Curtis Institute of Music
Encyclopedia
The Curtis Institute of Music is a conservatory
Music school
The term music school refers to an educational institution specialized in the study, training and research of music.Different terms refer to this concept such as school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department or conservatory.Music instruction can be provided...

 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, that offers courses of study leading to a performance Diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in Opera, and Professional Studies Certificate in Opera. According to statistics compiled by U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...

, it has the lowest acceptance rate of any college or university, making it the most selective institution of higher education in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

History

It was established in 1924 by Mary Louise Curtis Bok
Mary Louise Curtis Bok Zimbalist
Mary Louise Curtis Bok , was the founder of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She was the only child of the magazine and newspaper magnate, Cyrus Curtis and Louisa Knapp Curtis, the founder and editor of the Ladies Home Journal...

, and was named in honor of her father, Cyrus Curtis
Cyrus Hermann Kotzschmar Curtis
Cyrus Hermann Kotzschmar Curtis was an American publisher of magazines and newspapers, including the Ladies' Home Journal and the Saturday Evening Post.-Biography:...

. After consulting with musician friends including Josef Hofmann and Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...

 on how best to help musically gifted young people, Bok purchased three mansions on Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Square
Rittenhouse Square
Rittenhouse Square is one of the five original open-space parks planned by William Penn and his surveyor Thomas Holme during the late 17th century in central Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The park cuts off 19th Street at Walnut Street and also at a half block above Manning Street. Its boundaries are...

 and had them joined and renovated. She established a faculty of prominent performing artists and eventually left the institute with an endowment of US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

12 million.

Admission

The institute has served as a training ground for orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

l players to fill the ranks of the Philadelphia Orchestra
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...

, although composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

s, organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...

s, pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

s, and singers are offered courses of study as well.

All pupils attend on full scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...

, and admission is extremely competitive. Besides composers, conductors, organists, and pianists, only enough students are admitted to fill a single orchestra and an opera company. Accordingly, enrollment is in the range of 150 to 170 students. The acceptance rate is about one third that of Ivy League
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...

 institutions such as Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

.

Past directors

Past directors of the institute have included:
  • Josef Hofmann (1926–1938) — pianist
    Pianist
    A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

  • Randall Thompson
    Randall Thompson
    Randall Thompson was an American composer, particularly noted for his choral works.-Career:He attended Harvard University, became assistant professor of music and choir director at Wellesley College, and received a doctorate in music from the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music...

     (1938–1940) — composer
    Composer
    A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

  • Efrem Zimbalist, Sr. (1941–1968) — violin
    Violin
    The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

    ist
  • Rudolf Serkin
    Rudolf Serkin
    Rudolf Serkin , was a Bohemian-born pianist.-Life and early career:Serkin was born in Eger, Bohemia, Austro-Hungarian Empire to a Russian-Jewish family....

     (1968–1976) — pianist
  • John de Lancie
    John de Lancie (oboist)
    For his son, the actor, please see John de LancieJohn de Lancie was an American musician who served as the principal oboist of the Philadelphia Orchestra for many years.-Career:...

     (1977–1985) — principal oboist
    Oboe
    The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...

     of the Philadelphia Orchestra
    Philadelphia Orchestra
    The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...

     for many years
  • Gary Graffman
    Gary Graffman
    Gary Graffman is an American classical pianist, teacher of piano and music administrator.Graffman was born in New York City to Russian-Jewish parents. Having started piano at age 3, Graffman entered the Curtis Institute of Music at age 7 in 1936 as a piano student of Isabelle Vengerova...

     (1986–2006) — pianist, continues on the piano
    Piano
    The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

     faculty

Current administration

, Roberto Diaz is President and director of the Institute. Diaz is also a Curtis alumnus and faculty member. He was principal violist
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...

 of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1996 to 2006 and is a member of the Diaz Trio.

, Otto-Werner Mueller is the conductor of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra.

Notable alumni

Many of its alumni have gone on to notable careers including:

A–L
  • James Adler
    James Adler
    James Adler is an American composer and pianist. Adler began his piano studies at age 10 with Elsie K. Brett. His teachers include Rose Willits, Mollie Margolies and Seymour Lipkin...

    , composer
    Composer
    A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

  • Milton Adolphus
    Milton Adolphus
    Irving Milton Adolphus was a pianist and American classical music composer.-Biography:Born in the Bronx, New York and educated at Yale University, his classical compositions include over 200 orchestral, vocal and chamber works, among them 13 symphonies and 35 string quartets...

    , composer
    Composer
    A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

    , arranger
    Arranger
    In investment banking, an arranger is a provider of funds in the syndication of a debt. They are entitled to syndicate the loan or bond issue, and may be referred to as the "lead underwriter". This is because this entity bears the risk of being able to sell the underlying securities/debt or the...

    , pianist
    Pianist
    A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

  • Joseph Alessi
    Joseph Alessi
    Joseph Alessi is a world-renowned, primarily classical, trombonist; he is the current Principal Trombone of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and an active soloist, teacher/clinician and recording artist. Alessi is considered the finest player in modern times....

    , principal trombonist
    Trombone
    The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...

     of the New York Philharmonic
    New York Philharmonic
    The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...

  • Adrian Anantawan
    Adrian Anantawan
    Adrian Anantawan is a Canadian violinist. Anantawan, who began studying violin at age nine, has performed with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and has performed at the White House. He is an alumnus of Etobicoke School of the Arts. Growing up in the neighbourhood of Clarkson, in Mississauga, Ontario,...

    , violin
    Violin
    The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

    ist
  • Reid Anderson
    Reid Anderson
    Reid Anderson is a bassist and composer originally from Minnesota. Anderson is best known for his work in The Bad Plus with pianist Ethan Iverson and drummer Dave King...

    , bassist
    Bassist
    A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...

     of The Bad Plus
    The Bad Plus
    The Bad Plus are a jazz trio from the United States, consisting of pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Reid Anderson, and drummer Dave King, originating from Minneapolis, MN.-History:...

  • Shmuel Ashkenasi
    Shmuel Ashkenasi
    Shmuel Ashkenasi is an Israeli violinist and teacher.-Biography:Born in Tel Aviv on January 11, 1941, he began his musical training at the Musical Academy of Tel-Aviv studying with legendary pedagogue Ilona Feher, the teacher of such violinists as Pinchas Zuckerman and Shlomo Mintz...

    , first violin
    Violin
    The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

    ist of the Vermeer Quartet
    Vermeer Quartet
    The Vermeer Quartet was a string quartet founded in 1969 at the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont and active until 2007.With performances in practically every major city in North and South America, Europe, the Far East, and Australia, the Vermeer Quartet achieved an international stature as one of...

  • Rose Bampton
    Rose Bampton
    Rose Bampton was a celebrated American opera singer who had an active international career during the 1930s and 1940s. She began her professional career performing mostly minor roles from the mezzo-soprano repertoire in 1929 but later switched to singing primarily leading soprano roles in 1937...

    , principal singer at the Metropolitan Opera
    Metropolitan Opera
    The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...

     during the 1930s and 1940s
  • Samuel Barber
    Samuel Barber
    Samuel Osborne Barber II was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. His Adagio for Strings is his most popular composition and widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music...

    , composer
    Composer
    A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

  • Leonard Bernstein
    Leonard Bernstein
    Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...

    , composer
    Composer
    A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

     and conductor
    Conducting
    Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

  • Jonathan Biss
    Jonathan Biss
    Jonathan Biss is an American classical pianist.Biss represents the third generation in a family of professional musicians, which includes his grandmother Raya Garbousova , as well as his parents, the Israeli-born violinist Miriam Fried and the violist Paul Biss...

    , pianist
    Piano
    The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

  • Natalie Bodanya
    Natalie Bodanya
    Natalie Bodanya was an American operatic soprano who had an active international career from the late 1920s through the 1940s...

    , opera
    Opera
    Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

     singer
  • Jorge Bolet
    Jorge Bolet
    Jorge Bolet was a Cuban-born but mostly American-resident pianist and teacher.-Life:Bolet was born in Havana, and studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he himself taught from 1939 to 1942...

    , pianist
    Piano
    The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

  • David Brooks
    David Brooks (actor)
    David Brooks was an American actor, singer, director, and producer. He first drew critical acclaimation for starring in several Broadway musicals during the 1940s, including portraying Tommy Albright in the original production of Brigadoon. In the early 1950s he was an important stage director in...

    , Broadway
    Broadway theatre
    Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

     actor
    Actor
    An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

    , stage director and producer
    Theatrical producer
    A theatrical producer is the person ultimately responsible for overseeing all aspects of mounting a theatre production. The independent producer will usually be the originator and finder of the script and starts the whole process...

  • Yefim Bronfman
    Yefim Bronfman
    Yefim "Fima" Naumovich Bronfman is a Soviet-born Israeli-American pianist.-Biography:He was born in Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, and emigrated to Israel at the age of 15...

    , piano
    Piano
    The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

  • Anshel Brusilow
    Anshel Brusilow
    Anshel Brusilow is an American conductor and violinist.Anshel Brusilow began his violin study at the age of five and entered the Curtis Institute of Music when he was eleven. He attended the Philadelphia Musical Academy and at sixteen was the youngest conducting student ever accepted by Pierre...

    , violin
    Violin
    The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

    ist, conductor
    Conducting
    Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

  • Norman Carol, concertmaster
    Concertmaster
    The concertmaster/mistress is the spalla or leader, of the first violin section of an orchestra. In the UK, the term commonly used is leader...

     of the Philadelphia Orchestra
    Philadelphia Orchestra
    The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...

  • Keith Chapman, concert organist
    Organist
    An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...

  • Shura Cherkassky
    Shura Cherkassky
    Shura Cherkassky was an American classical pianist known for his performances of the romantic repertoire. His playing was characterized by a virtuoso technique and singing piano tone...

    , pianist
    Pianist
    A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

  • Pearl Chertok
    Pearl Chertok
    Pearl Chertok was an internationally regarded harpist and composer for harp....

    , harp
    Harp
    The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...

    ist and composer
    Composer
    A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

  • Young-Chang Cho
    Young-Chang Cho
    Young-Chang Cho is a Korean classical cellist teaching at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Germany's Ruhr Area.- Biography :Young-Chang Cho was born in Seoul in 1958. He started cello lessons at the age of eight...

    , cellist
    Cello
    The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...

  • Jasmine Choi
    Jasmine Choi
    Jasmine Choi is a flutist.She graduated from Curtis Institute of Music, and was trained under Julius Baker and Jeffrey Khaner. As a student in 2002, she was the senior division winner of the Albert M. Greenfield Student Competition, sponsored by the Philadelphia Orchestra...

    , flautist
    Flute
    The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...

  • Nicolas Chumachenco
    Nicolas Chumachenco
    Nicolas Chumachenco , is a Polish-born violin soloist, professor and director of the Queen Sofía Chamber Orchestra.-Biography:Born in Poland of Russian parents, Chumachenco grew and started his musical training in Argentine...

    , violin
    Violin
    The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

    ist
  • Katherine Ciesinski
    Katherine Ciesinski
    Katherine Ciesinski is a leading American mezzo-soprano, stage director, and voice professor.Ciesinski was born to Delaware Sports Hall of Famer Roman Ciesinski and Katherine Hansen Ciesinski. She is the sister of opera singer Kristine Ciesinski...

    , mezzo-soprano
    Mezzo-soprano
    A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...

  • Timothy Cobb, current principal bassist
    Bassist
    A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...

     with the Metropolitan Opera
    Metropolitan Opera
    The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...

  • Vinson Cole
    Vinson Cole
    Vinson Cole is an American operatic tenor.A native of Kansas City, the tenor studied at the University of Missouri, Kansas City; the Philadelphia Musical Academy; and at the Curtis Institute of Music with Margaret Harshaw...

    , operatic tenor
    Tenor
    The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...

  • Ken Cowan
    Ken Cowan
    Ken Cowan is a Canadian organist. A native of Thorold, Ontario, he has toured extensively in the United States, Canada, and Europe, and currently serves as Assistant Professor of Organ and Coordinator of Organ and Sacred Music at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. He has made...

    , organist
    Organist
    An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...

    , assistant professor
    Professor
    A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

     of organ
    Organ (music)
    The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...

     at the Westminster Choir College
    Westminster Choir College
    Westminster Choir College is a residential college of music, part of Rider University, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States.Westminster Choir College educates men and women at the undergraduate and graduate levels for musical careers in music education, voice performance, piano...

  • Miles B. Davis, double bass
    Double bass
    The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...

    ist, class of 1974 and secretary of the Curtis Alumni Council
  • John de Lancie
    John de Lancie
    John de Lancie is an American actor. He has been active in screen and television roles since 1977, though he is best known for his recurring role as Q on the various Star Trek series and as Frank Simmons in Stargate SG-1....

    , Principal Oboe of the Philadelphia Orchestra, faculty at Curtis and Director of the school 1977-1985
  • Stanley Drucker
    Stanley Drucker
    Stanley Drucker is an American clarinetist. Of Ukrainian ancestry, he began clarinet studies at age ten with Leon Russianoff, and remained his student for five years. He attended the High School of Music & Art...

    , principal clarinet
    Clarinet
    The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...

    ist of the New York Philharmonic
    New York Philharmonic
    The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...

  • Julius Eastman
    Julius Eastman
    Julius Eastman was an African-American composer, pianist, vocalist, and dancer of minimalist tendencies. He was among the first musicians to combine minimalist processes with elements of pop music...

    , pianist
    Pianist
    A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

    , conductor
    Conducting
    Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

    , singer, composer
    Composer
    A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

  • Christopher Falzone, pianist
  • Juan Diego Flórez
    Juan Diego Flórez
    Juan Diego Flórez is a Peruvian operatic tenor, particularly known for his roles in bel canto operas. On June 4, 2007, he received his country's highest decoration, the Gran Cruz de la Orden del Sol del Perú....

    , tenor
    Tenor
    The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...

  • Lukas Foss
    Lukas Foss
    Lukas Foss was a German-born American composer, conductor, and pianist.-Music career:He was born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin, Germany in 1922. His father was the philosopher and scholar Martin Fuchs...

    , composer
    Composer
    A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

    , conductor
    Conducting
    Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

     and pianist
    Pianist
    A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...


  • Frank Guarrera
    Frank Guarrera
    Frank Guarrera was an Italian-American lyric baritone who enjoyed a long and distinguished career at the Metropolitan Opera, singing with the company for a total of 680 performances. He performed 35 different roles at the Met, mostly from the Italian and French repertories, from 1948 through 1976...

    , baritone
    Baritone
    Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...

  • Anthony Gigliotti
    Anthony Gigliotti
    Anthony Gigliotti "was one of the world's most famous and most accomplished classical clarinet players for most of the second half of the 20th century." "He jointed the Philadelphia Orchestra as its principal clarinetist in 1949 and stayed for 47 years" and "designed a ligature that is now named...

    , clarinet
    Clarinet
    The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...

    ist, former principal of the Philadelphia Orchestra
    Philadelphia Orchestra
    The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...

  • Alan Gilbert
    Alan Gilbert (conductor)
    Alan Gilbert is an American violinist and conductor. He is currently the Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, making his debut performance as the orchestra's music director on September 16, 2009.-Early years:...

    , conductor
    Conducting
    Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

    , music director
    Music director
    A music director may be the director of an orchestra, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the co-ordinator of the musical ensembles in a university or college , the head bandmaster of a military band, the head...

     of the New York Philharmonic
    New York Philharmonic
    The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...

  • Richard Goode
    Richard Goode
    Richard Goode is an American classical pianist, especially known for his interpretations of Ludwig van Beethoven and chamber music.Goode was born in East Bronx, New York...

    , pianist
    Pianist
    A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

  • Daron Hagen
    Daron Hagen
    Daron Aric Hagen , is an American composer, conductor, pianist, educator, librettist, and stage director of contemporary classical music and opera.- Early life and education :...

    , composer
    Composer
    A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

    , conductor
    Conducting
    Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

    , pianist
    Pianist
    A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

    , and stage director
  • Hilary Hahn
    Hilary Hahn
    Hilary Hahn is an American violinist.Hahn was born in Lexington, Virginia. Beginning her studies when she was three years old at Baltimore's Peabody Institute, she was admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia at age ten, and in 1991, made her major orchestral debut with the...

    , violin
    Violin
    The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

    ist
  • Burt Hara
    Burt Hara
    Burt Hara has been principal clarinetist with the Minnesota Orchestra since 1987.Hara is a native of California. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1984 from the Curtis Institute of Music, where his principal teachers were Donald Montanaro, Yehuda Gilad, and Mitchell Lurie.Before coming to...

    , clarinet
    Clarinet
    The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...

    ist, principal of the Minnesota Orchestra
    Minnesota Orchestra
    The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.Emil Oberhoffer founded the orchestra as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, and it gave its first performance on November 5 of that year. In 1968 the orchestra changed to its name to the Minnesota Orchestra...

  • Margaret Harshaw
    Margaret Harshaw
    Margaret Harshaw was an American opera singer and voice teacher who sang for 22 consecutive seasons at the Metropolitan Opera from November 1942 to March 1964. She began her career as a mezzo-soprano in the early 1930s but then began performing roles from the soprano repertoire in 1951...

    , opera
    Opera
    Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

     singer
  • David Hayes
    David Hayes (conductor)
    David Hayes is an American conductor.Hayes was educated at the University of Hartford, Hartt School of Music and The Curtis Institute of Music where his teacher was Otto-Werner Mueller...

    , Music Director of The Philadelphia Singers
    The Philadelphia Singers
    The Philadelphia Singers is a choir in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. The group was founded by Michael Korn in 1972 and is currently directed by David Hayes...

     and Director of Orchestral and Conducting Studies at Mannes College The New School for Music
  • Michael Hennagin
    Michael Hennagin
    Michael Hennagin was an American composer and university professor.-Life and career:Hennagin was born in The Dalles, Oregon....

    , composer
    Composer
    A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

  • Shuler Hensley
    Shuler Hensley
    -Early life:Hensley was born in Atlanta, Georgia. The youngest of three children, Hensley grew up in Marietta, Georgia. His father, Sam P. Hensley, Jr., is a former Georgia Tech football star, retired civil engineer and former state senator. His mother, Iris Antley Hensley, was a ballerina and the...

    , singer
    Singing
    Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...

     and actor
    Actor
    An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

  • Jennifer Higdon
    Jennifer Higdon
    Jennifer Higdon is an American composer of classical music. Higdon has received many awards, including the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her Violin Concerto and the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for her Percussion Concerto.-Biography:Higdon was born in Brooklyn,...

    , composer
    Composer
    A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

  • Lee Hoiby
    Lee Hoiby
    Lee Henry Hoiby was an American composer and classical pianist. Best known as a composer of operas and songs, he was a disciple of composer Gian Carlo Menotti. Like Menotti, his works championed lyricism during a time when such compositions were deemed old fashioned and irrelevant to modern society...

    , composer
    Composer
    A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

  • Stanley Hollingsworth
    Stanley Hollingsworth
    Stanley Walker Hollingsworth was an American composer and teacher. He was a student of composer Darius Milhaud from 1944–46, and of Gian Carlo Menotti from 1948–50...

    , composer
    Composer
    A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

  • David Horne
    David Horne (composer)
    David Horne is a Scottish composer, pianist, and teacher.A resident composer with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic for four years, he has been awarded several commissions...

    , composer
    Composer
    A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

     and pianist
    Pianist
    A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

  • Eugene Istomin
    Eugene Istomin
    Eugene George Istomin was an American pianist.Istomin was born in New York City of Russian parents. He was famous for his work in a piano trio, in which he collaborated with Isaac Stern and Leonard Rose. Known as the Istomin-Stern-Rose Trio, the group made many recordings, particularly of music by...

    , pianist
    Pianist
    A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

  • David N. Johnson
    David N. Johnson
    David N. Johnson was an American organist, composer, educator, choral clinician, and lecturer....

    , composer
    Composer
    A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

    , organist
    Organist
    An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...

     and professor
    Professor
    A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

  • Arnold Jacobs
    Arnold Jacobs
    Arnold Jacobs was an American orchestral tuba player who was most known as the principal Tubist for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1944 until his retirement in 1988....

    , former tubist
    Tuba
    The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...

     of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
    Chicago Symphony Orchestra
    The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...

     and influential teacher of brass
    Brass instrument
    A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...

     pedagogy
    Pedagogy
    Pedagogy is the study of being a teacher or the process of teaching. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction....

     (deceased)
  • Paul Jacobs (organist)
    Paul Jacobs (organist)
    Paul Jacobs is an American organist.Paul Jacobs began piano lessons at age five and organ lessons at age 12 in his hometown of Washington, Pennsylvania. At age 15 he was appointed head organist of Immaculate Conception Church, a parish of over 3,000 families in Washington, PA...

    , organ
    Organ (music)
    The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...

     professor
    Professor
    A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

     at the Juilliard School
    Juilliard School
    The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...

  • Stephanie Jeong, Assistant Concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic
  • Leila Josefowicz
    Leila Josefowicz
    Leila Bronia Josefowicz , is an American/Canadian classical violinist.-Biography:Josefowicz was born in Missisauga, Ontario, Canada. When she was a young child her family moved to Los Angeles, California where she started studying violin at the age of three and a half using the Suzuki method...

    , violin
    Violin
    The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

    ist
  • Judy Kang
    Judy Kang
    Judy Kang is a Canadian violinist. She began her career at the age of 4 in her native Edmonton, Canada, and has since toured across the globe with a multitude of orchestras and ensembles. At age 11, she began to study on a full scholarship at the Curtis Institute of Musicand and at just 17, she...

    , violin
    Violin
    The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

    ist
  • Sean Kennard
    Sean Kennard
    - Early years :Sean Kennard was born in San Diego, California to an American father and Japanese mother. He grew up in Hawaii and his family moved to Philadelphia when he began studying at the Curtis Institute of Music, at age 13....

    , pianist
    Pianist
    A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

  • Chin Kim
    Chin kim
    Chin Kim is a Korean-born American classical violinist, largely educated in the United States through the Juilliard School, and the Curtis Institute of Music.-Activities:...

    , violin
    Violin
    The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

    ist, soloist
    Solo (music)
    In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...

    , faculty at the Mannes College of Music
    Mannes College of Music
    Mannes College The New School for Music is The New School university's music conservatory. While the university's main campus is located in Greenwich Village, New York City, Mannes maintains its main academic building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan....

     and Queens College, City University of New York
    Queens College, City University of New York
    Queens College, located in Flushing, Queens, New York City, is one of the senior colleges of the City University of New York. It is also the fifth oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning. The college's seventy seven acre campus is located in the heart of the...

  • Jennifer Koh
    Jennifer Koh
    Jennifer Koh is an American violinist, born to Korean parents in Glen Ellyn, IL.Jennifer Koh earned a B.A. in English Literature from Oberlin College, as well as a Performance Diploma from the attached Oberlin Conservatory. She is also a graduate of the Curtis Institute and was silver medalist in...

    , violin
    Violin
    The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

    ist
  • Lang Lang
    Lang Lang (pianist)
    Lang Lang , born June 14, 1982, in Shenyang, Liaoning, China, is a Chinese concert pianist, currently residing in New York, who has performed with leading orchestras in Europe, the United States and his native China. He is increasingly well known around the world for his concert performances,...

    , pianist
    Pianist
    A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

  • Mark Lawrence, principal trombonist
    Trombone
    The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...

     of the San Francisco Symphony
    San Francisco Symphony
    The San Francisco Symphony is an orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980, the orchestra has performed at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall. The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus are part of the organization...

  • Cecile Licad
    Cecile Licad
    Cecile Licad is a renowned Filipina virtuoso classical pianist dubbed as a "a pianist's pianist" by The New Yorker, "her artistry, a blend of daring musical instinct and superb training." -Biography:...

    , pianist
    Pianist
    A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

  • Joan Lippincott
    Joan Lippincott
    Joan Lippincott is an American concert organist and former head of the organ department at Westminster Choir College. She was born Joan Edna Hult on December 25, 1935, the daughter of Edna and Frank Hult, in Kearny, N.J. Her early keyboard studies were with William Jancovius of Nutley, N. J. ...

    , concert organist
    Organist
    An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...

    , former head of the organ
    Organ (music)
    The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...

     department at the Westminster Choir College
    Westminster Choir College
    Westminster Choir College is a residential college of music, part of Rider University, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States.Westminster Choir College educates men and women at the undergraduate and graduate levels for musical careers in music education, voice performance, piano...

  • Peter Lloyd, former principal bassist
    Bassist
    A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...

     with the Minnesota Orchestra
    Minnesota Orchestra
    The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.Emil Oberhoffer founded the orchestra as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, and it gave its first performance on November 5 of that year. In 1968 the orchestra changed to its name to the Minnesota Orchestra...

    , professor of double bass
    Double bass
    The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...

     at Northwestern University
    Northwestern University
    Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

  • David Ludwig
    David Ludwig
    David Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D. is an American physician in Boston, Massachusetts. He an associate professor of Pediatrics and is the Director of the Obesity Program at the Children's Hospital Boston...

    , composer
    Composer
    A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...


M–Z
  • John Mack
    John Mack (musician)
    John Mack was a renowned American oboist.Born in Somerville, New Jersey, Mack attended the Juilliard School of Music, studying oboe with Harold Gomberg and Bruno Labate and then at the Curtis Institute of Music with Marcel Tabuteau, the longtime principal oboe of the Philadelphia Orchestra.His...

    , oboist
    Oboe
    The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...

  • Virginia MacWatters
    Virginia MacWatters
    Virginia MacWatters was an acclaimed American coloratura soprano.Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, MacWatters studied at the Curtis Institute of Music, and sang 611 Broadway performances of Adele in Rosalinda , conducted by Erich Korngold, from 1942 to 1944...

    , soprano
    Soprano
    A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...

  • Bobby Martin
    Bobby Martin (musician)
    Bobby Martin was an American jazz trumpeter.Martin played trumpet as a child with June Clark and Sonny Greer. He played with Sam Wooding from 1925, and played with him both in New York City and on his tours of Europe through 1931. From 1932 to 1936 Martin played abroad with Willie Lewis, and...

    , pianist
    Pianist
    A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

    , saxophonist, vocalist, most notably with Frank Zappa
    Frank Zappa
    Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...

  • Leon McCawley
    Leon McCawley
    Leon McCawley is a British classical pianist.He studied with Heather Slade-Lipkin at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester, and with Eleanor Sokoloff at The Curtis Institute of Music in the United States, and latterly pianist Nina Milkina was a source of inspiration.He won the first prize in the...

    , pianist
    Pianist
    A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

  • Jeremy McCoy
    Jeremy McCoy
    Jeremy McCoy is an American bass guitar player, known for playing on the road and in the studio with several artists around the world.-Beginning career:...

    , current assistant principal bassist
    Bassist
    A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...

     with the Metropolitan Opera
    Metropolitan Opera
    The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...

  • Anthony McGill
    Anthony McGill
    Anthony McGill is the principal clarinetist for the Metropolitan Opera. McGill is originally from Chicago, Illinois, growing up in the city's Chatham neighborhood....

    , principal clarinet
    Clarinet
    The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...

    ist with the Metropolitan Opera
    Metropolitan Opera
    The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...

  • Gian Carlo Menotti
    Gian Carlo Menotti
    Gian Carlo Menotti was an Italian-American composer and librettist. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept his Italian citizenship. He wrote the classic Christmas opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors, among about two dozen other operas intended to appeal to popular...

    , composer
    Composer
    A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

    , librettist
    Libretto
    A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...

    , and stage director, teacher at the institute
  • Frank Miller
    Frank Miller (cellist)
    Frank Miller was a principal cellist and music director whose professional career spanned over a half century. Miller studied at Curtis Institute of Music, under Felix Salmond and at age 18, joined the Philadelphia Orchestra...

    , cellist
    Cello
    The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...

  • Anna Moffo
    Anna Moffo
    Anna Moffo was an Italian-American opera singer and one of the leading lyric-coloratura sopranos of her generation...

    , soprano
    Soprano
    A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...

  • Alan Morrison
    Alan Morrison (organist)
    Alan Morrison is an American organist, notable both for his performance career and his teaching. He is the head of the organ department at The Curtis Institute of Music. He also teaches at Westminster Choir College and is College Organist at Ursinus College....

    , organist
    Organist
    An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...

    , faculty, The Curtis Institute of Music
  • Lorne Munroe
    Lorne Munroe
    Lorne Munroe is a cellist. He was principal cellist for the Philadelphia Orchestra between 1951 and 1964 and principal cellist for the New York Philharmonic from 1964 through 1996. He was a featured soloist more than 150 times during the thirty-two seasons he played for the New York Philharmonic...

    , cellist, former principal of the New York Philharmonic
    New York Philharmonic
    The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...

     and the Philadelphia Orchestra
    Philadelphia Orchestra
    The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...

  • Nokuthula Ngwenyama
    Nokuthula Ngwenyama
    Nokuthula Ngwenyama is an American solo violist of Zimbabwean and Japanese descent. She is a recording artist under EDI Records, and has taught at the Jacob's School of Music at Indiana University.- Background :...

    , solo violist
    Viola
    The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...

    , Indiana University
    Indiana University
    Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...

     faculty
  • Sean Osborn
    Sean Osborn
    Sean Osborn is a former clarinetist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and is a regular substitute in the clarinet section of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. A student of Stanley Hasty, Frank Kowalsky, and Eric Mandat. Osborn has traveled Europe, Japan, and North America as a soloist and...

    , clarinet
    Clarinet
    The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...

     soloist, formerly with the Metropolitan Opera
    Metropolitan Opera
    The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...

  • Eric Owens
    Eric Owens (bass-baritone)
    Eric Owens is an American operatic bass-baritone born July 11, 1970 in Philadelphia. He attended Central High School "247", Temple University's Boyer College of Music, and the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia...

    , bass-baritone
    Bass-baritone
    A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende...

  • Janet Perry
    Janet Perry
    Janet Perry is a celebrated operatic soprano. As a child of eleven, she was seen in a stage-version of The Wizard of Oz, at the St Paul Civic Opera...

    , soprano
    Soprano
    A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...

  • Vincent Persichetti
    Vincent Persichetti
    Vincent Ludwig Persichetti was an American composer, teacher, and pianist. An important musical educator and writer, Persichetti was a native of Philadelphia...

    , composer
    Composer
    A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

  • Gianna Rolandi
    Gianna Rolandi
    Gianna Rolandi is an American soprano. Following a highly successful 20-year national and international operatic career, Rolandi retired from performing in 1994, and is currently director of and principal instructor at the Lyric Opera of Chicago's Patrick G. and Shirley W...

    , soprano
    Soprano
    A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...

    , director of the Lyric Opera of Chicago
    Lyric Opera of Chicago
    Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1952, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicolà Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria Callas's American debut in Norma...

    's Ryan Opera Center
  • Ned Rorem
    Ned Rorem
    Ned Rorem is a Pulitzer prize-winning American composer and diarist. He is best known and most praised for his song settings.-Life:...

    , composer
    Composer
    A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

    , pianist
    Pianist
    A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

    , and writer
    Writer
    A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

  • Aaron Rosand
    Aaron Rosand
    Aaron Rosand is an American violinist.Born in Hammond, Indiana, he studied with Leon Sametini at the Chicago Musical College and with Efrem Zimbalist at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he has taught since 1981...

    , violin
    Violin
    The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

    ist
  • Leonard Rose
    Leonard Rose
    Leonard Rose was an American cellist and pedagogue.Rose was born in Washington, D.C., his parents were immigrants from Kiev, Ukraine...

    , cellist
    Cello
    The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...

     and teacher at The Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School
    Juilliard School
    The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...


  • Matthew Rose
    Matthew Rose (bass)
    Matthew Rose is an English operatic bass.-Biography:Matthew Rose studied at Seaford College and the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia...

    , bass vocalist
    Bass (voice type)
    A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...

  • Nino Rota
    Nino Rota
    Nino Rota was an Italian composer and academic who is best known for his film scores, notably for the films of Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti...

    , composer
    Composer
    A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

     and film composer
    Film score
    A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...

  • Andre-Michel Schub
    Andre-Michel Schub
    -Biography:Schub came to New York City with his family, when he was eight months old. He began his piano studies with his mother when he was four, and later continued his work with Jascha Zayde. He attended Princeton University, and then transferred to the Curtis Institute of Music, where he...

    , pianist
    Pianist
    A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

  • Kathryn Selby
    Kathryn Selby
    Kathryn Selby is an Australian classical pianist. She is often known as Kathy Selby.She grew up in Sydney. She entered the Sydney Conservatorium of Music at the age of seven. She followed this with study with Béla Síki at the University of Washington in Seattle. In 1976 she was awarded a...

    , pianist
    Pianist
    A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

  • Peter Serkin
    Peter Serkin
    -Biography:He was born in New York City and is the son of pianist Rudolf Serkin, and grandson of the influential violinist Adolf Busch, whose daughter Irene had married Rudolf Serkin...

    , pianist
    Pianist
    A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

  • Rinat Shaham
    Rinat Shaham
    Rinat Shaham is an Israeli born mezzo-soprano who has received numerous accolades for her international operatic, concert and recital performances.-Life and career:...

    , mezzo-soprano
    Mezzo-soprano
    A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...

  • David Shifrin
    David Shifrin
    David Shifrin is an American classical clarinetist.-Performances:He has performed clarinet concertos with many major orchestras around the world....

    , clarinet
    Clarinet
    The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...

     soloist, professor
    Professor
    A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

     at the Yale School of Music
    Yale School of Music
    The Yale School of Music is one of the twelve professional schools at Yale University and one of the premier music conservatories in the world....

  • Jacques Singer
    Jacques Singer
    Jacques Singer was an American conductor. His father was the symphony conductor Mark Eli , his mother Rachela “Rose” .-Education:...

    , conductor
    Conducting
    Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

  • Muriel Smith
    Muriel Smith
    Muriel Smith, OC is a Manitoba politician. She ran for the leadership of the New Democratic Party of Manitoba in 1979, and subsequently served in the cabinet of NDP Premier Howard Pawley....

    , mezzo-soprano
    Mezzo-soprano
    A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...

  • Ignat Solzhenitsyn
    Ignat Solzhenitsyn
    Ignat Aleksandrovich Solzhenitsyn is a Russian-American conductor and pianist who is the conductor laureate of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and the principal guest conductor of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra.-Career:...

    , Former music director
    Music director
    A music director may be the director of an orchestra, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the co-ordinator of the musical ensembles in a university or college , the head bandmaster of a military band, the head...

     of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia
    Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia
    A founding resident company of the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia is a 33-member professional ensemble led by Dirk Brossé...

  • Leslie Spotz
    Leslie Spotz
    Leslie Spotz is an American pianist.-Biography:Spotz studied, as a full-scholarship recipient, at the Curtis Institute of Music with Mieczysław Horszowski, who was associated with Pablo Casals.She completed her doctorate at Rutgers University in 2002....

    , pianist
    Pianist
    A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

  • Susan Starr
    Susan Starr
    -Biography:She began her studies with Eleanor Sokoloff at age four. She later entered the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Rudolf Serkin until her graduation in 1961...

    , pianist
    Pianist
    A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

  • Arnold Steinhardt
    Arnold Steinhardt
    Arnold Steinhardt , is an American violinist, best known as the first violinist of the Guarneri String Quartet....

    , violin
    Violin
    The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

    ist
  • Michael Stern
    Michael Stern (conductor)
    Michael Stern is a noted American symphony conductor. Currently, he serves as the music director and lead conductor of the Kansas City Symphony in Kansas City, Missouri. He is also the founding music director of the IRIS Orchestra in Germantown, Tennessee.- Early life and education :Stern is the...

    , music director
    Music director
    A music director may be the director of an orchestra, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the co-ordinator of the musical ensembles in a university or college , the head bandmaster of a military band, the head...

     and lead conductor
    Conducting
    Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

     of the Kansas City Symphony
    Kansas City Symphony
    The Kansas City Symphony is a United States symphony orchestra based in Kansas City, Missouri. The current music director is conductor Michael Stern. The current home of the Symphony is the Lyric Theatre, located in Downtown Kansas City on 11th Street between Wyandotte and Central Streets...

  • Michael Strauss
    Michael Strauss
    Michael Strauss is a British Olympic fencer. He competed in the team sabre event at the 1960 Summer Olympics.-References:...

    , violist
    Viola
    The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...

  • Jennifer Stumm
    Jennifer Stumm
    -Life:Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, and a graduate of The Westminster Schools, Stumm studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where she was one of the last proteges of the viola pedagogue Karen Tuttle. She also studied astronomy and politics at the University of Pennsylvania,...

    , violist
    Viola
    The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...

  • Henri Temianka
    Henri Temianka
    Henri Temianka was a virtuoso violinist, conductor, author and music educator.-Early years:Henri Temianka was born in Scotland of Polish-Jewish parents...

    , violin
    Violin
    The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

    ist, conductor
    Conducting
    Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

  • Benita Valente
    Benita Valente
    Benita Valente , is a distinguished American soprano whose long career has encompassed the operatic stage as well as performance of lieder, chamber music and oratorio. She is especially lauded for her interpretations of Mozart and Handel, but she also excelled in certain Verdi roles...

    , soprano
    Soprano
    A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...

  • Yuja Wang
    Yuja Wang
    Yuja Wang is a Chinese classical pianist. She was born in Beijing, began studying piano there at age six, and went on to study at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.-Early life:...

    , pianist
    Pianist
    A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

  • Wendy Warner
    Wendy Warner
    Wendy Warner is a cellist from Chicago, Illinois. She performs both as a soloist with major orchestras and as a chamber musician around the world.-Career:...

    , cellist
    Cello
    The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...

  • Peter Wiley
    Peter Wiley
    Peter Wiley is a cellist and cello teacher. He attended the Curtis Institute of Music at 13 years of age, where he studied with David Soyer...

    , cellist
    Cello
    The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...

    with Beaux Arts Trio and Guarneri Quartet, Curtis faculty

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK