Curtis Overtones Fall 2017_BluelineChanges_2

NOTATIONS
2000s
Tina Chang Qu
TINA CHANG QU
(Violin ’00)
performed
Bruch’s Scottish
Fantasy with
the Claremont
Symphony in
June at Bridges
Hall in Pomona
College, Calif.
BENJAMIN BOWMAN (Violin ’02)
was appointed concertmaster of
the Metropolitan Opera for the
2017–18 season. He has been American
Ballet Theatre's concertmaster for
the past three seasons.
In June SUK CHUL KIM (Opera ’02)
performed the title role in Wagner’s
Lohengrin in Prague.
Laura Fuller
In February
LAURA FULLER
(Viola ’07) joined
the viola section
of the Pittsburgh
Symphony
Orchestra.
DAVID MURRAY (Trombone ’07) was
appointed to the trombone faculty
of the Peabody Conservatory in June.
He continues as second trombone
of the Baltimore Symphony.
Melissa White and Elena Urioste
Over the summer, MELISSA WHITE
(Violin ’07) and ELENA URIOSTE (Violin
’08) launched Intermission Sessions
and Retreat, a groundbreaking program
that encourages mindfulness and
injury prevention within music-making.
Intermission officially kicked off in
August as a week-long artist colony and
yoga retreat for professional musicians.
Sessions, an annual two-week festival
for talented young students, will
launch in Summer 2018. Both Sessions
and the Retreat will integrate daily
yoga classes and private sessions into
the everyday practice and performing
routines of classical musicians, increasing
body awareness and self-care
within the process of music-making.
Divergent Paths
Curtis is renowned worldwide for the musical education it provides its students. But how exactly does that
training inform those students’ later careers—including those careers that take an unusual turn? This series
seeks to answer this question, showing the diversity and richness of the Curtis alumni experience.
Theory and Performance: “Beautifully Combined”
BY WILLIAM SHORT (BASSOON ’10)
DAVID HORNE (’93) and ANDREW JACOBS (’93), both composition graduates, have not only gone on to vastly different
careers since Curtis—they began their journeys in opposite corners of the globe. David, hailing from Tillicoultry,
Scotland, describes his dealings with Philadelphia phone companies, for whom his broad Scottish accent was difficult
to understand, as his most challenging transition to life at Curtis. Andrew is originally from Wilmington, Delaware,
and began his time at Curtis before graduating high school. Initially he spent only a few days per week at Curtis,
suffering significantly less culture shock in the process.
Both share a similar takeaway from their Curtis experiences: the preponderance of opportunities to have their
works performed. “You always felt that you were writing for people at the absolute top of their game, technically
and musically,” says David. This has significantly influenced his current work at the Royal Northern College of Music
in Manchester, England, where he teaches,
performs, composes, lectures, and more,
Andrew and David share a similar
takeaway from their Curtis experiences:
the preponderance of opportunities
to have their works performed.
David Horne PHOTO: P. STIRNWEISS
2010s
In February VICKI
POWELL (Viola
’10) joined the
Berlin-based
Boccherini Trio
alongside founding
members Suyeon
Kang (violin) and
Paolo Bonomini
Andrew Jacobs
(cello). Recent highlights with the
Boccherini Trio include performances
at Konzerthaus Berlin and the Mantova
Music Festival in Italy. In the 2016-17
season Vicki performed as guest
principal viola of the Bavarian Radio
Symphony Orchestra, the Royal
Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra,
the Australian Chamber Orchestra,
and the Munich Chamber Orchestra.
serving as something of a “jack of all trades.”
“I ensure that always, for composers,
performance is at the heart of everything,”
says David. Recalling a Curtis theory course
in which the late EDWARD ALDWELL began
one class by performing a Bach fugue, he
notes that theory and performance “are
beautifully combined.”
Andrew, who is now managing partner of
the commodities fund Jamison Capital Partners,
reflects that “to be around such talented
performers, to have them there to potentially
play your work, to have access to these
musical resources was something truly, truly
amazing.” He draws connections between
these opportunities and the skills necessary
in his current career: “Standing up in front
of an orchestra and telling them what you
intended is something that is applicable”
to his everyday work. “I lead a team and have
to do similar things, knowing how to motivate
people, how to get things done.”
Of his studies with NED ROREM (’44), David recalls always having “to justify what I was doing. You, as the
student, never did anything unconsciously. [He] would get you to think very carefully about, if it was a song with
piano, ‘Why does the piano have a big introduction?’ or ‘Why does it have a big conclusion?’ None of this was to say
that you couldn’t do it, but he made you really think about it.” David also recalls Mr. Rorem’s defined stylistic point
of view as distinctly American. Andrew studied primarily with DAVID LOEB, whom he describes as “more sparing
with his feedback”—and a great mentor.
Following their time at Curtis, David and Andrew continued on similar paths, studying at Harvard before going
their separate ways. Both carry with them the lasting influence of intertwined disciplines and the lessons that go
along with music-making at the highest level.
William Short is principal bassoon of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.
Vicki Powell
YEKWON
SUNWOO
(Piano ’11) won
the Gold Medal
at the Fifteenth
Van Cliburn
International
Piano Competition
in June.
Yekwon Sunwoo
While performing
in the semifinal round, he dedicated
OVERTONES FALL 2017
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