Curtis e-News, January 2015: Curtis Board Chair Nina Baroness von Maltzahn has affirmed the school’s leadership and future direction with $11.5 million in gifts

One of the world’s premier Sibelius interpreters guides the Curtis Symphony Orchestra’s next concert at Verizon Hall. Osmo Vänskä, music director of the Minnesota Orchestra, leads the Symphony No. 5 by Sibelius. The January 25 program also features the engaging Concerto for Orchestra by Lutosławski. This concert will sell quickly, so secure your seats now. (Two-concert subscriptions are still available for the Curtis Symphony Orchestra in January and April. Order your subscription today and save on single ticket prices!)

Curtis Board Chair Nina Baroness von Maltzahn has affirmed the school’s leadership and future direction with $11.5 million in gifts, announced in December. Her $10 million endowment gift establishes the Nina von Maltzahn President’s Chair, held by Roberto Díaz; and Baroness von Maltzahn has also directed $1.5 million from the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation to support Curtis On Tour, the school’s global touring initiative. Her leadership reflects the growing globalization of Curtis governance, as two members with an international presence—Harry Lee and opera alumnus Eric Owens—have joined the Curtis board of trustees in the past year.

The distinguished violinist Miriam Fried and Curtis piano faculty member Jonathan Biss, consummate chamber musicians, have been coaching Curtis students through the complete violin sonatas of Beethoven. On January 23 they present the third and final recital in this effort. For Beethoven aficionados, it’s an evening not to be missed.

Curtis launches Jonathan Biss’s massive open online course (MOOC), Exploring Beethoven Piano Sonatas, this week on Coursera’s new on-demand format. You’ll learn from approximately five hours of videos and quizzes in this self-paced course. Jonathan is busy recording new lectures on additional sonatas that will be offered through Curtis this spring to complement last year’s content. Here’s your chance to sign up for this course and this semester’s other Coursera offering, The World of the String Quartet, taught by Arnold Steinhardt and Mia Chung.

This season’s courses are sponsored by Linda Richardson in loving memory of her husband, Dr. Paul Richardson.

Curtis faculty, alumni, and students are among the compelling range of artists featured in WHYY-TV’s dynamic new weekly arts magazine show, Articulate with Jim Cotter. The show explores the integral place of the arts in everyday life and the  variety, quality, and heritage of creativity in the Philadelphia region. Articulate premieres tonight on WHYY-TV, and episodes will be available online for viewing anywhere. In the coming weeks, look for stories featuring composition faculty member and alumna Jennifer Higdon, mentor conductor and Philadelphia Orchestra music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, cello student Tessa Seymour, and more! And don’t forget to check out WHYY-TV’s weekly series, On Stage at Curtis.

Articulate with Jim Cotter has been made possible by a generous grant from the Neubauer Family Foundation.

Program underwritten by PECO