It’s been a year of celebration honoring the 100th anniversary of the Curtis Institute of Music. The renowned Center City conservatory, whose alumni include conductor/composer Leonard Bernstein, announced yet another thrilling season of concerts, operas and recitals. 

Although the centenary celebration might exhaust some institutions, that’s not the case for Curtis, one of the world’s elite music conservatories. Not only does the school offer tuition-free instruction, but Curtis also provides its 160 students with a stipend for living expenses. Curtis dispensed with tuition shortly after it opened in 1924, eliminating concerns about affordability for its students, many of whom travel internationally to attend. 

With a world-class faculty that includes Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the music director of both the Philadelphia Orchestra and New York’s Metropolitan Opera, Curtis Institute educates the finest musicians. The school also offers local classical music lovers a full season of concerts, operas, and recitals. Among the most sought-after tickets are those for the three concerts given each season by the Curtis Symphony Orchestra in the Kimmel Center’s Marian Anderson Hall.

The Curtis Symphony is set to open its 2025-26 season Saturday, Oct. 11, at 3 p.m. with Christoph Eschenbach on the podium leading the young players in Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 3 in D minor. Also on the program will be Samuel Barber’s “Overture to the School for Scandal” and Krzysztof Penderecki’s Concerto Grosso for Three Cellos. Barber is a 1934 alumnus of Curtis. Eschenbach is a former music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Osmo Vänskä will conduct the Curtis Symphony Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, at 3 p.m. in a program featuring Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, David Ludwig’s Concerto for Imani Winds & Orchestra, Henry Dorn’s “Transitions,” and Missy Mazzoli’s “Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres).”

Rounding out the Symphony’s season will be the March 26 concert, at 7 p.m., featuring Nézet-Séguin on the podium leading Richard Wagner’s “Overture to Rienzi,” Gustav Mahler’s selections from “Des Knaben Wunderhorn,” and William Dawson’s “Negro Folk Symphony.”

Not to be overshadowed, the Curtis Opera Theater will also present three productions. Claudio Monteverdi’s groundbreaking opus, “L’Orfeo,” will be performed Friday, Nov. 14, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 16, at 2 p.m. in the Philadelphia Film Center, 1412 Chestnut St. in Center City.

“La Passion di Simone,” music by Kaija Saariaho and libretto by Amin Maalouf, will be staged Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 28, at 2 p.m. in the Film Center. Rounding out the season will be Benjamin Britten’s delightful Shakespeare-based “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” Thursday, April 30, at 7 p.m., and Saturday, May 2, at 2 p.m. in the Perelman Theater of the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts.

Curtis’ New Music Ensemble will present concerts Nov. 20 and April 4 in its own Gould Rehearsal Hall on Locust Street, and free student recitals are given Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays during the school year in Field Concert Hall, also on Locust Street.

For more information about the Curtis Institute of Music, its mission and its season of concerts, operas and recitals, visit curtis.edu.

You can contact NOTEWORTHY at Michael-carso@comcast.net.