchestral engagements for many of the world’s most distinguished artists, from emerging talent to acclaimed artists such as Yefim Bronfman and Jonathan Biss. He held a previous administrative post at the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra.

Originally from Newnan, Ga., Mr. Lane holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Mercer University and a Master of Music degree in choral conducting from Texas Tech University.

The Dover Quartet Joins the Curtis Institute of Music Faculty as First Penelope P. Watkins Ensemble in Residence

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PHILADELPHIA—August 5, 2020—The Curtis Institute of Music announces the launch of a new faculty residency, the Penelope P. Watkins Ensemble in Residence program, which will be held by the internationally renowned Dover Quartet.

The Penelope P. Watkins Ensemble in Residence program, which takes effect August 31, redesigns the faculty residence model for the 21st century. This innovative residency integrates teaching at Curtis, a robust international performance career, and a cutting-edge digital presence. These three main pillars—teaching, touring, and technology—will all be fostered at Curtis in a holistic and cohesive way, providing the Dover Quartet with the resources to experiment with new technologies, cultivate the next generation of chamber ensembles, and engage audiences through in-person and performance-related digital initiatives.

“Thanks to the generosity of Penelope Watkins, the Dover Quartet and Curtis have the tremendous opportunity to partner together to completely reimagine the career path possibilities of a revolutionary, modern ensemble,” declared Roberto Díaz, president and CEO of the Curtis Institute of Music. “The Dover Quartet will be free to fully explore where their artistry takes them, while also shaping the future of classical music performers and audiences, from what will always be their home: Curtis in Philadelphia. Just like the best of ensembles, this Curtis and Dover Quartet partnership can do something far more creative and impactful together than we could ever have dreamed of alone.”

“It is such a privilege for me to be able to welcome the Dover Quartet to the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music,” said Ms. Watkins, a longtime member of the Curtis board of trustees. “For the whole music community—faculty, performers, audiences, trustees, students and beyond—this appointment has the potential to change the way we think about classical music and musicians’ careers.”

“It is, quite literally, a dream come true for us to join forces with Curtis,” noted the members of the Dover Quartet. “The inspiration we felt during our formative years here can only be described as magical. The thought of once again being a part of that fabric, and sharing that inspiration with the next generation, fills us with the deepest gratitude and joy. We are immeasurably grateful to Ms. Watkins for making this new and exciting career model possible—and through this partnership, we are determined to share our love of music in new and wonderful ways.”

The engagement of the Dover Quartet as the first Penelope P. Watkins Ensemble in Residence continues Curtis’s longstanding tradition of maintaining an unparalleled faculty of the world’s top performers and teachers, and its legacy of close associations with leading American string quartets. With this residency, the Dover Quartet joins the ranks of the legendary Curtis String Quartet and the celebrated Guarneri Quartet, among others who have served at Curtis in the past.

“From the first time I heard the Dover Quartet I have been struck by their commitment to the pursuit of beauty and truth,” stated Jeremy Geffen, now executive and artistic director of Cal Performances and an early champion of the quartet in his previous post as senior director and artistic advisor at Carnegie Hall. “Their unity of intent and their curiosity distinguish them in a crowded field, as does the breadth of their repertoire interests. Though the group is committed to the live performance experience, their willingness to experiment—successfully—with other performance formats, and their embrace of technology and spreading their love of music to as broad an audience as possible has made them the model 21st-century string quartet. None of this would matter at all if the group didn’t play with the sort of edge-of-their-seat excitement and virtuosity that inspires audiences and converts every listener to a member of their fan club.”

This appointment further strengthens the multiple and deep ties between Curtis and the highly acclaimed ensemble. The Dover Quartet was formed at Curtis in 2008, and the members are all alumni of the school: Bryan A. Lee (Violin ’11), Joel Link (Violin ’11), Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt (Viola ’10, ’11), and Camden Shaw (Cello ’10, ’11). In 2013, the Dover Quartet became the inaugural members of Curtis’s Nina von Maltzahn String Quartet Program, a fellowship program for extraordinary young string ensembles. In addition, the quartet’s name pays tribute to Dover Beach, a work for baritone and string quartet composed by Curtis alumnus Samuel Barber (Composition ’34) in 1931. As former Curtis students and current internationally renowned artists, the Dover Quartet returns to Curtis uniquely positioned to inspire and foster the artistry and careers of nascent chamber ensembles.

 

The Dover Quartet and baritone Jarrett Ott perform Samuel Barber’s Dover Beach, Op. 3, the quartet’s namesake, in 2014.

 

“I first heard the Dover Quartet in Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood in a deeply moving performance of late Beethoven,” stated distinguished pianist Emanuel Ax. “Since then, I have had the great pleasure of working with them on a number of occasions. It is a joy to see these remarkable musicians, so full of individual brilliance and ideas, devote their talent to a common goal. They obviously love what they do, and they transmit that love to the performers they work with, and to audiences young and old. It will be so exciting to watch the inspiration that they will bring to the Curtis community.”

As members of the chamber music faculty, the Dover Quartet will coach and mentor emerging string quartets in the Nina von Maltzahn String Quartet Program. Additionally, the Dover Quartet will foster the formation of new string quartets among the student body and help develop Curtis string quartets into the leading ensembles of the future. The Dover Quartet will also coach other student chamber ensembles at Curtis, providing all students with access to the quartet’s collective experience and knowledge as a leading professional chamber ensemble.

The Dover Quartet’s digital technology explorations are in direct alignment with Curtis’s broadening and deepening commitment to digital initiatives. At Curtis, the Dover Quartet will serve as lead content creators, leveraging the school’s world class audio-visual capabilities to experiment with emerging technologies and to provide audiences and young musicians around the world with access to excellence in performance and instruction.

In balance with these activities at Curtis, the Dover Quartet will maintain a robust international performance career, continuing to appear regularly on leading international presenting series and helping to build audiences for chamber music worldwide.

“With the new Penelope P. Watkins Ensemble in Residence program, the Curtis Institute of Music embarks on a visionary project that draws on the school’s vaunted past and present while exploring the breathtaking possibilities of music’s future,” proclaimed Arnold Steinhardt, a member of the Curtis violin faculty and the first violinist of the renowned Guarneri Quartet. “The Dover Quartet will contribute their vast experience in chamber music to the benefit of Curtis’s highly gifted students, assume the role of content creators in the school’s broadening commitment to digital initiatives, and continue to tour the world as one of this era’s greatest string quartets. In this courageous undertaking, Curtis embraces the future as an essential part of the present—something Curtis students will find indispensable upon graduation as they face a forever changing musical environment.”

The Dover Quartet is the subject of a new documentary by Bruce Broder entitled Strings Attached, which premiered this summer. More information about the film is available at StringsAttachedMovie.com.

The Dover Quartet catapulted to international stardom in 2013, following a stunning sweep of all prizes at the Banff Competition. Since then the quartet has become one of the most in-demand ensembles in the world, and has served as quartet in residence of the Kennedy Center, Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University, Chamber Music Northwest, Artosphere, the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival, and the Peoples’ Symphony in New York. Among the group’s honors are the Avery Fisher Career Grant and Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award. Equally comfortable with repertoire from a range of eras, the quartet has premiered works by some of the world’s foremost living composers, including Caroline Shaw and Mason Bates. Find them on Facebook and Instagram (@DoverQuartet).

The quartet’s recent collaborators include Emanuel Ax, Inon Barnaton, Ray Chen, the Escher Quartet, Edgar Meyer, Anthony McGill, and Roomful of Teeth. The ensemble is recording the complete Beethoven string quartet cycle for Cedille Records, which has released two previous Dover Quartet recordings. The Dover Quartet was formed in 2008 at the Curtis Institute of Music.

The Curtis Institute of Music educates and trains exceptionally gifted young musicians to engage a local and global community through the highest level of artistry. For nearly a century Curtis has provided each member of its small student body with an unparalleled education alongside musical peers, distinguished by a “learn by doing” philosophy and personalized attention from a faculty that includes a high proportion of actively performing musicians. To ensure that admissions are based solely on artistic promise, Curtis makes an investment in each admitted student so that no tuition is charged for their studies. Curtis students hone their craft through more than 200 orchestra, opera, and solo and chamber music offerings each year in Philadelphia and around the world.

 

Composition student Elizabeth Younan explores an augmented reality experience alongside the Dover Quartet. In their role as the Penelope P. Watkins Ensemble in Residence at Curtis, the Dover Quartet will experiment with emerging technologies, including the Microsoft HaloLens, to explore innovative educational tools and engage audiences around the world.

 

 

Acknowledgments

The Dover Quartet would like to thank the following people and organizations who had such a significant impact on their career development: Shmuel Ashkenasi, Steve Tenenbom, Peter Wiley, Barry Shiffman and the Banff International String Quartet Competition, Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, and John Zion and MKI Artists.

From MKI Artists

Beginning August 31, Curtis assumes responsibility for the Dover Quartet’s concert booking representation, which will be handled by Curtis on Tour. Curtis is working closely with MKI Artists, which has represented the ensemble since 2012, to ensure a smooth transition into this new partnership.

“It has been such a pleasure to represent the Dover Quartet for the first decade of their career and to see how they have blossomed musically, professionally, and personally,” says John Zion, managing director of MKI Artists. “I’m very proud of the work we’ve done together and even more so of who they have become as musicians and people. I wish them all the very best as they move into the next stage of their career.”

 

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Vera Quartet and Meng-Chieh Liu Offer Live-Streamed Recital on March 13

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PHILADELPHIA—March 12, 2020— The string quartet in residence and a prominent faculty performer from the Curtis Institute of Music, in collaboration with the Chamber Music Society of Detroit, will offer a live-streamed performance on Friday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m. ET. A preconcert talk with David Serkin Ludwig, chair of composition studies at Curtis, will begin at 7 p.m. ET. The live stream will be available at Curtis.edu/YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIDffmGiHP0).

Touring artists include alumnus and faculty member Meng-Chieh Liu (’93) on piano and the Vera Quartet, now its second year as string quartet in residence at Curtis. The Vera will perform Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op. 18, No. 4 by Beethoven and Quartet No. 4 (“Silent Temple”) by Bright Sheng, Curtis’s 2019–20 composer in residence. Mr. Liu joins the group for the luxuriant Piano Quintet in F minor by César Franck to finish the program, which was prepared for a three-part United States tour.

The touring artists previously performed this program at venues in Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts in November 2019 and in Florida in January 2020. Of a recital in Rockport, Mass., the Boston Musical Intelligencer wrote, “Meng-Chieh Liu…wove magic into every note (or bundle of notes) he sent our way,” and “The [Vera Quartet] made the most of Beethoven’s dramatic contrasts.”

Due to declarations of a state of emergency as coronavirus cases increase, Curtis on Tour has cancelled the third leg of this tour, including in-person performances in California, Michigan, Chicago, and Washington D.C. originally scheduled throughout March 2020. The decision was made out of concern for the health and well-being of the artists, and aligns with Curtis’s school-wide modifications to operations.

The Chamber Music Society of Detroit (CMSD), which was to present three performances in the greater Detroit area, has collaborated with Curtis to offer this live stream and has invited interested local patrons to view it collectively in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. Visit chambermusicdetroit.org/curtis for more information about the screening in Michigan.

The Vera Quartet is in its second season as quartet in residence at the Curtis Institute of Music. In 2019–20 the quartet appears with piano faculty member Meng-Chieh Liu in performances across the United States for Curtis on Tour, the Nina von Maltzahn global touring initiative.

The Vera Quartet shares the uniquely democratic dynamic of a string quartet with diverse audiences, both within and beyond the concert hall. Winner of the 2018 Astral Artists National Auditions, the quartet has also received grand prizes at the Plowman Chamber Music Competition and the Chamber Music in Yellow Springs Competition for Emerging Professional Ensembles, top prizes from the M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition, and the St. Lawrence String Quartet Prize from the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition. In 2017 the group participated in the Robert Mann and Juilliard string quartet seminars, and was selected by NPR’s Performance Today as Young Artists in Residence.

The Vera Quartet has attended the chamber music residency program at the Banff Centre, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, the McGill International String Quartet Academy, and the Center for Advanced Quartet Studies at the Aspen Music Festival and School, where they worked closely with composer Augusta Read Thomas and gave the local premiere of her Selene. The quartet previously held a residency at the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn, Germany; and served as the graduate quartet in residence at the Jacobs School of Music, where they worked with the Pacifica Quartet, collaborated with the IU Latin American Music Center and the IU New Music Ensemble, and partnered with the Musical Arts Youth Organization.

A recipient of the 2002 Avery Fisher Career Grant, pianist Meng-Chieh Liu first made headlines in 1993 as a 21-year-old student, when he substituted for André Watts at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia with three hours’ notice. His acclaimed performance was followed by a recital at the Kennedy Center, among other highly praised appearances.

He has appeared with orchestras under conductors Christoph Eschenbach, Gustavo Dudamel, and Alan Gilbert, among others. His concerts have been broadcast around the world, and Taiwanese National Television has aired a documentary on his life. A dedicated chamber musician, he has collaborated with Shmuel Ashkenasi, James Buswell, Bernard Greenhouse, David Soyer, Wendy Warner, and the Borromeo and St. Lawrence string quartets. He was artistic director of Chicago Chamber Musicians from 2011 to 2014; and has also collaborated with artists in other disciplines, including Mikhail Baryshnikov and his White Oak Dance Project.

Mr. Liu received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Jorge Bolet, Eleanor Sokoloff, and Claude Frank. He won first prizes in the Stravinsky, Asia Pacific Piano, and Mieczyslaw Munz competitions.

Mr. Liu has been a member of the Curtis Institute of Music faculty since 1993 and also serves on the faculty of the New England Conservatory.

Curtis on Tour is the Nina von Maltzahn global touring initiative of the Curtis Institute of Music. Grounded in the school’s “learn by doing” philosophy, it offers students real-world, professional touring experience alongside celebrated alumni and faculty. In addition to performing, musicians offer master classes, interactive programs, and community engagement activities while on tour. Curtis on Tour also facilitates solo performances of Curtis students and alumni with professional orchestras and recital series. Since the program was established in 2008, students, faculty, and alumni have performed more than 300 concerts in over 100 cities in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Learn more at Curtis.edu/Tour.

In the 2019–20 school year, the Curtis Institute of Music celebrates 95 years of educating and training exceptionally gifted young musicians to engage a local and global community through the highest level of artistry. With a small student body of about 175, Curtis provides each young musician with an unparalleled education alongside musical peers, distinguished by personalized attention from celebrated faculty and a “learn by doing” philosophy. To ensure that admissions are based solely on artistic promise, Curtis makes an investment in each admitted student so that no tuition is charged for their studies. Curtis students hone their craft through more than 200 orchestra, opera, and solo and chamber music offerings each year in Philadelphia and around the world.

 


CURTIS ON TOUR LIVE STREAM: Vera Quartet and Meng-Chieh Liu


Friday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m.
Preconcert talk at 7 p.m.

Online live-streamed performance is available at Curtis.edu/YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIDffmGiHP0

Vera Quartet, string quartet
Meng-Chieh Liu, piano (’93)

BEETHOVEN
SHENG
FRANCK		 Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op. 18, No. 4
Quartet No. 4 (“Silent Temple”)
Piano Quintet in F minor


Curtis on Tour is the Nina von Maltzahn global touring initiative of the Curtis Institute of Music.

 

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On Tour With the Curtis Symphony Orchestra

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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.