Students and Community Artist Fellows Showcase Their Collaborations

Community-based projects are an essential part of a Curtis education, informing students’ development as artists and empowering them to invent careers with impact after their graduation. Learn more about the full Artist Citizen curriculum at Curtis and explore our students’ work from the Spring 2021 semester.

Members of the Social Entrepreneur class partnered with students from Girard College (ages 15–18) in North Philadelphia in the fall and spring semesters. The end result is “Message in a Bottle,” which expresses their thoughts on the many challenges of the 2020–21 school year.

Some highlights from “Message in a Bottle” include:

• 0:22 – Girard College Fine Arts Chairman Paul Eaton calls his students to action
• 3:35 – trumpet solo by James Vaughen
• 11:07 – original song “Gen Z Up”
• 11:39 – piano solo by Avery Gagliano
• 19:35 – oboe solo by Jamison Hillian
• 21:25 – spring semester final project

The Community Artist Fellowship program is generously supported by Professor Frank F. Furstenberg Jr., in memory of Nina Segre.

The Curtis Institute of Music received funding from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts.