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A Brief History When Mary Louise Curtis Bok first opened the doors of The Curtis Institute of Music in October 1924, her mission was to train exceptionally gifted young musicians for careers as performing artists on the highest professional level. According to Mrs. Bok, Curtis students were to learn "to think and express their thoughts against a background of 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 work rather than quick, showy results." Mrs. Bok's vision, love of music and demand for excellence led her to establish a conservatory that has consistently ranked among the leading music schools in the world. With artistic insights from Leopold Stokowski and Josef Hofmann, Mrs. Bok assembled a faculty in 1924 that would attract the most promising students, including such artist/teachers as Leopold Auer, Josef Hofmann, William Kincaid, Marcella Sembrich, Leopold Stokowski, Marcel Tabuteau and Efrem Zimbalist. The relationship between teacher and student has always been of primary importance, and today the faculty of The Curtis Institute of Music continues to include some of the most celebrated musicians of the 20th century. In 1928, at the request of Director Josef Hofmann, The Institute began a merit-based full-scholarship policy for all students, and today it remains the only major conservatory to do so. Students continue to be accepted for study at Curtis exclusively on the basis of their artistic talent and promise. In the school's early years, Leopold Stokowski predicted that Curtis "will become the most important musical institution of our country, perhaps of the world." That sentiment was echoed nearly 70 years later by cellist Mstislav Rostropovich when he said, "Curtis is unique, not only in the United States, but in the whole world." |
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