Joan Herget Featured on WHYY’s “On Stage at Curtis”

“I spend a big portion of every day in a practice room, and I think it’s so freeing to get on stage because it’s not about you anymore. It’s about the music, sharing, and making the audience feel something. I get to be a storyteller. It’s my favorite.” —Joan Herget

Season 19 of WHYY’s acclaimed On Stage at Curtis opened with a portrait of cello student Joan Herget. The Calgary, Alberta, native entered the Curtis Institute of Music in 2023, studies cello with Nicholas Canellakis, Gary Hoffman, Yumi Kendall, Christine Lee, and Peter Wiley, and is the Carol Coe Conway Memorial Fellow. Before her time in Philadelphia, she received a bachelor’s degree as a Presidential Distinction Award-winning student of Laurence Lesser at the New England Conservatory (NEC). Ms. Herget has previously won first place in NEC’s Lower Strings Concerto Competition, the CDA Young Artist Competition, and the Frank Simpson Concerto Competition, and was a two-time winner of the Rotary Calgary Concerto Competition.

Click HERE to watch the On Stage at Curtis episode, or click the video below.

In this episode of On Stage at Curtis, Ms. Herget discusses her journey, growing up in a musical family with three sisters who all played string instruments. As a child, her violinist mother would consistently practice with her six days a week and sing in her lessons, which showed her how to phrase naturally—something she carries into her disciplined practice regimen to this day. At age eight, she was accepted into the Academy Program for Young Artists in her hometown of Calgary, where she began participating in masterclasses and orchestral and chamber ensembles.

Curtis has been on her radar from a young age, and she wanted to become a part of the Curtis family because of the high level of playing the artistry of students, working with the renowned faculty, and becoming a part of the legacy. Ms. Herget talks about her studies here and the gift of filling her days with rehearsals, practice, and performing in chamber groups. Live performances featured in the episode include Ludwig van Beethoven’s Cello Sonata, No. 1, Op. 5, Antonín Dvořák’s String Quartet No. 13 in G major, Op. 106.

Portrait of Ms. Herget courtesy of Nicole MCH Photography. Photo of Ms. Herget in a field, courtesy of the artist.