Curtis Institute of Music

Grammy-Winning Eighth Blackbird Helms Schoenberg At Curtis

David Patrick Stearns — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 10:05:00 +0000

Once ignored by conservatories and reviled by audiences, Schoenberg’s half-spoken, half-sung Pierrot Lunaire is being intensively rehearsed for performances by Curtis Institute of Music musicians on Monday and Tuesday of next week (April 15th and 16th).

As The Philadelphia Inquirer’s David Patrick Stearns reports, the instigators are visiting professors who don’t look much different from the students: the modern music ensemble eighth blackbird, who are in the first year of a three-year residency that should extend the Curtis tradition to the cutting edge.

All About Curtis Institute of Music: Philadelphia's World-Renowned Conservatory

Susan Lewis — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 14:39:32 +0000

Founded in 1924, the Curtis Institute of Music trains exceptionally gifted young musicians from every corner of the world. WRTI's Susan Lewis profiles this influential conservatory, located on Rittenhouse Square in Center City, Philadelphia, and looks at how it's preparing students to become leaders in the high-tech 21st century.

Harpist Elizabeth Hainen

Jill Pasternak — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 15:03:00 +0000

Philadelphia Orchestra Principal Harpist Elizabeth Hainen is Jill Pasternak's guest this week.

Wanamaker Organist Peter Richard Conte--The Curtis Institute of Music--Renaissance Wind Band Piffaro

Jim Cotter, Susan Lewis and David Patrick Stearns — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 15:40:00 +0000

Jim Cotter speaks with Peter Richard Conte, the Grand Court Organist of the Wanamaker Organ. Conte is the soloist in a concert with the Symphony in C orchestra, which is part of the organ's centennial celebration.

Susan Lewis profiles the Curtis Institute of Music, a vanguard in the training of classical musicians since 1924.

David Patrick Stearns takes us to where East Meets West - a concert series by the Renaissance wind band Piffaro.

Chopin and Ballet--Curtis Opera Theatre's Antony and Cleopatra--Philadelphia on Stone

Susan Lewis and David Patrick Stearns and Tom Keels — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:52:00 +0000

Susan Lewis considers why Chopin's music appeals to ballet choreographers, as Pennsylvania Ballet stages a trio of works on March 13 and 14, 2010 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the 19th-century composer's birth.

As part of celebrations of Samuel Barber's centenary, David Patrick Stearns looks ahead to performances of Antony and Cleopatra by the Curtis Opera Theatre.

Tom Keels previews Philadelphia on Stone, a new exhibition at the Library Company of Philadelphia exploring how local lithographers have depicted their city from the 1800 to the present day.

Curtis with the Phila. Orch.--Skyscapers Spectacles--Ephrata Cloister--Patrick Dougherty's Sculpture

Susan Lewis and Jim Cotter and Jason Peifer — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:07:00 +0000

David Patrick Stearns speaks with Curtis Institute of Music students making debuts as concerto soloists with The Philadelphia Orchestra this summer.

Susan Lewis looks at skyscrapers and spectacles - the subjects of two summertime exhibitions drawn from the Philadelphia Museum of Art's collection of prints, photography, and works on paper.

Jason Peifer visits the Ephrata Cloister in Lancaster County, one of America's earliest religious communities and a National Historic Landmark.

Jim Cotter visits Morris Arboretum artist-in-residence Patrick Dougherty. Last April, Jim spoke with him as he worked on a now-completed sculpture of interwoven tree branches, twigs and saplings.

Concert organist Paul Jacobs

Jill Pasternak — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 16:38:00 +0000

"Paul Jacobs, the shockingly youthful head of the Juilliard School's organ department, is an important, genteel revisionist of his instrument..." --The Philadelphia Inquirer

A graduate of Curtis Institute and Yale, organist Paul Jacobs made musical history at age 23 when, on the 250th anniversary of the death of J.S. Bach in 2000, he played the composer's complete organ music in an 18-hour, non-stop marathon in Pittsburgh. In 2003 Jacobs was invited to join the faculty of The Juilliard School, and the following year, he was named chairman of the organ department--one of the youngest faculty appointments in the school's history.

Maestro Christofer Macatsoris

Jill Pasternak — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:43:00 +0000

Music Director of The Academy of Vocal Arts since 1977, Maestro Macatsoris began his conducting career in Italy at the Conservatory in Milan. He went on to study conducting privately with such famed maestri as Fausto Cleva, Max Rudolf, and Tullio Serafin, and studied composition with Vincent Persichetti. Among his many performance credits are appearances with Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company, Pennsylvania Opera Company, San Francisco Opera Center, and numerous regional opera companies. In 1970, Max Rudolf invited him to The Curtis Institute of Music, where he taught and conducted for seven years.

Eroica Trio: Chamber Ensemble

Jill Pasternak — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 16:29:00 +0000

Jill Pasternak speaks to two of the three members of the all-female Eroica Trio, a chamber ensemble that continues to make inroads into new territory since its inception in the early 1990s when they received a Naumburg Award. Pianist Erika Nickrenz and violinist Susie Park, along with cellist Sara Sant'Ambrogio are all consummate musicians, products of the Juilliard and Curtis conservatories.

Their distinctive Lincoln Center debut, international acclaim, TV appearances, Grammy nominations, and recording contracts are only the tip of the iceberg. We'll hear about their latest album, and their "Club Tour" that will begin in Doylestown, PA on October 24.

Mimi Stillman: Flutist

Jill Pasternak — Sat, 03 May 2008 14:41:00 +0000

This week Jill Pasternak's guest is acclaimed flutist Mimi Stillman. At 12, Ms. Stillman was the youngest wind player ever admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music. She has since appeared as a soloist with numerous ensembles, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, and performed chamber music in many of the world's great concert halls. She is the founder and artistic director of the Dolce Suono Chamber Music Concert Series, entering its third season in its new home at First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia.