Young Alumni Fund Advances Artistic Visions
Grants distributed to eleven recent graduates range from $2,000 to $10,000
Congratulations to the first-ever grantees of the Daniel W. Dietrich II Young Alumni Fund a new annual grant program dedicated to supporting young alumni of Curtis! Selected from 41 proposals through a competitive and anonymous review process, these awards will support community and non-profit organizations founded by alumni, production of new commercial film and audio recordings, training in non-musical skills beneficial to the field of music, and general artistic development, such as audition travel, promotional materials, and instrument purchases. Many of the projects address challenges borne from the ongoing pandemic or give voice to historic or deeply personal stories from people of color. Each recipient will receive advice and support from mentors within the Curtis community. Get to know the grantees and their projects below!
“Our graduates are doing incredible and innovative work. We are proud to help and support young alumni as they enter the next chapter of their musical journeys,” said Shea Scruggs (Oboe ’04), Curtis’s director of institutional research and musician experience and chief enrollment officer. “We recognize the effort required to put forward a thoughtful proposal and are grateful to everyone who applied in this first cycle. The number of outstanding proposals we received considerably outpaced the available funding this first year. I especially want to thank the alumni who served on our evaluation panel, participated in the planning sessions, and donated to the fund. They devoted valuable time, expertise, and resources to Curtis, and this new initiative would not be possible without their contributions.”
2021 Young Alumni Fund Recipients
Tessa Ellis (Trumpet ’17, Community Artist Fellow ’18) 
With this grant funding, Tessa Ellis entered an ADHD coach training program to serve neurodivergent musicians and better advocate for neurodiversity inclusion in classical music. Since receiving her funding, she has completed the first two courses of the ICF Accredited Coach Approach Foundation Program. Once registration opens for next fall, she will put the remaining funds towards completing the program.
When asked about the importance of programs like this fund, she says “I see a need in my community and the Young Alumni Fund has made it possible for me to pursue my dream of meeting that need. I am so excited to witness the impact of all of the dreams that this fund has made possible.”
Ms. Ellis is a freelance trumpeter and a founding member of the Arcana New Music Ensemble and the Opus 5 Brass Quintet. She has collaborated across genres with Thurman Barker, Amos Lee, and Philadelphia-based bands Caracara, Square Peg Round Hole, and the John Byrne Band. She studied with David Bilger at the Curtis Institute of Music, earning a Bachelor of Music degree and a Community Artist Fellowship diploma. As an orchestral musician, she has performed with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the Allentown Symphony Orchestra, the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra 2001, and Symphony in C. Ms. Ellis was a finalist in the 2016 Ellsworth Smith International Trumpet Solo Competition and has won first prize in two divisions of the National Trumpet Competition. In addition to performing, she is a faculty member at Settlement Music School, where she teaches trumpet and Children’s Music Workshop.
George Xiaoyuan Fu (Piano ’16)
George Fu’s funded project is Solitude with Schubert, a documentary that follows him and soprano Lotte Betts-Dean and examines how their experience relates to other musicians’ lives during the worldwide pandemic. Mr. Fu says, “It comes directly out of the pandemic because the whole genesis of it was, ‘What music do I really want to be playing at a time where I’m so isolated from other people?’” He adds, “One of the really beautiful things about this fund is that you’re supporting not just alumni, but alumni ideas and projects.” Together, Mr. Fu and Ms. Betts-Dean prepare for an upcoming concert of Schubert’s music, which explores themes of solitude and death while holding hope for life.
Mr. Fu has performed as a piano soloist with orchestras such as the National Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, North Carolina Symphony, Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, and the Curtis Symphony Orchestra; and has collaborated with conductors such as Michael Tilson Thomas, Stefan Asbury, Kensho Watanabe, Vinay Parameswaran, and Jonathan Berman. He has appeared at international venues and his live performances and interviews have been featured on several public television and radio broadcasts around the world.
Passionate about the creation of new work, Mr. Fu is an active composer and performer of contemporary music, having collaborated with composers Krzysztof Penderecki, Harrison Birtwistle, George Lewis, Unsuk Chin, Tansy Davies, Phil Cashian, Matthew Aucoin, and Freya Waley-Cohen. Interested in collaborative work, he is a conductor, an active chamber musician with duo partners and ensembles around the world, and collaborator with artists of many disciplines. Mr. Fu teaches at the Royal Academy of Music.
Joshua Halpern (Cello ’19)
Joshua Halpern has appeared on stages around the world as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral principal cellist, and enjoys collaborations in a wide variety of genres, from Classical music to Southern African music to jazz. He has collaborated with artists including Jonathan Biss, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Viviane Hagner, Gary Hoffman, Kim Kashkashian, Anthony McGill, and Itzhak Perlman, and appeared at music festivals including Music@Menlo, the Ravinia Steans Institute, the Perlman Chamber Music Workshop, the New York String Orchestra Seminar, La Jolla Summerfest, and Krzyzowa-Music. During the 2019 season he served as guest principal cello of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, in 2020 as guest cellist of the Rolston Quartet, and in 2021 joined the Karajan Akademie of the Berliner Philharmoniker. In 2020, he founded The Cultural Caravan, a Colorado-based nonprofit operating at the intersection of small businesses, social-service nonprofits, and local artists. The Cultural Caravan has since presented over 50 artists with backgrounds ranging from Zimbabwean Afropop to Venezuelan jazz to Classical Music in dozens of concerts in coordination with over 30 local businesses and community organizations.
Mr. Halpern completed his Artist Diploma at The Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and his undergraduate degree at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. As a teacher, he has presented master classes throughout the United States and South America and has served on the faculties of Curtis Summerfest, the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, and the Brooklyn Music School. Mr. Halpern lives in Berlin.
Natalie Helm (Cello ’11)
As the founder of Upward Notes, Natalie Helm’s funding will support the ongoing work and increased outreach of the four-year-old non-profit. The mission of Upward Notes is to bring classical music out of the concert hall and into the community while teaching and fostering well-being for the audience and performer. Through the organization, a roster of over 50 volunteer musicians performs for previously underserved audiences in jails, sex-trafficking safe-houses, foster care locations, homeless shelters, and substance addiction centers in several cities.
Ms. Helm joined the Sarasota Orchestra as principal cello during the 2016–17 season. She previously served as a member of the Des Moines Metro Opera Festival Orchestra and as the cello fellow and principal cello of the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra.
A native of Louisville, Ms. Helm received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music in 2011 and her Artist Diploma from the Colburn School in 2014. She plays on a Raphael Di Blasio cello from 1803.
Oliver Herbert (Cello ’19)
Oliver Herbert’s grant funding will support the creation of a multi-phase project for cello comprised entirely of works by living composers, including fellow Curtis graduate Chelsea Komschlies (Composition ’18). Mr. Herbert said, “[The project is] especially inspired by the experience of being in isolation while feeling the need to create” and “exploring what is possible with my instrument through the lens of technology, visual art, new possibilities in recording, and discovering fun new aspects of my own creativity and curatorial nature. This grant has been a wonderful opportunity to take my project further and collaborate with other artists to create new work which aims to translate viscerally.”
The recipient of a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Mr. Herbert’s recent solo appearances include debuts with world-renowned ensembles including the San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic, and Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. The 2021–22 season marks the beginning of several ambitious projects, including the complete Bach cello suites at Capital Region Classical and the complete Beethoven sonatas at Guarneri Hall in Chicago. Highlights this season also include performances with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, New World Symphony, and Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra performing concertos by Barber, Ibert, Saint-Saens, Schumann, and Tchaikovsky. As a chamber musician, Mr. Herbert has participated in leading music festivals including Caramoor, ChamberFest Cleveland, Krzyżowa-Music, La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest, Marlboro Music Festival, Music in the Vineyards, Nevada Chamber Music Festival, the Ravinia Festival, and the Verbier Festival. This season, he also joins violinist Alexi Kenney and pianist Eric Lu for a program of Haydn, Schumann, and Schubert at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. Mr. Herbert studied with Carter Brey and Peter Wiley at the Curtis Institute of Music and with Clive Greensmith at the Colburn School. In June 2020, Mr. Herbert released his debut album, Frame of Mind: Fauré and Janáček, with pianist Xiaohui Yang. Additional recording highlights include a release of Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 2 with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony.
Lyman McBride (Trombone ’18)
Lyman McBride is a freelance musician and software engineer based in Utah. This grant funding has helped Lyman McBride become a more versatile musician by allowing him to purchase much-needed equipment. “The need to be more versatile, has gone up,” he says. “But my access to resources has gone down. [While a student] at Curtis, they have an alto trombone that students can use, but now that I’m out of school, it’s necessary to own your own instruments.” He says that this funding has allowed him to excel on the instrument he was able to purchase.
Mr. McBride is a winner of the International Trombone Association’s Larry Wiehe Trombone Competition and has appeared as a soloist with the Brigham Young University Wind Symphony. He has toured throughout Europe and Asia with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, the BYU Wind Symphony, and BYU’s Synthesis ensemble. Mr. McBride has been a member of the National Repertory and Brevard Music Center orchestras; and performs regularly with the Utah Symphony and the Timpanogos Big Band, among other ensembles.
As a teacher, Mr. McBride has served on the faculties for BYU Musicians’ SummerFestival and Institute and the Morse Summer Music Academy at the Yale School of Music. He previously taught group lessons in secondary schools around New Haven, Connecticut and currently teaches private lessons throughout Utah. Mr. McBride holds performance degrees from Brigham Young University, the Curtis Institute of Music, and the Yale School of Music; and has studied with Mark Davidson, Nitzan Haroz, Scott Hartman, and Matthew Vaughn.
Ashley Milanese (Voice ’15, Opera ’17, Opera ’18)
Italian-American soprano Ashley Milanese is emerging as an exciting young presence in the operatic world. In 2021 she appeared as Giannetta (L’elisir d’amore) and Annina (La traviata) with Teatro Regio Torino and recently made my Metropolitan Opera debut in Brett Dean’s Hamlet. 2018–19 season highlights included Komische Oper Berlin’s touring production of Barrie Kosky’s Die Zauberflöte, singing the role of Erste Dame across Australia and New Zealand, and at the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York; and serving as artist in residence with Teatro Regio Torino. Ms. Milanese used the grant to fund recordings, audition expenses, coaching, and other expenses that go into maintaining a career in opera. “It has helped with upkeep of staying on the scene,” she says of the funding.
Passionate about contemporary music, Ms. Milanese has collaborated with composers Kevin Puts, Rene Orth, Tobias Picker, David T. Little, Daniel Schnyder, and Nico Muhly. She has covered lead roles in the premieres of David Hertzberg’s The Wake World and Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves, and originated the role of Chan Parker in workshops of Charlie Parker’s Yardbird in 2015. Ms. Milanese studied at the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music, where she received her Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, and Artist’s Diploma.
Sonora Slocum (Flute ’11)
This funding will provide production and promotional support for Sonora Slocum’s recent recording of the Mozart flute quartets with members of the Dover and Escher string quartets, recorded in Field Concert Hall at the Curtis Institute of Music. The album will be featured this fall in the PBS series Black Nouveau, which celebrates trailblazers in Milwaukee’s African American community. Ms. Slocum said, “I wouldn’t have released it if I hadn’t received the grant. It would’ve been on the back burner.”
The principal flute of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Slocum has appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra and as guest principal flute with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the Philharmonic Orchestra of New York. She has performed under conductors Christoph Eschenbach, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Sir Simon Rattle, Edo de Waart, Otto-Werner Mueller, John Williams, and David Zinman, among many others.
Ms. Slocum has conducted numerous master classes throughout the country, including at the Curtis Institute of Music, Carnegie Hall’s NYO2, DePaul University, New Jersey City University, and the National Flute Association’s Orchestral Audition Competition. She is a faculty member of the Curtis Mentor Network and served on the faculty at Curtis Summerfest.
Jahleel Smith (Bass Trombone ’18)
Jahleel Smith is acting bass trombone with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Malaysian Philharmonic, the Louisville Orchestra, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the Classical/Pops All-Star Orchestra in Barbados. Mr. Smith has used this grant funding to purchase a new instrument, which is necessary for his career as an orchestral bass trombonist. He says that purchasing this instrument made a world of difference for him. It was time for him to purchase a new instrument as repairing his old one was like “putting a Band-Aid on a leaky faucet” and this funding made that much-needed purchase possible.
Mr. Smith holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music and Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. While attending IU, he was a two-time finalist for the school’s brass concerto competition and a finalist in several professional auditions including those with the San Antonio Symphony and the U.S. Army Concert and Ceremonial Bands.
Mr. Smith has attended the Pacific Music Festival, Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute, and the Cleveland Trombone Seminar, where he was awarded the Jiggs Wigham Scholarship for best under-21 audition recording. He was a finalist for the Edward Kleinhammer Orchestral Bass Trombone Competition at the International Trombone Festival and placed third in the S.E. Shires Solo Competition at the Southeast Trombone Symposium.
Joshua Stewart (Voice ’09, Opera ’12)
With this award, American tenor Joshua Stewart will commission a song cycle based on his original text Man Without a Home, which reflects on the stories that shaped him as a young Black man living in America and Europe. Mr. Stewart says that when he found out about the funding, he immediately thought that it would help him complete the first step in this project, which was the text. The funding of this project is a continuation from his time as a student at Curtis.
In recent appearances, Mr. Stewart joined celebrated conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra on tour in the United Kingdom, Paris, and Germany as tenor soloist in Tippett’s A Child of Our Time. In the United States he performed in Das Paradies und die Peri with conductor Paolo Bortolameolli. He has performed recitals at the Oxford Lieder Festival and Seattle Opera as well as sang the role of “The Son” in Blue at Seattle Opera. Enjoying a long collaboration with Peter Sellars, Mr. Stewart performed as The Shepherd (Oedipus Rex) in a production directed by Sellars and conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen at the Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and Royal Festival Hall in London. He made his debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Narrator (Sellars’s Das Paradies und die Peri) with conductor Gustavo Dudamel.
Mr. Stewart is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and a former member of Munich’s Bayerische Staatsoper Opernstudio, where he appeared in productions by Christoph Loy, Richard Jones, Constantine Trinks, Kent Nagano, Dan Ettinger, and Maurizio Benini. With a background in jazz, he has performed the title role in Charlie Parker’s Yardbird with the opera companies of Arizona, Atlanta, Madison, and Seattle.
Tania Villasuso Couceiro (Clarinet ’19)
Tania Villasuso Couceiro has used this grant to fund audition expenses in Europe. She says that the funding has allowed her to continue the trajectory she was already on, as taking auditions regularly helps build that skill.
Born in Narón, Spain, Ms. Villasuso Couceiro finished her clarinet studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in 2019, where she studied with Anthony McGill, principal clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. During her studies, she participated in international festivals, including Music Academy of the West, Music From Angel Fire, the Aspen Music Festival and School, and the Aurora Chamber Music Festival.
Winner of the first prize at the Intercentros Melómano Interpretation Contest in 2012, Ms. Villasuso Couceiro has performed as a soloist with the Madrid Metropolitan Orchestra and the Vigo 430 Orchestra. She has also been part of the Salvador Seguí Symphony Orchestra, the Young Orchestra Castellón Symphony, and the Castellón Lyric Orchestra. She previously studied with Venancio Rius, Yehuda Gilad, Jose Miguel Marti, and Francisco San Ramon, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree at Rice University with Richie Hawley.
About the Young Alumni Fund
The Young Alumni Fund provides recent graduates of Curtis—those who completed their studies within the last ten years—with financial awards to remove barriers to their success as emerging performers and advance their personal artistic visions. The fund is the latest initiative from Curtis demonstrating an intentional focus on the “musician lifecycle” and easing the transition from student to professional life.
YAF was developed by Shea Scruggs and the Alumni Relations Office in collaboration with design thinking consultant Ramy Nassar, management consultant Kristan Cybriwsky (Flute ’90), and an advisory group of twelve Curtis alumni drawn from a broad range of class years and career types.
Applications for the next cycle of grants will open in Spring 2022. Learn more and apply.
Curtis is proud to support the Young Alumni Fund and is grateful to those alumni and friends who helped underwrite this year’s grants. If you would like to join us and support the YAF, please click here. We are thankful for your generosity and commitment to supporting incredible projects like the ones outlined above. All donations are fully tax-deductible to the full extent of the law. Thank you.
About the Musician Lifecycle
As Curtis approaches its centenary in 2024, it is prioritizing the needs of the musician lifecycle: the shifting artistic and economic experiences of artists both as they prepare to enter Curtis and build their careers following graduation. Committed to fostering meaningful relationships with its musicians even after they matriculate, the school’s key initiatives have included Curtis on Tour, which provides experience, income, and visibility for young artists through professional touring engagements across the globe; Emergency Relief for Curtis Alumni (ERCA), which funded over $500,000 in one-time direct transfers to alumni severely impacted by the cancellation of performances in the pandemic; and expert-led webinars to strengthen social media and financial planning skills among alumni, in addition to the Young Alumni Fund.