20th century in
Center City Philadelphia in 2024 The Curtis Institute of Music was founded in 1924, following the formation of the
Philadelphia Orchestra in 1900 and the
Philadelphia Opera Company in 1908 and amidst industrial decline and political corruption in
Philadelphia. The institute's founder,
Mary Louise Curtis Bok, a philanthropist, administrator, and major proponent of the
Settlement Music School in
Philadelphia, named the new school after her father, publishing magnate
Cyrus Curtis. The
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania chartered the Curtis Institute on April 18, 1924, which opened October 1925 in three mansions at 1727 and 1720
Locust Street and 235 South 18th Street. Both the Curtis Institute and the Settlement Music School shared a building at
Queen Street in
South Philadelphia for the first year. Bok established the institute to train talented musicians for professional careers and to teach music for its own sake and not as a means to another end. In an official statement, Bok wrote about the goals and expectations of the institution: “It is my aim that earnest students shall acquire a thorough musical education not learning only to sing or play, but also the history of music, the laws of its making, languages, ear training and musical appreciation. They shall learn to think and to express their thoughts against a background of a quiet culture, with the stimulus of personal contact with artist teachers who represent the highest and finest in their art. The aim is for quality of the work rather than quick, showy results.” When the institute opened, it included two distinct divisions: a preparatory division for 400 students and a conservatory for 200 students. Tuition was five hundred dollars, and the school opened with 357 students. Mary Bok became the conservatory’s first president, a position she would hold until 1969. Johann Grolle served as the first school director for one year, William E. Walter became director in 1925 and
Josef Hofmann, head of the piano department, became director in 1927. The institute added a library in 1925 with over 5,000 volumes. Other notable original faculty included conductor
Leopold Stokowski, violinist
Carl Flesch, pianists
David Saperton and
Isabelle Vengerova, singers
Marcella Sembrich and
Andreas Dippel, cellist
Michel Penha, and flutist
William Kincaid. Under Josef Hofmann as director, Curtis made several new changes to advance the school's standards and publicize the school. Hofmann reduced enrollment to ensure that students would receive individualized attention. Curtis initiated weekly
radio broadcasts through
CBS in 1929. The
Curtis String Quartet was established in 1928 and lasted until 1981. From 1931 to 1941,
Fritz Reiner served as the conductor of the Curtis Orchestra, who toured with the orchestra throughout the country and broadcast the orchestra on the radio. The school held its first commencement a decade after opening, awarding
Bachelor of Music and
Master of Music degrees. Starting in the late 1920s, Curtis made significant changes to fully support students financially. In 1928, Mrs. Louis Bok expanded the school's first endowment of $500,000 to $12.5 million. The school started providing summer residency programs for advanced students in the United States or Europe. The new funds further allowed all students to study at Curtis at no cost. Since 1928, the institute has not charged tuition; it provides full
scholarships to all admitted students. Instead, students pay comprehensive fees and other additional fees to cover the cost of maintaining buildings, health insurance, meal plans, a library fee, and a graduation fee. As of fall 2023, the comprehensive fee for Curtis is $3,500, and the health insurance fee, which can be waived if a parental health insurance plan provides adequate protection, of $2,500. With the new endowment, the school purchased several
Steinway pianos and enough instruments for an orchestra so that students would not have to pay for instruments. The school faced financial difficulties in the 1930s, decreased enrollment, and had to remove some departments and reduce salaries. Josef Hoffman resigned in 1938 and was succeeded by
Randall Thompson, who became director in 1939 and held the post for two years. Thompson introduced mandatory weekly lectures providing an overview of music history. Violinist
Efrem Zimbalist, who had become the head of the violin department in 1930 at Curtis, replaced Thompson as director in 1941. Under Zimbalist, the institute focused more on training
soloists and cutting down on costs, which became especially necessary during the
war years. This focus caused a shift away from
orchestra,
opera, and
chamber music and a reduction of the instrumental faculty. Due to the war, enrollment decreased from 223 in 1937 to 100 in 1942. In 1944, the Curtis Alumni Association established a concert office to assist graduates in their professions.
21st century Violist
Roberto Díaz became President of Curtis in 2007, succeeding
Gary Graffman who led the school from 1986 to 2006. In 2020, following credible allegations of abuse at the hands of past faculty, the school ended its practice of keeping students enrolled "at the discretion of their major instrument teacher". In accepting the findings of an independent investigation of abuse allegations that found the practice was a "real threat" and a student "could be dismissed for any reason at any time", Curtis pledged several other steps to ensure students' well-being, including providing them with access to counseling. The school completed a multi-year fundraising drive in 2025, enabling Curtis to maintain its tuition-free status by raising $255 million for its endowment between 2011 and 2025. Part of this drive included soliciting donations for and the purchase of the nearby Arts Alliance building on Rittenhouse Square, which belonged to the now defunct
University of the Arts. The Arts Alliance building later burned to the ground on July 4, 2025. ==Admission==