Curtis Institute of Music

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The Curtis Institute building in Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia

The Curtis Institute of Music is a conservatory in Philadelphia , United States. It was founded in 1924 by Mary Louise Curtis Bok and was named in honor of her father, Cyrus Curtis.

history

Józef Hofmann conducted the opening concert for the “Casimir Hall” with 250 seats, which was named after his father. The hall was later renamed the Curtis Hall and then the Field Concert Hall .

In 1928, Józef Hofmann and Mary Louise Curtis Bok agreed to drop tuition costs from $ 500. Mrs. Bok added $ 12 million to the $ 500,000 donation to support a full scholarship. Student admission was now based on talent - "we want the best," Hofman said.

In 1929 two well-known violinists from St. Petersburg came to the institute: Leopold von Auer and Efrem Zimbalist , his former student.

On March 8, 1929, the "Curtis Orchestra" debuted in Carnegie Hall under the direction of Artur Rodziński . Some concerts were broadcast nationwide by Columbia Broadcasting System and the National Broadcasting Company . It was dissolved from 1942 to 1947 because many students were called up for military service. In 1949 it played for the 25th anniversary with Efrem Zimbalist and Gregor Piatigorsky as soloists. Alexander Hilsberg conducted and members of the Philadelphia Orchestra strengthened the student orchestra.

The "Curtis Quartet" performed in the Music Hall of the Library of Congress , consisting of members of the faculty in the composition of Carl Flesch , Emanuel Zetlin (violin), Louis Bailly (viola) and Felix Salmond . The teachers played Haydn, Beethoven and Bach.

Louis Bailly founded the student orchestra The Swastika Quartet . In 1933 the "Curtis String Quartet" was founded, the first quartet to consist of strings trained in America. They were invited to the White House by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt and played there on February 12, 1934.

In 1943, the faculty gained other important musicians as teachers: the pianist Mieczysław Horszowski , the violinists Ivan Galamian and William Primrose, and the cellist Gregor Piatigorsky.

The Curtis Institute mainly serves to train orchestral musicians, but is also open to solo artists and composers. The institute only has between 150 and 170 students, as the admission requirements are considered particularly difficult and thus it has one of the lowest acceptance rates in the world.

Directors

Artistic Director (since 1995 with the title of President)

Well-known graduates

Graduates from the Curtis Institute of Music

Web links

Individual evidence

Coordinates: 39 ° 56 ′ 55.7 "  N , 75 ° 10 ′ 14.2"  W.