Curtis Institute of Music

The Curtis Institute of Music is widely considered one of the most prestigious conservatories in the world. When Mary Louise Curtis Bok first opened the doors in 1924, her mission was to train exceptionally gifted young musicians for careers as performing artists on the highest professional level. Today, Curtis follows many of the same principles set forth by Mrs. Bok: enrollment is intentionally kept small to provide a highly personalized education, the cornerstone of which is one-on-one study with some of today’s leading musical artists; and all students receive full-tuition scholarships based on merit, ensuring that talent is the sole consideration for admission. Students may pursue a Diploma or Bachelor of Music degree. Vocal students may also pursue a Master of Music degree or Professional Studies Certificate. Currently over 160 students from the United States and 16 foreign countries study with Curtis’s celebrated faculty, which includes Richard Danielpour, Roberto Diaz, Leon Fleisher, Pamela Frank, Mikael Eliasen, Gary Graffman, Jennifer Higdon, Ida Kavafian, Seymour Lipkin, Edgar Meyer, Otto-Werner Mueller, Aaron Rosand, Joseph Silverstein, Ignat Solzhenitsyn, members of the Guarneri Quartet, and many of the principal players of the Philadelphia Orchestra. In keeping with Curtis’s philosophy that students “learn most by doing,” the Institute offers over 100 public performances a year, including orchestra concerts, operas, and solo and chamber music recitals. The merit of Curtis’s approach to musical training is evident in the depth and breadth of quality found in alumni who have made musical history as solo performers, composers, and conductors. Notable alumni include Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, Richard Goode, Gian Carlo Menotti, Anna Moffo, Ned Rorem, Peter Serkin and Benita Valente, and recent graduates Juan Diego Firez, Hilary Hahn, Lang Lang, John Relyea, Rinat Shaham, and Ignat Solzhenitsyn. Curtis alumni can be found in every major orchestra and opera company around the world. Eighteen percent of the principal chairs in America’s top 25 orchestras and four music directorships in the top 50 are held by Curtis-trained musicians, and more than 60 alumni have performed with the Metropolitan Opera. The Curtis Institute of Music is operated under a charter granted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and is included in the list of “Colleges and Universities in Pennsylvania Approved by the State Council of Education for the Granting of Degrees.” The Curtis Institute of Music is a fully accredited member of the National Association of Schools of Music. In 1993, The Curtis Institute of Music was granted accreditation by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools; it was re accredited in 1998 and 2003.