Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts to Welcome the Curtis Institute of Music as Resident Company

Anne Ewers, President and CEO of the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, announced the addition of the Curtis Institute of Music as a new Resident Company of the Kimmel Center, effective April 1, 2015. Curtis joins the existing eight esteemed Resident Companies that call the Kimmel Center campus home including The Philadelphia Orchestra, Pennsylvania Ballet, Opera Philadelphia, The Philly Pops, Philadanco, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, American Theater Arts for Youth, Inc. and The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia.

"We feel very fortunate to embark on the next step in our long-time relationship with the Curtis Institute of Music, one of the world's leading conservatories. Its exceptionally gifted musicians have been performing on our campus since the Center first opened, and now we are honored to embrace the school as a Resident Company," said Kimmel Center President and CEO Anne Ewers.

"Our Board of Trustees and extraordinary young musicians are very pleased to deepen our long-time partnership with the Kimmel Center by becoming a Resident Company. President Roberto Díaz and our artistic team are thrilled at the new programming opportunities this partnership opens up for Curtis," said Curtis Institute of Music Executive Vice President Elizabeth B. Warshawer. "The world-class stages at the Kimmel Center will allow our students to 'learn by doing' in the best possible way, in venues that optimally showcase their artistry. We are delighted to expand the impact of Curtis in the community, reaching broader and more varied audiences by virtue of our new Resident Company status."

The new Resident Company agreement, renewable at five-year intervals, provides the Curtis Institute of Music select performance dates and reduced fees. Under the terms of the agreement, Curtis will present a yearly schedule of three Curtis Symphony Orchestra performances in Verizon Hall, two Curtis Opera Theatre performances in the Perelman Theater, and potential innovative collaborations like those in the SEI Innovation Studio.

The Kimmel Center will continue to support ticket sales for all Curtis ticketed performances occurring on the Kimmel Center campus in collaboration with Ticket Philadelphia.

For ninety years Curtis alumni have launched careers of distinction around the world both here with Opera Philadelphia and from the stages of the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, and Vienna State Opera; to appearances on the most renowned chamber music festivals and concert series including the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, another Kimmel Center Resident Company; to leadership in the most esteemed orchestras around the globe, including the celebrated Philadelphia Orchestra here at home.

"The Curtis Institute of Music and The Philadelphia Orchestra share a founding core in the legendary Leopold Stokowski. Today, that storied beginning renews itself annually in the Curtis students who go on to perform inside our Orchestra as Fabulous Philadelphians, alongside them as renowned soloists, and as aspiring conductors mentored by Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin. We are overjoyed to see Philadelphia's celebrated conservatory enter into this meaningful partnership with the Kimmel Center, and we look forward to our continued evolution together with Curtis," adds Allison Vulgamore, President and CEO of The Philadelphia Orchestra Association.

Opera Philadelphia General Director David Devan added, "Opera Philadelphia enjoys a long and important partnership with Curtis and we are pleased that this has extended to the resident company family at the Kimmel Center." An announcement of Curtis Institute programs scheduled at the Kimmel Center for the 2015/16 season will be made at a later date.

For more information about the Curtis Institute of Music, visit http://www.kimmelcenter.org/resident/curtis.php

The Kimmel Center and its Resident Companies are proud to welcome the Curtis Institute of Music to the home of the performing arts in Philadelphia.