2017-18 Annual Report

2017–18
THE YEAR IN REVIEW
CURTIS INSTITUTE OF MUSIC
ANNUAL REPORT

2
STRATEGIC DIRECTION
Dear Friends,
we reflect on 2017–18,
we find a season filled with
‘‘As
learning, performances,
touring, new partnerships,
and improved ways to
engage with our friends
’’
around the world.
On behalf of the Curtis community, we’re delighted to share the results of another
remarkable year. As we reflect on 2017–18, we find a season filled with learning,
performances, touring, new partnerships, and improved ways to engage with
our friends around the world. We are deeply grateful for the involvement of our
alumni, donors, institutional partners, and friends who have supported the work
of the school locally and across the globe.
In the course of each school year, the Curtis board of trustees, faculty, and staff
refer to our ten-year strategic direction document, which contains a list of ambitious
goals driving toward the school’s centenary celebration in 2024. In the past year
we not only displayed steady progress across the five focus areas articulated in
the strategic direction, but continued to operate within a balanced budget, while
growing the endowment and making investments designed to support the needs
of our student body and the school at large.
Curtis would not be where it is today without our committed trustees, outstanding
faculty, and loyal staff—and indeed, the entire Curtis family. ank you for your
support. We look forward to another wonderful year ahead, some hints of which
are shared in the following pages.
With our sincere gratitude,
Mark Rubenstein
Chair
Board of Trustees
Roberto Díaz
President and CEO
Nina von Maltzahn President’s Chair
James and Betty Matarese Chair in Viola Studies
View a complete list
of 2017–18 donors at
Curtis.edu/AnnualReport.

ANNUAL REPORT 2017–18 3
FINANCIAL SUMMARY 2017–18
PRELIMINARY PRE-AUDIT FIGURES
Combined endowments of the Curtis Institute of Music and the Mary Louise Curtis Bok Foundation (as of May 31, 2018):
$257,323,000
EARNED REVENUE 18%
OPERATING REVENUES
TOTAL $20,658,000
DRAW FROM ENDOWMENT 57%
CONTRIBUTED REVENUE 25%
When available, audited financial
statements will be posted at
Curtis.edu/AnnualReport.
INSTITUTIONAL COSTS 28%
INSTRUCTIONAL AND PROGRAM COSTS 39%
OPERATING EXPENSES
TOTAL $20,208,000
PHYSICAL PLANT / MAINTENANCE 17%
STUDENT SERVICES AND FINANCIAL AID 16%
In addition to the above operating expenses, the institution spent $450,000, net of capital-restricted support
received, on capital expenditures in fiscal year 2018, including renovations and major repairs to facilities and
purchases of instruments, information technology, and audio-visual equipment.

4
STRATEGIC DIRECTION
MILESTONES 2017–18
During the 2017–18 school year Curtis made significant progress toward goals in all areas of its strategic direction.
ALUMNI
4,224
MUSICIANS HAVE
GRADUATED FROM CURTIS
SINCE ITS FOUNDING IN 1924.
OF THESE,
2,849
LIVING ALUMNI
RESIDE IN
46
STATES
(PLUS WASHINGTON, D.C.,
AND PUERTO RICO)
AND
39
COUNTRIES
CURTIS MUSICIAN LIFE CYCLE
GOAL
Curtis will expand its focus and attend to every aspect of the musician life
cycle—from entering Curtis, through the student experience, to alumni life
after Curtis—to create a global network.
IN 2017-18
n
n
n
n
Curtis developed a student workload dashboard, allowing staff and faculty to distribute
assignments and plan performances with student capacity in mind.
A detailed analysis of student and applicant demographic data identified gaps in
recruitment and successful pathways to entry, allowing Curtis to better target future
recruitment efforts.
Curtis identified a new digital platform for alumni networking and mentoring, and
launched improved communications vehicles to better connect alumni.
AHEAD
e results of a three-year longitudinal study of alumni and students will assess the
direct effects of Curtis’s artist-citizen curriculum on Curtis musicians and the greater
Philadelphia community.
SUMMERFEST
FACULTY
80%
OF THE FACULTY OF
SUMMERFEST’S YOUNG
ARTIST SUMMER PROGRAM
ARE CURTIS ALUMNI.
Learn more about
Curtis alumni and
the alumni network
at Curtis.edu/Alumni.
‘‘I chose to go to Curtis because of the unique opportunities it offers:
the opportunity I have to play an instrument of the highest quality
for teachers of the highest quality, with the goal of making the
highest quality music in mind. … Curtis has resources that are
made available so that any problem can be solvable.
—Braizahn Jones (Double Bass ’18)
’’
Summerfest faculty has been a beautiful synthesis of the finest and
‘‘e
’’
most generous pedagogues and performers across the alumni body.
—Amy Yang (Piano ’06), program director, Young Artist Summer Program

ANNUAL REPORT 2017–18 5
GLOBAL MUSICAL COMMUNITY
GOAL
Curtis will broaden its reach to attract gifted students from around the
world, and expand its base of support by sharing its excellence with local
and global musical communities.
IN 2017-18
n
n
n
n
Curtis partnered with the Sphinx Organization to plan its first tuition-free Summer
Performance Academy for 32 Black and Latino string players ages 11 to 17.
e launch of a new mobile-friendly Curtis.edu allowed Curtis to grow its global
online community, creating a streamlined web experience for one million visitors
from around the world.
Curtis on Tour celebrated the centenary of alumnus Leonard Bernstein with a
nationwide chamber music tour and a New York opera performance; and traveled
to Latin America for an eighteen-day tour of major cities, performing in schools,
giving master classes, and working with local musicians at every opportunity.
AHEAD
e results of qualitative audience research will inform Curtis brand strategy,
ensuring that Curtis is communicating more effectively with its key stakeholder groups.
STUDENTS
173
STUDENTS
FROM
27
STATES
AND
21
FOREIGN COUNTRIES
AUDIENCES
20%
OF THE OVERALL AUDIENCE
AT TICKETED PERFORMANCES
WAS NEW TO CURTIS—DOUBLE
THE PERCENTAGE OF
THE PREVIOUS YEAR
CURTIS ON TOUR
CURTIS ON TOUR CELEBRATED ITS TENTH ANNIVERSARY, WITH A TALLY OF
300 CONCERTS IN 90 CITIES AND 20 COUNTRIES ON 4 CONTINENTS SINCE ITS INCEPTION IN 2008.
ONLINE
SOCIAL MEDIA
FOLLOWERS INCREASED
20%
TO
44,000
ACROSS FACEBOOK,
TWITTER, INSTAGRAM,
AND YOUTUBE
Watch and listen to
Curtis performances at
Curtis.edu/YouTube.

6
STRATEGIC DIRECTION
LEARN BY DOING
200+
PERFORMANCES
104
STUDENT RECITALS
FACULTY : STUDENT
RATIO
101:175
FACULTY : STUDENTS
IMPACT OF COMMUNITY
SERVICE PROJECTS
1,500+
16
INDIVIDUALS REACHED AT
COMMUNITY INSTITUTIONS
PROGRAMS, TEACHING MODEL,
AND EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
GOAL
Curtis will continue to foster the special relationship between its students
and faculty. Its students will have rich opportunities to develop as artists of
the very highest caliber and as artist-citizens who are well prepared to thrive
as 21st-century musicians.
IN 2017-18
n
n
n
n
Curtis completed the reaccreditation process of the Middle States Commission for
Higher Education. Reaccreditation every ten years ensures that a degree from Curtis is
broadly recognized, and qualifies the school to provide federal financial aid to students.
Curtis’s three Community Artist Fellows spent the year working in varied community
settings, including Graterford Prison, Project HOME, William Cramp Elementary
School, and South Philadelphia High School.
Evaluation processes for liberal arts, musical studies, and career studies courses were
revised to allow students to more effectively assess their academic coursework.
AHEAD
e Vocal Studies department will transition to new leadership in the coming year, as
eminent bass-baritone Eric Owens, a Curtis opera alumnus, shares the direction of the
program with principal opera coach Danielle Orlando. In 2019–20 the pair succeeds
Mikael Eliasen, who has led the department for more than three decades.
Learn about Curtis's
community engagement
curriculum and activities
at Curtis.edu/Community.
reaccreditation process] reaffirmed that Curtis is indeed
a mission-driven institution. Our mission—to educate and
‘‘[e
train exceptionally gifted young musicians to engage a local and
global community through the highest level of artistry—helps
give the school, as well as its programs and operations, a distinct
focus. e visiting team concurred in its final report, complimenting
Curtis on the clarity of its mission and its integration throughout
the curriculum.
’’
—Paul Bryan (Trombone ’99), dean

ANNUAL REPORT 2017–18 7
FINANCIAL FUTURE
GOAL
Curtis will ensure that the institution has a stable and sustainable financial
future, including sufficient funds to realize the ambitious goals of the
strategic direction.
IN 2017-18
n Support for the Curtis Annual Fund totaled nearly $5.13 million, representing 2,222
gifts from 1,735 individual, corporate, and foundation donors.
n
n
n
Curtis’s endowment fund grew by more than $4 million through gifts from eleven
individual donors, two foundations, and twelve active estates; and the combined endowments
of Curtis and the Bok Foundation returned 8.6 percent over the course of the year.
Seven new donors became members of the Founder’s Society, confirming their intention
to make a planned gift to Curtis.
AHEAD
Curtis will continue to raise funds for its endowment to ensure the school’s tuition-free
policy, while raising $5 million for the Annual Fund with a focus on reducing the annual
draw from the endowment.
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
GOAL
Curtis will design a dynamic and flexible organizational structure to support
its strategic direction and fulfill its bold intentions.
IN 2017-18
n
n
n
n
Curtis updated and consolidated existing systems to improve integration among
admissions, fundraising, scheduling, and ticketing; and a new comprehensive scheduling
system was identified.
e full staff and student body participated in intensive multi-session cultural
competency training that covered diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Curtis hired its first-ever chief technology officer.
AHEAD
Curtis will create a new faculty council, focusing faculty engagement on
institution-wide priorities.
ALUMNI GIVING
PARTICIPATION OF
CURTIS ALUMNI IN THE
ANNUAL FUND GREW BY
18%
WITH
478
ALUMNI DONORS
GIVING BACK TO THE SCHOOL,
UP FROM 406
IN THE PREVIOUS YEAR.
View Curtis’s
2017–18 supporters at
Curtis.edu/AnnualReport.
ORGANIZATIONAL
EFFECTIVENESS
CURTIS WAS RECOGNIZED AS
ONE OF 12 HIGH-PERFORMANCE
ORGANIZATIONS WORLDWIDE
IN THE BOOK POWERHOUSE,
STANDING ALONGSIDE
ORGANIZATIONS LIKE THE
MAYO CLINIC, U.S. MARINE
CORPS, AND MÉDÉCINS
SANS FRONTIÈRES.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE CURTIS INSTITUTE OF MUSIC
2017–18
as of May 31, 2018
Mark E. Rubenstein,
chair
Anthony B. Creamer III,
vice chair
Deborah M. Fretz,
vice chair
Edward A. Montgomery Jr.,
vice chair
Nina Baroness von Maltzahn,
honorary chair
H. F. “Gerry” Lenfest+,
chairman emeritus
Frank S. Bayley
Victoria Bok
William R. Brody
Pauline Candaux, Friends trustee
Mia Chung
Roberto Díaz
Janellen Farmer, alumni trustee
Gordon Fowler
Bruce Jay Gould, M.D.
Andrew Jacobs
Linda E. Johnson
Harry T. Lee
Lisa Liem
Sueyun P. Locks
Betty H. Matarese
Connie B. McCann
John H. McFadden
Frank J. Mechura
John J. Medveckis
Jennifer Montone
Alan Morrison
Robert H. Mundheim
Ranji Nagaswami
Roy Neff
C. Richard Neu
Eric Owens
William H. Roberts
Robert H. Rock
Brett Rubinson
Chiona Schwarz
William R. Stensrud
Jay H. Tolson
Elizabeth Vale
C. J. Walsh III,
Crescendo Club trustee
Penelope P. Watkins
Betty Whelchel
Larry Bomback, treasurer
Cynthia Heininger, secretary
HONORARY TRUSTEES
A. Margaret “Stormy” Bok
Milton L. Rock, Ph.D.+
TRUSTEES EMERITI
Nina Albert+
Peter A. Benoliel
Sheldon M. Bonovitz
Luther W. Brady, M.D.+
Carolyn S. Burger
Joseph M. Field
Alan R. Hirsig
Scott M. Jenkins
Bobby Ellen Kimbel, Ph.D.
James R. “Robin” Ledwith
Bong S. Lee, M.D.
Christina Weiss Lurie
David G. Marshall
John A. Nyheim
Albert E. Piscopo
Robert Pollack
Samuel R. Shipley III
Amanda W. Smoot
MARY LOUISE CURTIS BOK FOUNDATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS
2017–18
as of May 31, 2018
Bayard R. Fiechter, president
Victoria Bok, vice president
Joseph M. Field, secretary
Scott M. Jenkins, treasurer
A. Margaret “Stormy” Bok
Tomas J. Bok, Ph.D.
Gary Graffman
James R. “Robin” Ledwith
Milton L. Rock, Ph.D.+
Robert H. Rock
Samuel R. Shipley III
+ deceased