Osmo Vänskä Leads the Curtis Symphony Orchestra on its First-Ever United States Tour

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Image via Cutis.edu.

Conductor Osmo Vänskä teams up with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra for the ensemble’s first-ever tour of the United States,  Jan. 30 to Feb. 8.

The student musicians from the Curtis Institute of Music perform in Immaculata, Philadelphia, and Bethlehem before heading south to Athens, Georgia; Blacksburg, Virginia; and Durham, North Carolina.

The tour concludes at New York’s Carnegie Hall.

These performances are part of Curtis on Tour, the Nina von Maltzahn global touring initiative of the Curtis Institute of Music. The touring initiative embodies the school’s “learn by doing” philosophy, giving students real-world professional touring experience.

A highlight of the tour repertoire is Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto with world-renowned piano soloist Jonathan Biss (’01), who holds the Neubauer Family Chair in Piano Studies at Curtis.

Biss’ tour performances contribute to global celebration s of Beethoven’s 250th birthday and with the January 2020 release of his online course, “Exploring Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas.”

Biss studied at Indiana University with Evelyne Brancart and at the Curtis Institute of Music with Leon Fleisher. In 2011 he joined the Curtis faculty.

Osmo Vänskä, music director of the Minnesota Orchestra, leads the orchestra in Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 43.

Rounding out the program is a new work by alumna Gabriella Smith (’16) entitled “f(x) = sin²x –1/x. Co-“commissioned by Curtis and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. The piece is a musical interpretation of the eponymous mathematical function.

Ticket information is specific to each venue. For specific tour information, click here.

Orchestral concerts in Philadelphia and Immaculata are supported by the Jack Wolgin Curtis Orchestral Concerts Endowment Fund.

Guest conductor appearances for each Curtis Symphony Orchestra performance are made possible by the Gustave and Rita Hauser Chair.

Each year, the 100 musicians of the Curtis Symphony 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.

In the 2019–20 school year, the Curtis Institute of Music celebrates 95 years of educating and training exceptionally gifted young musicians to engage a local and global community through the highest level of artistry.

Click here to see performances from Curtis musicians.

For more information about the Curtis Institute of Music, click here.

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