Campus and Facilities

The Curtis Institute of Music’s main building occupies two charming, connected 19th-century mansions with wood-paneled walls, ornate moldings, high ceilings, decorative ironwork, and Oriental rugs. Classes, practice, lessons, performances, and receptions are held here. The building includes Field Concert Hall, the Curtis Opera Studio, the Graffman Common Room, music studios, classrooms, a computer studio, and a student lounge.

Inside the front doors is a handsomely appointed reception area, named the Gary and Naomi Graffman Common Room after the recent Curtis president/director and his wife. It hosts receptions, weekly Wednesday-afternoon teas during the school year, and the daily comings and goings of students and faculty.

Field Concert Hall is a 240-seat auditorium with splendid acoustics and facilities for video- and audio-recording. It is used for weekly student recitals, faculty and alumni concerts, master classes, and recording sessions. It also houses a 5-manual, 116-rank Aeolian-Skinner organ. The hall is easily accessible, with an elevator lift at street level.

This black-box space holds approximately 110 seats and is configured differently for each performance. The Curtis Opera Studio is wheelchair-accessible, however there are two elevators required, and some travel down the hallways of our third floor. Advanced arrival time for those with accessibility needs is recommended to ensure a timely arrival before the performance.

The Rock Resource Center, at 1720 Locust Street, houses the John de Lancie Library and the Curtis Archives. Named after Dr. Milton L. Rock, a generous former chairman of the Curtis Board of Trustees, the Rock Resource Center aims to provide Curtis students, faculty, and staff with the best possible collection of printed music, books, periodicals, recordings, and electronic resources.

The Curtis Archives document and preserve the history of the Curtis Institute of Music and make its records and materials available to the greater Curtis community and researchers. Use of some materials may be restricted by limitations imposed by law, donor stipulations, Curtis policies, or preservation concerns. The archives may be consulted by appointment only.

The John de Lancie Library contains more than 65,000 volumes of music scores and books, including over 100 scholarly sets of composers’ complete works, authoritative editions of the standard repertoire, and more than 33,000 audio and video recordings.

To maintain its priceless musical traditions in the modern environment, Curtis built Lenfest Hall, a dynamic space for learning and living, tailored to the needs of its extraordinary students and faculty. It includes the magnificent Gould Rehearsal Hall, housing for half the student body, a fifth-floor garden terrace, and convenient dining facilities. It also houses the orchestra library and the orchestral instrument collection. The building is named in honor of Curtis Chairman Emeritus H. F. “Gerry” Lenfest and Marguerite Lenfest.

One of the building’s main social centers, the Commons includes the Albert Lounge, a comfortable area looking out onto historic Saint Mark’s Church, as well as a dining hall that is open to the Curtis community seven days a week.

As a gathering area for trustees, overseers, faculty, staff, and others which can accommodate up to 60 people, Locks Board Room weds historic details with state-of-the-art technology.

A 2,850-square-foot, acoustically designed rehearsal hall accommodates a full orchestra for the largest-scale core repertoire, with state-of-the-art video, audio, and Internet2 capabilities. Teaching studios for percussion, double bass, and harp are located adjacent to the rehearsal hall.