Curtis Symphony Orchestra Presents STRINGS, SYMPHONIES, AND STRAUSS At Verizon Hall On February 20

The Curtis Symphony Orchestra makes a dynamic return to the stage for the first time since February 2020 with Strings, Symphonies, and Strauss, led by Peter Oundjian, conductor emeritus of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, for in-person audiences on Sunday, February 20 at 8 p.m. at Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. From Richard Strauss to Jessie Montgomery, this program reveals the remarkable musical variety of the modern era.

The program opens with Jessie Montgomery's Starburst for Strings, which the Leonard Bernstein Award recipient describes as "a play on imagery of rapidly changing musical colors." The concert continues with the enduring Lyric for Strings by Curtis alumnus George Walker (Piano and Composition '45). Rita E. Hauser Conducting Fellow Robert Kahn leads the orchestra in Igor Stravinsky's Symphonies of Wind Instruments, which draws upon Russian folk music. Alumnus and faculty member Alan Morrison (Organ '91, Accompanying '93) performs the solo in the exuberant Toccata Festiva by Samuel Barber (Composition '34). Rounding out the program is Richard Strauss's Also sprach Zarathustra, which audiences will recognize from the Stanley Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Single tickets start at just $19 and are available for purchase at KimmelCulturalCampus.org. Curtis also offers flexible create-your-own subscriptions by choosing any two performances in the Winter/Spring 2022 season, starting at just $38. Learn more and purchase at Curtis.edu/Subscribe or email tickets@curtis.edu for information. This concert is supported by the Jack Wolgin Curtis Orchestral Concerts Endowment Fund.

The Curtis Symphony Orchestra returns to Verizon Hall again on Friday, April 29 at 8 p.m. for a performance conducted by Robert Spano of Bartók's ferocious Second Piano Concerto, featuring soloist Yefim Bronfman, and Tchaikovsky's brooding Fifth Symphony. In March, Curtis Opera Theatre returns to live performance with Mozart's delightful Così fan tutte, followed by The Dangerous Liaisons by Conrad Susa and Philip Littell in May. To learn more about these performances, as well as the Student Recital Series, Ensemble 20/21 concerts, and more, visit Curtis.edu/Calendar.

Recognized as a masterful and dynamic presence in the conducting world, Peter Oundjian has developed a multi-faceted portfolio as a conductor, violinist, professor, and artistic advisor. He has been celebrated for his musicality, an eye towards collaboration, innovative programming, leadership and training with students, and an engaging personality.

Now conductor emeritus, Mr. Oundjian's fourteen-year tenure as music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra served as a major creative force for the city and was marked by a reimagining of the TSO's programming, international stature, audience development, touring, and a number of outstanding recordings, garnering a GRAMMY nomination in 2018 and a JUNO award for Vaughan Williams: Orchestral Works in 2019. From 2012-2018, Mr. Oundjian served as music director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, leading international tours of North America, China, and a European festival tour with performances at festivals in Bregenz, Dresden, Innsbruck, Bergamo, and Ljubljana, among others. His final appearance with the orchestra as music director was at the 2018 BBC Proms where he conducted Britten's War Requiem.

Highlights of past seasons include appearances with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande; and the Detroit, Atlanta, Colorado, Dallas, Saint Louis, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Milwaukee and New Zealand symphony orchestras. With the onset of world-wide concert cancellations, he prioritized support for his students at the Yale School of Music and the Juilliard School and the creation of a virtual summer festival in Boulder, where he is music director of the Colorado Music Festival.

Mr. Oundjian has been a visiting professor at the Yale School of Music since 1981, and in 2013 was awarded the school's Sanford Medal for Distinguished Service to Music. An outstanding violinist, Mr. Oundjian spent fourteen years as the first violinist for the renowned Tokyo String Quartet before turning his energy towards conducting.

Alan Morrison is one of the most sought-after American concert organists, performing in Alice Tully, Jacoby, Verizon, Benaroya, and Spivey halls; Meyerson Symphony Center; Overture Center; Jack Singer Concert Hall; the Crystal Cathedral; National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.; and colleges, cathedrals, and churches throughout North America, Europe, Russia, and Brazil.

Mr. Morrison has been a featured artist for numerous national and regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists. He won first prize in both the Mader (California) and Poister (New York) National Organ Competitions, as well as the silver medal at the 1994 Calgary International Organ Festival. Mr. Morrison's numerous recordings are regularly featured on radio stations worldwide, and his television appearances include two episodes of Mister Roger's Neighborhood as both an organist and pianist.

A graduate of Curtis (organ and piano accompanying) and the Juilliard School (organ), Mr. Morrison is college organist at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa. and organist in residence at Spivey Hall in Morrow, Ga. In 2002 he joined the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music where he holds the Haas Charitable Trust Chair in Organ Studies.

Acclaimed for its "otherworldly ensemble and professional level of sophistication" (New York Times), the Curtis Symphony Orchestra offers a dynamic showcase of tomorrow's exceptional young talent. Each year the 100 extraordinary musicians of the orchestra work with internationally renowned conductors, including Osmo Vänskä, Vladimir Jurowski, Marin Alsop, Simon Rattle, Robert Spano, and Yannick Nézet Séguin, who also mentors the early-career conductors who hold Rita E. Hauser Conducting Fellowships. This professional training has enabled Curtis alumni to assume prominent positions in America's leading orchestras, as well as esteemed orchestral, opera, and chamber ensembles around the world.

The Curtis Institute of Music educates and trains exceptionally gifted young musicians to engage a local and global community through the highest level of artistry. For nearly a century Curtis has provided each member of its small student body with an unparalleled education alongside musical peers, distinguished by a "learn by doing" philosophy and personalized attention from a faculty that includes a high proportion of actively performing musicians. With admissions based solely on artistic promise, no student is turned away due to financial need. Curtis invests in each admitted student, ensuring no tuition is charged for their studies and they enter the profession free from educational debt. In a typical year, Curtis students hone their craft through more than 200 orchestra, opera, and solo and chamber music offerings in Philadelphia and around the world. Learn more at Curtis.edu.

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