Curtis Institute of Music Announces Fall Updates for 2024–25 Centennial Season: Great to Groundbreaking
Subscriptions and single tickets on sale now at Curtis.edu/100
View the performance calendar at Curtis.edu/Calendar
Curtis’ historic 100th anniversary season features world-class conductors Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Osmo Vänskä, and Teddy Abrams (’08), superstar alumni Yuja Wang (’08), Ray Chen (’10), and Time for Three return to perform with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra
The season features over 30 new commissioned works and over 35 premieres, the exciting culmination of Curtis’ multi-year project, 100 for 100
Curtis Opera Theatre announces casting for the East Coast premiere of George Lewis and Claudio Monteverdi’s The Comet / Poppea
Press Contacts:
Patricia K. Johnson | patricia.johnson@curtis.edu | (215) 717-3190
Ryan Scott Lathan | ryan.lathan@curtis.edu | (215) 717-3145
PHILADELPHIA, PA September 16, 2024—As the Curtis Institute of Music prepares to launch its historic 100th anniversary season in October, additional information is now available for previously announced fall programming.
Curtis opened on October 13, 1924, fulfilling the fondest dream of Mary Louise Curtis Bok, the only child of Philadelphia-based Louisa Knapp and publishing magnate Cyrus H. K. Curtis, to establish a music conservatory with rigorous standards of teaching and performance to train the next generation of musical artists. To mark the school’s founding a century ago and honor the legacy of Mrs. Bok and the impact of her visionary leadership, Curtis will launch its milestone season with Founder’s Weekend from October 11 to 13, 2024, as generations of alumni and supporters will return to campus to enjoy a variety of performances and festivities, reunite with old friends, interact with current students, and celebrate the rich history and exciting future of the school.
On Friday, October 11, 2024, at 7:30 p.m., Curtis kicks off Founder’s Weekend with a special recital at Field Concert Hall, celebrating works commissioned by renowned composer alumni of the school; as well as award-winning composer, Fulbright scholar, and Guggenheim fellow Alvin Singleton, who joined Curtis during the 2020–21 season as the school’s composer in residence. The evening opens with the world premiere of Singleton’s new work, Argoru IX, for solo violin, followed by Michael Djupstrom‘s (’11) captivating Two Fantasies for string trio; Rene Orth’s (’16) A Mother’s Lullaby for solo harp; and Eric Sessler’s (’93) playful dialogue for guitar quartet, Shift and Riff. The recital continues with Chris Rogerson’s (’10) Lullaby: no bad dreams for violin and piano and Chia-Yu Hsu’s (’00) Sparkle for brass quintet. The performance continues with acclaimed alumnus Zhou Tian’s (’05) 10-minute musical journey inspired by classical Chinese landscape paintings, Red Trees, Wrinkled Cliffs, for guitar, violin, viola, and cello; and concludes with composer Gabriella Smith’s (’13) Carrot Revolution, a wildly percussive, audacious work for string quartet, inspired by the music of Joni Mitchell, Johann Sebastian Bach, György Ligeti, and Simon and Garfunkel.
On Saturday morning, October 12, there will be tours of Lenfest Hall and its historic home, the recently renovated 1726 Locust Street. Saturday evening at 7:00 p.m. in Gould Rehearsal Hall, Curtis New Music Ensemble presents the first concert of its sold-out 2024–25 series with a “Portrait of Gabriela Ortiz,” a celebration of this year’s composer in residence featuring works by the internationally acclaimed Latin GRAMMY-nominated Mexican composer and educator. The program opens with her virtuosic work Huìtzitl for solo piccolo and De ida y vuelta, a cross-cultural collision of Spanish flamenco and Mexican folk sounds for two guitars. Puzzle-Tocas for wind quintet follows, along with the world premiere of Cedrus for solo marimba. The concert continues with an ode to Mexican cinema legend Germán Valdés Tin-Tan with Tin-Tan- Fanfarria y Mambo for solo trumpet, followed by Pigmentum for horn and piano. The concert closes with Rio Bravo 1 for vocalist, violin, and crystal cups; and Exilios for clarinet and string quartet, a tribute to Spain’s Republicans who arrived in Mexico at the end of the Spanish Civil War.
On Sunday, October 13, following a special Founder’s Day Tea in the Common Room of 1726 Locust Street for students, alumni, faculty, staff, and friends, the school comes together for Hofmann to Present: The Legacy of Piano at Curtis at Field Concert Hall at 1:30 p.m. to celebrate the piano department legacy from its first head of the department to representatives of the department in the present day. A guest appearance by historical Gregor Benko will illuminate the impact of Curtis’s third president, composer, inventor, pedagogue, writer, and arguably “the greatest pianist of the 20th century” (Harold C. Schonberg, The Great Pianists from Mozart to the Present), the late Josef Hofmann. Faculty and students in the department will speak about personal experiences of the department’s storied chapters. The program will also feature replays of Mr. Hofmann’s historic 1938 recital in Casimir Hall (now Field Concert Hall) and live performances from current students.
On October 11, 2024, Curtis Studio, the recording label of Curtis Institute of Music, dedicated to bringing the artistry and innovation of the school’s renowned and inspiring alumni, faculty, and students to audiences around the world, will release A Century of New Sounds. Recorded from the school’s historic campus and performed by faculty, alumni, and students, the album celebrates famed alumni composers past and present. Distributed by Platoon, the recording will feature chamber works of Samuel Barber (’34), Leonard Bernstein (Conducting ’41), Julius Eastman (’63), Jennifer Higdon (’88), current Curtis composition faculty member Jonathan Bailey Holland (’96), David Serkin Ludwig (’01), Ned Rorem (’44), Gabriella Smith (’13), and George Walker (’45), and will be available on Apple Music Classical and all other major streaming platforms.
As the curated collection of chamber music highlighted in A Century of New Sounds and the Founder’s Day recital illustrate, commissioning new works has been a longstanding and ever-evolving part of Curtis’ history and legacy over the past 100 years. Throughout the historic centennial season, Curtis will present the final works in its multi-year project to commission 100 works for the school’s centennial. Since 2008, Curtis has commissioned more than a hundred new works, and 100 for 100 celebrates the music of our time with a showcase of fresh perspectives featuring cutting-edge original works by alumni composers such as Paul Brantley (’85), Stephen Cabell (’08), Sebastian Chang (’07), Chelsea Komschlies (’18), Riho Esko Maimets (’14), James Ra (’04), Dai Wei (’19), Alyssa Weinberg (’16), Elizabeth Younan (’21), and Tian Zhou (’05), inspired by and crafted specifically for Curtis for this once-in-a-lifetime landmark celebration.
The 2024–25 Curtis Presents series opens on Friday, October 25, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. in Field Concert Hall with a “masterly nuanced performance” (Wall Street Journal) from the Dover Quartet, the Penelope P. Watkins Ensemble in Residence, featuring violinists Joel Link (String Quartet ’14, Violin ’11), and Bryan Lee (String Quartet ’14, Violin ’11), violist Julianne Lee (Violin ’05), and Camden Shaw (String Quartet ’14, Cello ’11, ’10). Named one of the greatest string quartets of the last 100 years by BBC Music Magazine, the two-time GRAMMY-nominated ensemble is one of the world’s most in-demand chamber ensembles. The program includes Jessie Montgomery’s American folk and dance-inspired Strum; Pura Fé Crescioni’s Rattle Songs (originally written for the American Indian female vocal quartet Ulali and orchestrated for string quartet by Jerod Tate); and the Philadelphia premiere of a work recently co-commissioned by Curtis, Woodland Songs, from Chickasaw composer and pianist Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate, celebrating the animals that represent different clans of the Eastern Woodlands People through the use of traditional Chickasaw melodies mixed with classical techniques. The program concludes with Czech composer Antonín Dvořák’s popular Quartet in F major, Op. 96 (“American”)—an iconic work of folksy, rustic charm, gently inspired and influenced by the Native and African-American sounds of the late 19th century.
On Sunday, October 27, at 3:00 p.m., internationally renowned Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä, GRAMMY Award and Emmy-winning ensemble Time for Three, and the Curtis Symphony Orchestra kick off the orchestra’s centennial series at Marian Anderson Hall (formerly Verizon Hall) at the Kimmel Center, with Prokofiev & Time for Three, featuring three towering works that celebrate the extraordinary resilience of the human spirit in the face of great adversity. The Curtis Symphony Orchestra performed Jean Sibelius’ Finlandia at the first Curtis Symphony Orchestra concert on April 25, 1926, so it is only fitting that it returns as part of the opening program of the school’s historic centennial celebration. This stirring patriotic tone poem was written as a thinly veiled, rallying political cry for Finnish liberation from Tzarist Russian dominance and has become one of the composer’s most famous compositions.
The concert continues with renowned Curtis alumna and former faculty member Jennifer Higdon’s Appalachian bluegrass-tinged work Concerto 4-3, featuring a crowd-pleasing, virtuosic performance by “classically trained garage band,” Time for Three. Sergei Prokofiev’s lushly orchestrated, defiantly optimistic, and intensely brooding Symphony No. 5 concludes the program. Composed during the final years of World War II, Symphony No. 5 points the way to a radiant future as it questions what lies beyond victory.
On Friday, November 1, at 7:00 p.m.; Saturday, November 2, at 7:00 p.m.; and Sunday, November 3, at 2:00 p.m.; Curtis Opera Theatre launches its centennial series with the highly anticipated East Coast premiere of The Comet / Poppea, featuring MacArthur Award-winning composer George Lewis’ and librettist Douglas Kearney’s wildly inventive operatic setting of Pan-Africanist civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois’s 1920 science fiction short story, The Comet, juxtaposed with Claudio Monteverdi’s hot-blooded political thriller, L’incoronazione di Poppea (The Coronation of Poppea), from 1643. Led by visionary director and fellow MacArthur winner Yuval Sharon, and presented at Philadelphia’s historic 23rd Street Armory, this innovative, technologically ambitious production is presented on a turntable divided into two halves. These worlds unfold simultaneously, with the stage’s rotation creating a visual and sonic spiral for audiences—inviting associations, dissociations, collisions, and confluences.
Following a critically acclaimed world premiere run at the Geffen Contemporary at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, Curtis Opera Theatre’s riveting performances of The Comet / Poppea features Curtis’ rising young opera stars will perform alongside original cast members bass-baritone Davóne Tines, soprano Joelle Lamarre, and mezzo-soprano Amanda Lynn Bottoms (Opera ’19), providing the students with an invaluable opportunity to hone their craft in collaboration with these internationally renowned artists. This landmark production is produced by Anthony Roth Constanzo and Cath Brittan, Curtis Institute of Music, The Industry, AMOC (American Modern Opera Company), and Yale Schwarzman Center and features members of the renowned Curtis Symphony Orchestra under the baton of conductor Marc Lowenstein, founding music director of Los Angeles experimental opera company, The Industry.
On Friday, November 22, 2024, at 7:30 p.m., the Curtis Symphony Orchestra will present Dvořák & Price with Yannick at Marian Anderson Hall, Kimmel Center, an evening of groundbreaking works by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Florence Price, and Antonín Dvořák under the baton of four-time GRAMMY Award-winning pianist, celebrated conductor, and Curtis’ head of conducting, Yannick Nézet-Séguin—music and artistic director of the Philadelphia Orchestra and music director of the Metropolitan Opera and Orchestre Métropolitain. An encore performance will be held on Sunday, November 24, at 2:00 p.m., in Wu Tsai Theater at the newly renovated, state-of-the-art David Geffen Hall. This highly anticipated concert marks the first appearance by the Curtis Symphony Orchestra at Lincoln Center.
The program opens with British composer, conductor, and political activist Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s lively Ballade for Orchestra, Op. 33, conducted by Benoit Gauthier, Rita E. Hauser Conducting Fellow; followed by Florence Price’s iconic Symphony No. 1, the first symphonic work by a Black female composer to be played by a major American orchestra. The exciting program concludes with Antonín Dvořák’s pastoral Symphony No. 8, evoking the rolling green hills of the Bohemian countryside, peasant dances, and folk melodies of the composer’s native homeland. This special concert is part of Curtis on Tour’s 2024–25 season, and tickets can be purchased directly through David Geffen Hall’s website.
The final Curtis Symphony Orchestra concert of the fall semester takes place on Friday, December 13, 2024, at 3:00 p.m. in the Marian Anderson Hall, Kimmel Center: Ray Chen Plays Barber, headlined by prize-winning violinist Ray Chen (’10), returning to his alma mater to perform Samuel Barber’s (’34) monumental Violin Concerto under the baton of acclaimed artist and Curtis alumnus Teddy Abrams (’08). This electrifying program opens with composer and producer TJ Cole’s (’17) moving work Death of the Poet, conducted by Yoann Combémorel, Rita E. Hauser Conducting Fellow.
Vibrant soprano Kylie Kreucher, Florence R. Laden Memorial Fellow, will join the orchestra for a performance of George Walker’s (Piano and Composition ’45) landmark 1996 Pulitzer Prize-winning song cycle for vocal soloist and orchestra, Lilacs; and the concert closes with Aaron Copland’s ambitious, patriotic Symphony No. 3. An encore performance of this concert will be held on Sunday, December 15, 2024, at 2:00 p.m., at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach, Florida—one of the premier performing arts centers in the Southeast. This special concert is part of Curtis on Tour’s 2024–25 season, and tickets can be purchased directly through the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts website.
As part of Curtis’ ongoing efforts to provide opportunities for students to collaborate with and perform alongside celebrated alumni and faculty, Curtis Opera Theatre is thrilled to welcome international opera stars mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges (’12), soprano Amanda Majeski (’09), soprano Karen Slack (’02), and bass-baritone John Relyea (’96) back to campus for weeklong residencies, featuring individual coaching sessions, pedagogical lectures, and masterclasses, offering students invaluable mentorship and personalized guidance. Ms. Bridges’ November 11 to 15 residency will feature two public recitals showcasing American music, art songs, and works by Curtis composers of the past and present. Ms. Bridges will perform alongside Curtis Opera Theatre students and pianist Miloš Repický, Director and Hirsig Family Chair in Vocal Studies and Opera. The first preview recital will be held on the Curtis campus at the historic Field Concert Hall on Wednesday, November 13, at 7:30 p.m. Presented in partnership with the Gerda Lissner Foundation, the second public performance will be held at the Greene Space November 15, at 7:00 p.m., an intimate performance venue at WNYC and WQXR in New York City, as part of their ongoing Young Artist Showcase series. Karen Slack’s residency will be held from December 9 to 13, 2024, followed by Amanda Majeski’s residency at the start of the new year from January 13 to 17, 2025. The final residency, with John Relyea, will take place February 3 to 7, 2025.
On May 8, 2025, Ms. Bridges, Ms. Majeski, and Ms. Slack, will return to headline Curtis’ annual gala, alongside acclaimed baritone Jarrett Ott (Opera ’04), at Philadelphia’s landmark archeological and anthropological institution, the Penn Museum. The Curtis Centennial Gala will honor the school’s 100-year legacy of singing, vocal music, and opera, highlighting the music and influential artists that have shaped the culture of Curtis and the world’s classical music landscape. Guests will experience captivating performances while savoring culinary delights and commemorating Curtis’ profound impact on the global music landscape. To learn more about this unforgettable evening of music honoring Curtis’ enduring impact, visit curtis.edu/gala100.
After a fall of thrilling performances, the excitement of Curtis’ 2024–25 season, Great to Groundbreaking, continues in the spring with beloved repertoire favorites—such as Claude Debussy’s La mer; Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara’s magnificent Piano Concerto No. 1, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s timeless masterpiece Le nozze di Figaro, and Bernstein’s dazzling comic operetta, Candide—with breathtaking contemporary works—including the world premiere of composer, multi-talented artist, and Curtis composition faculty member Amy Beth Kirsten’s new, Curtis-commissioned theatrical piece, Infernal Angel, about the life of medieval knight turned serial killer Gilles de Rais. The season also features an array of new compositions, world premieres, and much more.
Single tickets and subscriptions are available now for Curtis’ 2024–25 season: Great to Groundbreaking. Single tickets start at $24 and subscriptions from $36.
2024–25 MEDIA CALENDAR OF EVENTS
For season highlights and the latest performance information, visit Curtis.edu/Calendar.
FALL 2024 PERFORMANCES
Curtis Recital Series
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings throughout the school year starting on October 4
Field Concert Hall, 1726 Locust Street, Philadelphia
Curtis’ promise of learn-by-doing is on full display in the school’s acclaimed Curtis Recital Series. Starting in mid-October, more than 100 free chamber, ensemble, and solo recitals are held on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings in Field Concert Hall, with additional performances in the spring semester. From young student artists experiencing their first professional performance to faculty who’ve played on stages across the globe, this series showcases all that Curtis has to offer as musicians and educators. Recitals are free, but advance registration is required. Highlights from the Student Recitals Series are featured year-round on YouTube and WHYY’s ongoing series, On Stage at Curtis.
OCTOBER 2024
Founder’s Weekend
October 11–13, 2024
Founder’s Weekend Recital
Friday, October 11, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.
Field Concert Hall, 1726 Locust Street, Philadelphia
| Alvin Singleton | Argoru IX (world premiere) | ||
| Michael Djupstrom (’11) | Two Fantasies | ||
| Rene Orth (’16) | A Mother’s Lullaby | ||
| Eric Sessler (’93) | Shift and Riff | ||
| Niccolò Paganini | Quartet in A minor, M.S. 42 | ||
| Chris Rogerson (’10) | Lullaby: no bad dreams | ||
| Chia-Yu Hsu (’00) | Sparkle | ||
| Zhou Tian (’05) | Red Trees, Wrinkled Cliffs | ||
| Gabriella Smith (’13) | Carrot Revolution |
Portrait of Gabriela Ortiz Curtis New Music Ensemble
Saturday, October 12, 2024 at 7:00 p.m.
Gould Rehearsal Hall, Lenfest Hall, 1616 Locust Street, Philadelphia
| Gabriela Ortiz | Huìtzitl | |
| De ida y Vuelta | ||
| Puzzle-Tocas | ||
| Cedrus (world premiere) | ||
| Tin-Tan- Fanfarria y Mambo | ||
| Pigmentum | ||
| Rio Bravo 1 | ||
| Exilios |
Hofmann to Present: The Legacy of Piano at Curtis
Sunday, October 13, 2024 at 1:30 p.m.
Field Concert Hall, 1726 Locust Street, Philadelphia
Dover Quartet Curtis Presents
Friday, October 25, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.
Field Concert Hall, 1726 Locust Street, Philadelphia
| Jessie Montgomery | Strum | |
| Pura Fé Crescioni | Rattle Songs (orchestrated for string quartet by Jerod Tate) | |
| Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate | Woodland Songs (commissioned work) | |
| Antonín Dvořák | Quartet in F major, Op. 96 (“American”) |
Prokofiev & Time for Three Curtis Symphony Orchestra
The Jack Wolgin Orchestral Concerts
Sunday, October 27, 2024 at 3:00 p.m.
Marian Anderson Hall at the Kimmel Center; Broad and Spruce Streets, Philadelphia
Osmo Vänskä, conductor
Benoit Gauthier, conducting fellow
Time for Three, guest artists
| Jean Sibelius | Finlandia, Op. 26 | |
| Jennifer Higdon (’88) | Concerto 4-3 | |
| Sergei Prokofiev | Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, Op. 100 |
NOVEMBER 2024
The Comet / Poppea Curtis Opera Theatre
Friday, November 1, 2024 at 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 2, 2024 at 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, November 3, 2024 at 2:00 p.m.
23rd Street Armory, 22 S. 23rd St., Philadelphia
George Lewis, music The Comet
Douglas Kearney, libretto
Adapted from the W.E.B. Dubois short story The Comet
| Jim | Davóne Tines* | |
| Julia | Kylie Kreucher | |
| Nero / Julia’s Father | Samuel Higgins | |
| Poppea | Jeysla Rosario-Santos | |
| Ottone / Virtue | Amanda Lynn Bottoms** | |
| Ottavia / Fortune | Nikan Kanate | |
| Love / Nellie | Joelle Lamarre* | |
| Seneca | Evan Gray |
*Guest-artist original cast | **Alumni guest artist original cast
Claudio Monteverdi, music L’incoronazione di Poppea
Francesco Busenello, libretto
Marc Lowenstein, conductor
Yuval Sharon, stage director
Curtis Symphony Orchestra
The Comet will be performed in English with English supertitles.
L’incoronazione di Poppea will be performed in Italian with English supertitles.
Dvořák & Price with Yannick Curtis Symphony Orchestra
The Jack Wolgin Orchestral Concerts
Saturday, November 23, 2024 at 3:00 p.m.
Marian Anderson Hall at the Kimmel Center; Broad and Spruce Streets, Philadelphia
Sunday, November 24, 2024 at 2:00 p.m.
David Geffen Hall, 10 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor
| Samuel Coleridge-Taylor | Ballade for Orchestra, Op. 33 | |
| Florence Price | Symphony No. 1 | |
| Antonín Dvořák | Symphony No. 8 |
DECEMBER 2024
Ray Chen Plays Barber Curtis Symphony Orchestra
The Jack Wolgin Orchestral Concerts
Friday, December 13, 2024 at 3:00 p.m.
Marian Anderson Hall at the Kimmel Center; Broad and Spruce Streets, Philadelphia
Sunday, December 15, 2024 at 2:00 p.m.
Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach, Fla.
| TJ Cole (’17) | Death of the Poet | |
| George Walker (’45) | Lilacs for voice and orchestra* | |
| Samuel Barber (’34) | Violin Concerto, Op. 14 | |
| Aaron Copland | Symphony No. 3 |
Teddy Abrams (’08), conductor
Yoann Combémorel, conducting fellow
Ray Chen (’10), violin
Kylie Kreucher, soprano
Curtis Symphony Orchestra
*Marian Anderson Hall, Kimmel Center program only
SPRING 2025 PERFORMANCES
FEBRUARY 2025
Bold Experiment Curtis New Music Ensemble
Saturday, February 15, 2025 at 7:00 p.m.
Gould Rehearsal Hall, Lenfest Hall, 1616 Locust Street, Philadelphia
| Heitor Villa-Lobos | Choros No. 2 | |||
| Ruth Crawford Seeger | Suite for wind quintet | |||
| Meredith Monk | Obsolete Objects, Totentanz, and Folkdance | |||
| Julius Eastman (’63) | Buddha | |||
| Du Yun | The Ocean Within | |||
| George Crumb | Black Angels |
This exciting concert features musical and academic explorations of the 20th century, including works by Curtis alumni inspired by the “Bold Experiment” initiated by Mary Louise Curtis Bok in 1924 when she opened a conservatory in Philadelphia.
Le nozze di Figaro Curtis Opera Theatre
Thursday and Friday, February 27–28, 2025 at 7:00 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday, March 1–2, 2025 at 2:00 p.m.
Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center, Philadelphia
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, music
Lorenzo Da Ponte, libretto
Nicholas McGegan, conductor
Marcus Shields, director
Curtis Symphony Orchestra
Revel in Mozart and Da Ponte’s comic masterpiece, Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), where love, intrigue, and politics hilariously collide on the eve of Figaro and Susanna’s wedding.
Le nozze di Figaro will be performed in Italian with English supertitles.
MARCH 2025
Rosamunde Quartet Curtis Presents
Thursday, March 13, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
Field Concert Hall, 1726 Locust Street, Philadelphia
| Ludwig van Beethoven | String Quartet No. 3 in D major, Op. 18, No. 3 | |
| Béla Bartók | String Quartet No. 3, Sz. 85 | |
| Franz Schubert | String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, D. 810 (“Death and the Maiden”) |
The internationally acclaimed Rosamunde String Quartet joins an ensemble of Curtis students for an unforgettable night of chamber music. This phenomenal “Dream Quartet” continues to excite audiences with their distinctive sound and unanimity of expression.
Guitar Quartet Curtis Presents
Tuesday, March 25, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
Field Concert Hall, 1726 Locust Street, Philadelphia
| Manuel de Falla | Suite Populaire Espagnole | |||
| Astor Piazzolla | Histoire du Tango | |||
| Astor Piazzolla | Oblivion, transcr. Julien Labro | |||
| Zhou Tian | Red Trees, Wrinkled Cliffs | |||
| Niccolò Paganini | Quartet in A minor, M.S. 42 |
Internationally renowned violist and Curtis president and CEO Roberto Díaz, GRAMMY Award-winning guitarist and Curtis faculty member Jason Vieaux, and Curtis students bring their spring Curtis on Tour guitar quartet concert to Philadelphia for one night only.
APRIL 2025
Candide Curtis Opera Theatre
Friday, April 11, 2025 at 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 13, 2025 at 2:00 p.m.
The Forrest Theatre, 1114 Walnut St., Philadelphia
Leonard Bernstein (Conducting ’41), music
Richard Wilbur, John Latouche, Dorthy Parker, Lillian Hellman, Stephen Sondheim, and Leonard Bernstein, lyrics
Lillian Hellman and Hugh Wheeler, book
David Charles Abell, conductor
Emma Griffin, stage director
Jeffrey Page, choreographer
Curtis Symphony Orchestra
Curtis Opera Theatre presents Leonard Bernstein’s timeless masterpiece, Candide. Filled with sparkling wit, soaring melodies, and globe-trotting grandeur, this bitingly clever adaptation of Voltaire’s philosophical French novella is an absurdist romp across “the best of all possible worlds.”
Candide will be performed in English with English supertitles.
Michelle Cann & Imani Winds Curtis Presents
Wednesday, April 23, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
Field Concert Hall, 1726 Locust Street, Philadelphia
| Paquito D’Rivera | A Little Cuban Waltz | |||
| Viet Cuong (’19) | Sextet for Wind Quintet and Piano** | |||
| Francis Poulenc | Trio for oboe, bassoon and piano | |||
| Valerie Coleman | Portraits of Langston for flute, clarinet, piano & narrator | |||
| Francis Poulenc | Sextet for Piano and Winds |
**Philadelphia premiere. Commissioned by the Curtis Institute of Music, with co-commissioners Cleveland Chamber Music Society, and Da Camara of Houston, for the Imani Winds and Michelle Cann.
Lauded as “a pianist of sterling artistry” by Gramophone, Michelle Cann, Eleanor Sokoloff Chair in Piano Studies at Curtis, joins forces with renowned faculty members, the 2024 GRAMMY-winning ensemble Imani Winds for a night of breathtaking performances and unparalleled artistry.
Yuja Wang Plays Rautavaara Curtis Symphony Orchestra
The Jack Wolgin Orchestral Concerts
Saturday, April 26, 2025 at 3:00 p.m.
Marian Anderson Hall at the Kimmel Center; Broad and Spruce Streets, Philadelphia
| Lili Boulanger | D’un matin de printemps | |
| Einojuhani Rautavaara | Piano Concerto No. 1 | |
| Maurice Ravel | Shéhérazade, Three Poems of Tristan Klingsor for Voice and Orchestra | |
| Claude Debussy | La mer, trois esquisses symphoniques pour orchestra |
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor
Mariana Corichi Gomez, conducting fellow
Yuja Wang (’08), piano
Judy Zhou, soprano
Curtis Symphony Orchestra
Witness the breathtaking culmination of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra’s 2024–25 series as acclaimed pianist and Curtis alumna Yuja Wang takes center stage with award-winning conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin to deliver a tour de force performance of Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Piano Concerto No. 1, a stunning work of musical and emotional extremes—raw, primal, and explosively cinematic, yet achingly romantic and quietly ethereal.
MAY 2025
Curtis Centennial Gala
Thursday, May 8, 2025 at 6:00 p.m.
Penn Museum, 3260 South Street, Philadelphia
Curtis alumni, friends, and patrons are invited to experience captivating performances by star alumnae J’Nai Bridges (Opera ’12), Amanda Majeski (Opera ’09), Jarrett Ott (Opera ’14) and Karen Slack (Opera ’02), along with other world-renowned guest artists as they illustrate the legacy of singing, vocal music, and opera at Curtis—a history with an outsized influence on the landscape of performance not only in the United States but across the globe. Tickets for the Centennial Gala are sold separately from the 2024–25 season package. To learn more, visit curtis.edu/gala100.
Infernal Angel & Savior Curtis New Music Ensemble
Saturday, May 10, 2025 at 7:00 p.m.
Gould Rehearsal Hall, Lenfest Hall, 1616 Locust Street, Philadelphia
| Amy Beth Kirsten | Infernal Angel** | |
| Savior |
Artists TBA
**world premiere
Immerse yourself in the captivating series finale, featuring the world premiere of Amy Beth Kirsten’s Infernal Angel. Renowned as an innovative composer and multi-talented artist, Kirsten’s work has earned accolades from BBC Music Magazine and prestigious organizations like the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Infernal Angel delves into the life of medieval knight turned serial killer Gilles de Rais, paired with Kirsten’s theatrical piece Savior, inspired by Joan of Arc.
About the Curtis Institute of Music
At Curtis, the world’s great 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 most renowned artists and organizations in classical music, as well as 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.
Philanthropic Support for Curtis’ 2024–25 Season
Curtis’ Centennial Season is made possible through the support of Derek and Sissela Bok, the Mary Louise Curtis Bok Foundation, Deborah M. Fretz, Charles C. Freyer and Judith Durkin Freyer, Mignon and Jim Groch, Rita E. Hauser, Lisa and Gie Liem, Bob and Caro Rock, and Mark and Robin Rubenstein.
Mainstage productions were financed in part by a grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development.
Curtis Institute of Music receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Guest conductor appearances for each Curtis Symphony Orchestra performance are made possible by the Rita E. and Gustave M. Hauser Chair in Conducting Studies. Orchestral concerts are supported by the Jack Wolgin Curtis Orchestral Concerts Endowment Fund.
Curtis Opera Theatre is generously supported by the Ernestine Bacon Cairns Trust, the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, and the Wyncote Foundation.
Generous support for Curtis New Music Ensemble is provided by the Daniel W. Dietrich II Foundation.
The Edith L. and Robert Prostkoff Fund supports the Curtis Recital Series.
Anthony Roth Costanzo’s residency is generously underwritten by Charles C. Freyer and Judith Durkin Freyer.
Curtis Symphony Orchestra’s performance at the Kravis Center is generously underwritten by Mark and Robin Rubenstein.
Curtis Symphony Orchestra’s performance at David Geffen Hall is generously underwritten by the alumni of Curtis Institute of Music, including Teddy Abrams (’08), Benjamin Beilman (’12), Blair Bolinger (’86), J’Nai Bridges (’12), Dukju Kim Chang (’67), Elissa Koljonen (’94) and Roberto Díaz (’84), Mary Lou Falcone (’66), Richard Goode (’64), William A. Horn, M.D. (’70), Marsha Hunter (’77), Andrew Jacobs (’93), Erin Keefe (’03), Young Uck Kim (’70), Kyu Yeon Kim (’09), Kyung Sook Lee (’67), Michele Levin (’65), Daniel Matsukawa (’92), Robert McDonald (’76), Anthony McGill (’00), Demarre McGill (’96), Sandra Miller (’72), Alan Morrison (’93), Jane Shaulis (’75) and Joseph Gasperec, David Shifrin (’71), Robert Spano (’85), Peter Wiley (’74), Lawrence Tarlow (’74), and Yuja Wang (’08).
Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate’s Woodland Songs is commissioned for the Dover Quartet by the Curtis Institute of Music and the following co-commissioners, including Arizona Friends of Chamber Music, Cal Performances at UC Berkeley, Carnegie Hall, Chamber Music Houston, Chamber Music Northwest, Chamber Music Pittsburgh, Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth, Curtis Institute of Music, Friends of Chamber Music Denver, Kingston Chamber Music Festival, Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, and Shriver Hall Concert Series.
Yuja Wang’s performance is generously underwritten by Deborah M. Fretz.
Ray Chen’s performance is generously underwritten by Bob and Caro Rock.
Teddy Abrams’ performance is generously underwritten by Mignon and Jim Groch.
Infernal Angel & Savior has received support from The Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia.
Photo Credits: 1.) Curtis Institute of Music at 1726 Locust Street (Margo Reed); 2. Alvin Singleton (courtesy of the artist); 3.) Gabriela Ortiz (courtesy of OAcademy Music Conservatory); 4.) Josef Hofmann (George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress); 5.) Julius Eastman (George Oliver); 6.) Dai Wei (Micah Gleason Photography); 7.) Dover Quartet (Roy Cox); 8.) Time for Three (Shervin-Lainez); 9.) Nardus Williams and Anthony Roth Costanzo in The Comet / Poppea (2024), performance documentation from the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA (Austin Richey, courtesy MOCA and The Industry); 10.) Amanda Lynn Bottoms (courtesy of L2 Artists); 11.) Yannick Nézet-Séguin (David DeBalko); 12.) Ray Chen (John Mac); 13.) Kylie Kreucher (Nicole MCH Photography); 14.) J’Nai Bridges (Nadav CJ); 15.) Jarrett Ott (Dario Acosta).
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