Community Artist Program
The Community Artist Program seeks to empower the next generation of leaders in classical music.
Participants design and implement unique performance projects that combine artistry with invention, leadership with advocacy, and citizenship with community. In collaboration with partner organizations, the program offers additional training in:
- teaching artistry
- interactive performance
- entrepreneurship
Curtis faculty and alumni encourage and mentor students throughout the year-long process, providing advice and helping students make connections within the community.
About
The Community Artist Program began in 2011 and is structured as a weekly course on entrepreneurship and social practice, where students learn methods of design thinking and a human-centered approach to innovation.
In the fall students go through the process of learning about their community, defining a problem they want to address and ideating around that issue. In the spring they design a prototype, test and implement a unique performance project. Seed funding is provided by the school based on the merits of each individual proposal.
These projects offer students valuable experiences and opportunities outside of Curtis while gaining crucial administrative and organizational skills. Many projects that began in the Community Artist Program have continued beyond the funding provided by Curtis—some continuing for a decade or more into the present day.
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"These partnership programs empower students with a strong sense of identity, reinforce the value of their voices, and help them envision a future where they can pursue their most ambitious dreams."
— Kristin Andlauer (Horn ’25)
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"Kapwa taught me about myself as an artist, performer, and sparked a fire in me for advocacy and community curating."
— Emilie Kealani (Opera ’25)
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"This project not only fulfilled its original goal of introducing young people to classical music and opera, but it also created a space for exploration, empowerment, and joy."
— Landry Allen, vocal studies
Past Projects
Chamber Music by the Bay
Jessica Chang (Viola ’12)
Chamber Music by the Bay’s goal was to foster musical, creative, and honest dialogue between professional musicians and public school students by bringing chamber music performances and educational programs in Bay Area communities with equal focus on performance and speaking.
Chamber Music by the Bay believes that life’s most important lessons are learned through experiencing chamber music, including elements of teamwork, communication, expression, artistry, and creative thinking. By sharing chamber music and engaging in dialogue with students, CMB seeks to increase students’ and communities’ exposure to, and interest in the chamber music medium. Playing music isn’t just a class or a credit at school– it is our of communicating and making a difference in the world.
The Brass Project
Steven Franklin (Trumpet ’18)
Hailed as “six superb brass players” (Philadelphia Inquirer), The Brass Project is a sextet committed to invigorating the brass chamber music experience through vibrant performance and fearless exploration.
Founded in 2016 at the Curtis Institute of Music, The Brass Project features six of New York’s leading brass musicians. The ensemble is in the vanguard of commissioning new music for brass in the United States, and is committed to performing unique editions of historically significant works.
Magical Music and Medicine
Emily Damasco (Opera ’25)
Magical Music and Medicine is an immersive concert between the Curtis Institute of Music and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, developed with the support of CHOP’s Head Music Therapist Amy P. Troyano and the guidance of Patricia Carpino, Senior Associate Dean of Student Affairs.
On Thursday, May 8th, 2025, Magical Music and Medicine with the Curtis Institute of Music premiered in the lobby of CHOP and was TV broadcasted into over 1,000 patient rooms across Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s two main locations: Philadelphia and King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. The program featured a set of familiar and classical pieces ranging from Mario Brothers theme song to Chopin’s Opus 28 no. 1, 4, and 19.
Symposium for Women and Non-Binary Bassists
Hanxiao Deng (Double Bass ’25)
The Symposium for Women and Non-Binary Bassists welcomes bassists of all levels to participate in this program designed to empower, support, and inspire musicians at every stage of their journey.
- One-hour private lesson with a faculty member
- Five masterclasses with esteemed faculty
- “Careers in Music” workshop with Mary Javian
- Composition Workshop with Kebra-Seyoun Charles
- Faculty Recital
- Exclusive Curtis Institute campus tour led by Curtis students
- Lunches provided with faculty and fellow participants
- A new Orchestral Training Program with Nina DeCesare, featuring an orchestral competition with cash prizes
Empty the House
Rene Orth (Composition ’16)
In Empty the House, a daughter returns to her childhood home for a weekend with her mother and is confronted by painful memories. This one-act opera was premiered at Curtis in 2016 and subsequently was added to Opera Philadelphia’s 2019 season, where it was paired with Vaughan Williams’ Riders to the Sea.
KAPWA
Emilie Kealani Suarez (Opera ’25)
Kapwa is a word in Tagalog meaning “to embrace in shared identity”. Through these multidisciplinary events, we strive to bring Asian and AAPI artists together, creating a space for us to cultivate a shared sense of community through music.
Founding the project in 2024, our first event featured a cast of Curtis Institute of Music musicians, Glimmerglass Festival Young Artists, freelance and seasoned professionals with a multi-disciplinary recital of classical voice, instrumental (violin, guitar, piano, oboe, traditional Japanese shamisen, traditional Hawaiian ukulele), multimedia, cultural fashion pieces, and original compositions. We highlighted Bengali, Chinese, Filipino, Hawaiian, Indian, Japanese, Korean, and Tongan cultures.