Curtis Mourns the Passing of Longtime Trustee Peter A. Benoliel
The Curtis community mourns the loss of longtime trustee Peter A. Benoliel, who passed away on Monday, February 17, at his home in St. Davids, Pennsylvania at age 93. A visionary civic leader in the Philadelphia arts and culture sector and longtime chief executive of Quaker Chemical Corp, Mr. Benoliel served on Curtis’ board of trustees from 1982 to 1996, and was named a trustee emeritus in 1996. His steadfast leadership and generosity left an enduring mark on Philadelphia’s cultural landscape.
A dedicated patron of the arts, he blended business acumen with a deep appreciation for the complexities of arts organizations, guiding them through transformative periods. Beyond his service at Curtis, he was board chair at The Philadelphia Orchestra from 1995 to 2000, and led the institution through many of its most challenging moments, including a 64-day musicians’ strike. His commitment to fostering a love of music extended to identifying and securing major donors for the orchestra, including a $10 million gift from Walter and Leonore Annenberg to endow the music director position in 2000.
Mr. Benoliel’s influence spanned nearly seven decades at Settlement Music School, where he first joined the board in 1957 and remained an active advocate until his passing. This commitment was honored in January of this year, when the Germantown Avenue branch was renamed the “Peter A. Benoliel Germantown Branch.” His work at Settlement Music School, in particular, highlighted the importance of bringing music education to all neighborhoods, an initiative he championed with then-chief Sol Schoenbach in the 1950s, and he was an instrumental figure in the expansion of the school’s branches across Philadelphia, helping to make high-quality music education accessible to all.
His philanthropic vision also played a crucial role in the success of numerous organizations, including the Free Library of Philadelphia, where he served on the foundation board, and the Kimmel Center, where he helped secure significant funding for its development. A violinist himself, he found deep personal fulfillment in music, endowing three second violin chairs at The Philadelphia Orchestra and ensuring that one would bear the name of its musician in perpetuity.
Beyond his contributions to the arts, Mr. Benoliel was a distinguished business leader who significantly expanded Quaker Chemical Corp, a Conshohocken-based specialty chemicals company founded by his father and uncle in the 1930s. After joining as a chemist in 1957, he served as president and CEO from 1966 to 1992, leading the company’s global expansion into Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Under his leadership, Quaker Chemical went public in 1972 and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 1996. In 2019, the company merged in a $1.6 billion deal to become Quaker Houghton. His expertise extended to the financial sector, where he served as chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia board of directors from 1989 to 1992, in addition to sitting on various corporate and nonprofit boards.
A Philadelphia native, Mr. Benoliel graduated from Princeton University with a degree in philosophy and a minor in chemistry before serving in the U.S. Navy for three and a half years. His lifelong intellectual curiosity extended to Japanese history, literature, rare books, and the humanities, but music remained his deepest passion. In years past, he played violin in Philadelphia’s “Unstrung Heroes” benefit concerts, where prominent business and civic leaders performed together in celebration of amateur musicianship.
A man of great warmth and integrity, Mr. Benoliel was known for his ability to connect with everyone he encountered, and friends and colleagues recall his keen curiosity, generosity, and dedication to the communities he served. His fundraising skills were both strategic and heartfelt, driven by a belief that the arts enrich communities and individuals alike.
Our heartfelt sympathies and condolences go out to Mr. Benoliel’s wife, Willo Carey; his sister, Lynn Jacobson; his family, friends, colleagues, and loved ones.
Read Peter Dobrin’s tribute to Mr. Benoliel in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Photo credits: 1, 2, & 7.) Courtesy of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Mr. Benoliel’s family. 3.) Peter A. Benoliel and his wife, Willo Carey, at a Settlement Music School; courtesy of the Philadelphia Inquirer. 4.) The 2015 Curtis Institute of Music Gala (left to right): Margarita Montanaro (Harp ’63), the late Donald Montanaro (Clarinet ’54), and Peter A. Benoliel; Curtis Archives. 5.) Left to right: Peter A. Benoliel, philanthropist Leonore Annenberg, Philadelphia Orchestra music director Wolfgang Sawallisch, and Philadelphia Orchestra board member Harold A. Sorgenti; courtesy of the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Orchestra. 6.) Left to right: Tom McCarthy, Gary Graffman, Peter B, Skip Zimbalist; Jean Brubaker and Curtis Archives.
