My next stop is the Curtis Institute of Music. My boyfriend, Tim, has
been attending this school for the past three years studying double bass
performance. It is recognized as being one of the most prestigious and talented
music schools in the entire world. Curtis is made up of one orchestra worth of
students, which means there are only eight bass players in the entire school,
one to two being chosen every year. When Tim auditioned he was going for one of
two spots and competed against 40 other students. Students come from around the
world to audition at Curtis and our friends are from around the world and
include Hawaii, Russia, Korea, China, France, to my hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
Curtis
Institute of Music opened on October 13, 1924 by founder Mary Louise Curtis
Bok. Her parents, Louisa Knapp and Cyrus H. K. Curtis, were the owners of the
Curtis Publishing Company that produced two of the most popular magazines of
its time in America named “The Saturday Evening Post” and “The Ladies’ Home
Journal.” Mary got her inspiration by working with underprivileged children in
South Philadelphia at the Settlement Music School. Many of these children were
talented enough for professional careers and Mary was determined to develop a
school to give them the rigorous teaching that was necessary for success.
Conductor Leopold Stokowski and pianist Josef Hofmann helped Mary recruit a
faculty that consisted of the most prestigious and talented musicians of their
time. Since 1928 the school has provided full scholarship tuition to every
student. The students are accepted purely based on musical talent. Today, the
school has an endowment around $130.5 million (“History”). (To put this number
in perspective, Temple University has an endowment of $250 million for about 38,000
students, Curtis has its $130.5 million for 165 students)
I
did not realize that Curtis was originally founded with the hopes of allowing
underprivileged students from Philadelphia the chance to thrive in a musical
position. Today, Curtis attracts students from across the world to audition,
not just from Philadelphia.
Curtis
Institute of Music is located on Rittenhouse Square on 1726 Locust Street in
the mansion of George W. Childs Drexel. George was the son of Anthony Joseph
Drexel, founder of Drexel, Morgan & Co, an original predecessor of JPMorgan
Chase Bank. The mansion includes a concert hall, now named Field Concert Hall,
which was constructed in 1928 on the mansion’s former garden and greenhouse.
In August 2011, Curtis constructed an additional new building named
Lenfest Hall, located a block over from the original building on 1616 Locust
Street. This building introduced state of the art technology to Curtis and
provided its students with double the space. Lenfest hall includes Gould
Rehearsal Hall, 32 classrooms and practice rooms, seven floors of housing for
half of the student population, a garden terrace, state of the art dining
facility, state of the art recording and studio equipment, and a completely
stacked orchestra library. Curtis Institute of Music also has a musical
instrument collection that contains over two hundred string instruments and
bows, and fifty wind and brass instruments. The building is named after H. F.
“Gerry” Lenfest and Marguerite Lenfest who donated $30 million for its construction
(“History”).
Students
As seen from above, the students at the
Curtis Institute of Music are provided with state of the art equipment,
facilities, and world-renowned faculty. Curtis alumni have gone on to hold
major orchestra jobs in every major American orchestra along with spots in
leading international orchestras. More than 60 graduates of the opera program have
sung with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Musicians have won the
Pulitzer Prize, Grammies, and Oscar nominations along with thousands of world-renowned
competitions.
Two Recent Students:
Ray Chen
Ray is a friend of Tim and I and has embarked on an amazing career as a
solo violinist. He entered Curtis at the age of 15 to study with Aaron Rosand.
Ray won the 2008-2009 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. As apart
of his winnings, he now played on the 1721 “MacMillan” Stradivarius. Ray is
sponsored by Sony Classical and released his premiere album “Virtuoso” in
January 2011. His tour schedule has included Tokyo, Hamburg, Berlin, Munich,
Zurich, and Dresden.
Hilary Hahn
Works Cited
History. (n.d.).
Retrieved from http://curtis.edu
Photo Credits
All by Pete Checchia
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