Curtis Institute of Music – 2009-10 Season Preview
PHILADELPHIA – Described by the New York Times as “one of America’s
elite conservatories” and recently highlighted in U.S. News and World Report’s 2010 college survey as the most
selective institution for students seeking a bachelor’s degree, the
world-renowned Curtis Institute of Music
presents an exciting season with more than 130 concerts, operas, and recitals. A busy schedule of performances is at
the heart of Curtis’s distinctive “learn by doing” approach, which has produced
an impressive number of notable artists since the school’s founding 85 years
ago.
A central theme of Curtis’s performance
season is the 100th birthday of composer Samuel Barber (’34), one of the school’s most notable alumni. The season also features the return of
the acclaimed Curtis On Tour recitals, which present Curtis students performing
alongside members of the celebrated faculty in venues nationwide. The Spring 2010 tour includes a special
appearance in March at the Allen Room in New York’s Frederick P. Rose Hall.
Extending the reach of its students’
performances, Curtis is also in the vanguard of audience outreach with the
launch of the new Curtis iPhone App through InstantEncore.
Season
premiere gala
The Curtis Institute of Music kicks off its
concert season with a gala performance by the Curtis Symphony Orchestra – praised by the New
York Times for its “otherworldly ensemble and professional level of
sophistication.” The
orchestra, led by conductor JoAnn Falletta, will be joined by violinist and
Curtis alumna Elissa Lee Koljonen (’94). The concert at Verizon Hall in Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center
will include the Philadelphia premiere of Behzad Ranjbaran’s Violin Concerto,
Strauss’s Don Juan, and
Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherazade.
Barber
centenary
All season, Curtis celebrates the centenary
of one of its most illustrious alumni: American composer Samuel Barber (’34). Although events center around the Barber
anniversary in March 2010, Curtis student recitals throughout 2009-10 will
offer works by this great American artist.
Curtis 20/21, the school’s contemporary
music ensemble, performs an all-Barber program on the composer’s 100th
birthday, March 9. Featured are the world premiere of an unfinished violin sonata, completed by
Curtis-connected composers; selections from Curtis’s manuscript collection; and
vocal and chamber works.
Also
in March, the Curtis Opera Theatre presents Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra at the Perelman Theater at Philadelphia’s
Kimmel Center. This new production,
directed by Chas Rader-Shieber and presented in association with Kimmel Center
Presents and the Opera Company of Philadelphia, features a cast of Curtis opera
and voice students with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra under George Manahan.
Curtis
On Tour marks the centenary with performances of Barber’s String Quartet No. 1,
the source of the famous Adagio for
Strings, in New York and nationwide in February and March. (Further details of Curtis On Tour are
below.)
The
Curtis Symphony Orchestra performs Samuel Barber’s Symphony No. 1 under conductor
Giancarlo Guerrero on April 24 at Verizon Hall. Rounding out the program will be Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death, featuring
soloist John Relyea (’96); Ligeti’s Atmosphères;
and Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra.
Curtis alumni will also join the Barber
celebration. In January, the
chamber ensemble Dolce Suono offers a performance titled “Samuel Barber at 100
– The Composer and His World.” In
March, pianist Leon McCawley (’95) performs a recital juxtaposing works by
Barber and Chopin. Both events
take place at the school’s Field Concert Hall.
Curtis On Tour
Curtis On Tour continues to bring the extraordinary artistry of the
Curtis Institute to audiences nationwide, with tomorrow’s leading musicians
performing alongside celebrated alumni and faculty. Violinist Ida Kavafian and cellist Peter Wiley (’74), both
Curtis faculty members, appear with Curtis students during the 2009-10 tour. Curtis
On Tour adds a special New York appearance on March 10 at the Allen Room in
Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center. One of New York’s most spectacular
venues, this lovely setting overlooks Central Park South. Its superb acoustic will beautifully
complement a program that will also be a part of Barber’s centenary
celebration, while highlighting today’s Curtis-nurtured composers through newly
commissioned works. In addition to
the New York performance, stops on the tour include Detroit, MI; Davis, CA;
Kennett Square, PA; Orono, ME; Rockport, ME; and Highland Park, IL.
New technological partnerships
Curtis’s ongoing and extensive technological
partnerships will be especially prominent this season. Curtis is now the first conservatory
with its own iPhone music application. The exciting new venture offers free, immediate access to all
music and content posted on Curtis’s boutique page at www.InstantEncore.com/curtis. The app is available for download at the iTunes
Store.
New high-definition (HD) robotic cameras
have just been installed in Curtis’s Field Concert Hall to capture student
recitals for the television series On
Stage at Curtis, now in its fourth season. Produced by Philadelphia public television station WHYY, the
series airs on Y Arts, its digital cable arts channel. The HD cameras will record more than 25
student recitals this year for broadcast in 2010-11.
Curtis has also just announced a new
partnership with SpectiCast, a Philadelphia-based company broadcasting live
cultural arts and entertainment events through its private digital network to
assisted living facilities, independent care facilities, and continuing care
retirement communities. SpectiCast
will
distribute Live from Curtis events
throughout the 2009-10 season.
About
Curtis
One of the world’s leading
conservatories, Curtis is highly selective, with an enrollment of 160. In this intimate environment, students
receive personalized attention from a celebrated faculty. A busy schedule of performances is at
the heart of Curtis’s distinctive “learn by doing” approach. Since the school’s founding in 1924,
this philosophy has produced an impressive number of notable artists, from such
legends as Leonard Bernstein and Samuel Barber to current stars Juan Diego
Flórez, Alan Gilbert, Hilary Hahn, Jennifer Higdon, Lang Lang, and Time for
Three.
Curtis Institute of Music:
2009-10 key engagements
October 27, 2009
Verizon
Hall at the Kimmel Center, Philadelphia, PA
Curtis
Symphony Orchestra
Jack Wolgin Orchestral Concerts
JoAnn
Falletta, conductor
Elissa
Lee Koljonen, violin (’94)
R.
Strauss: Don Juan
Ranjbaran:
Violin Concerto
Rimsky-Korsakov:
Sheherazade
November 19-22, 2009
Prince
Music Theater, Philadelphia, PA
Curtis
Opera Theatre
Stravinsky:
The Rake’s Progress
Ari
Pelto, conductor
Emma
Griffin, stage director
January 17, 2010
Field
Concert Hall, Philadelphia, PA
Guest
Recital: “Samuel Barber at 100 – The Composer and His World”
Dolce
Suono Chamber Music Concert Series
February 7, 2010
Verizon
Hall at the Kimmel Center, Philadelphia, PA
Curtis
Symphony Orchestra
Jack Wolgin Orchestral Concerts
Robert
Spano, conductor (’85)
Jennifer
Montone, horn
Vaughan
Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas
Tallis
Penderecki:
Horn Concerto
Bruckner:
Symphony No. 4 (“Romantische”)
February 18-21, 2010
Prince
Music Theater, Philadelphia, PA
Curtis
Opera Theatre
Bellini:
La sonnambula
Benjamin
Shwartz, conductor (’04)
Concert
production with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra
February 24, 2010
Field
Concert Hall, Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, PA
Student
Recital Series: eighth blackbird and Curtis 20/21
Reich:
Double Sextet
February 26 – March 26, 2010
Curtis
On Tour
Ida
Kavafian and Benjamin Beilman, violins
Hyo
Bi Sim, viola
Peter
Wiley, cello (’74)
Yekwon
Sunwoo, piano
Barber:
String Quartet No. 1
Shapiro:
tbd (commissioned work)
Rogerson:
tbd (commissioned work)
Dvorák: Piano Quintet No. 2
Performances
in Philadelphia, PA (Feb 26); Detroit, MI (Feb 28); Davis, CA (Mar 6-7); New
York, NY (Mar 10); Kennett Square, PA (Mar 13); Orono, ME (Mar 19); Rockport,
ME (Mar 20); Highland Park, IL (Mar 26)
March 9, 2010
Field
Concert Hall, Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, PA
Curtis
20/21: Samuel Barber Centenary Celebration
The program will also be performed
in Barber’s hometown, West Chester, PA on March 7.
March 16, 2010
Field
Concert Hall, Philadelphia, PA
Guest
Recital: Piano works by Barber and Chopin
Leon
McCawley, piano (’95)
March 17-21, 2010
Perelman
Theater at the Kimmel Center, Philadelphia, PA
Curtis
Opera Theatre
Barber:
Antony and Cleopatra
Presented
by Kimmel Center Presents in association with the Opera Company of Philadelphia
George
Manahan, conductor
Chas
Rader-Shieber, stage director
April 24, 2010
Verizon
Hall at the Kimmel Center, Philadelphia, PA
Curtis
Symphony Orchestra
Jack Wolgin Orchestral Concerts
Giancarlo
Guerrero, conductor
John
Relyea, bass-baritone (’96)
Barber:
Symphony No. 1
Mussorgsky:
Songs and Dances of Death
Ligeti:
Atmosphères
R.
Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra
May 6-9, 2010
Prince
Music Theater, Philadelphia, PA
Curtis
Opera Theatre
Rossini:
Il barbiere di Siviglia
David
Hayes, conductor (’89)
Ned
Canty, stage director
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© 21C Media Group, September 2009