Curtis Symphony Orchestra Presents “Prokofiev & Time for Three” on October 27

Press Contacts:
Patricia K. Johnson | patricia.johnson@curtis.edu | (215) 717-3190
Ryan Scott Lathan | ryan.lathan@curtis.edu | (215) 717-3145

Download PDF

PHILADELPHIA, PA—October 9, 2024—The Curtis Symphony Orchestra launches its 2024–25 series on Sunday, October 27, at 3:00 p.m. in Marian Anderson Hall, Kimmel Center, with a program highlighting three towering works—Jean Sibelius’ Finlandia, Op. 25, Jennifer Higdon’s (Composition ’88) Concerto 4-3, and Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5. Prokofiev & Time for Three features performances by Curtis’ great young musicians under the baton of internationally renowned Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä, with a special guest appearance by GRAMMY Award-winning ensemble Time for Three, comprised of two Curtis alumni, violinist Nicolas “Nick” Kendall (’01) and double bassist Ranaan Meyer (’03), and violinist Charles Yang. This inspiring program pays homage to Curtis’ past while embracing the school’s exciting future.

On April 25, 1926, the Curtis Symphony Orchestra performed Jean Sibelius’ Finlandia as the final selection of its inaugural concert at the ballroom of the Penn Athletic Club. Ninety-eight years later, as Curtis embarks on its 100th-anniversary season, it is only fitting that this rousing piece opens the first concert of the school’s historic centennial celebration. With its richly textured score and iconic central theme (a melody later adapted into the popular hymn “Be still, my soul”), Sibelius’ patriotic tone poem has become one of the composer’s most notable works and the quintessential sound of Finnish patriotism.

Composed as a seven-movement suite of incidental music for a series of tableaux based on Finnish history, the work was first presented at the Swedish Theatre in Helsinki for the Press Celebrations of 1899. Under the guise of a fundraiser for the newspaper staff’s pension, the three-day event became a thinly veiled, rallying political cry for Finnish liberation from Russian dominance and a protest against Tsar Nicholas II’s proclamation, the “February Manifesto,” which gave the Russian imperial government the absolute right to rule Finland, draft its nationals into the Russian military, and silence journalists. One hundred and twenty-five years later, Sibelius’ stirring cry for freedom still serves as a reminder of the resilience of the human spirit in the face of great tyranny.

The concert continues with renowned Curtis alumna and former faculty member Jennifer Higdon’s Concerto 4-3. Inspired by the roaring mountain rivers and hymnlike serenity of the Smoky Mountains, this Appalachian bluegrass-tinged work features a crowd-pleasing, virtuosic performance by “classically trained garage band,” Time for Three. The first movement, “The Shallows,” incorporates techniques for the musicians that mimic everything from squeaking mice to electric guitars. The tranquil second movement, “Little River,” reflects the beauty of Little River as it flows through Townsend and Walland, Tennessee, and the final movement, “Roaring Smokies,” brings the concerto to a thrilling conclusion, with a rapid-fire, virtuosic movement that quickly moves along like the cold and raging mountain waters cutting through the mountains.

“Concerto 4-3 is written in the Classical vein, with certain bluegrass techniques incorporated into the fabric of the piece: emphasis on offbeats, open strings, and slides,” says Ms. Higdon. “But the language is definitely tonal, 21st-century, and American-sounding in style. I wanted to reference the Smokies because East Tennessee was the first place that I really experienced bluegrass (or, as they call it there, Mountain Music).”

Sergei Prokofiev’s lushly orchestrated Symphony No. 5 concludes the program. One of the 20th century’s most widely heralded masterpieces, this defiantly optimistic, intensely brooding symphony crackles with nervous tension and volcanic fury, tempered by moments of sweeping grandeur and joyous heroism. Described by Prokofiev as a “very important work” that “[glorifies] the human spirit… praising the free and happy man—his strength, his generosity, and the purity of his soul,” the symphony was not only an unmitigated success in Prokofiev’s Russian homeland, but it was well-received abroad, and the 1945 U.S. premiere by Serge Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra even landed him on the cover of Time magazine. Composed during the final years of World War II, this masterful work points the way to a radiant, hopeful future as it questions what lies beyond victory.

Single tickets for “Prokofiev & Time for Three” start at $24 and are available through Curtis.edu. The flexible Choose Your Own subscription option offers 25% off single ticket prices when purchasing tickets to two or more performances. To order a subscription, visit Curtis.edu/Subscribe, call (215) 893-7902, or email tickets@curtis.edu. To learn more about performances in Curtis’s 2024–25 season, including the Curtis Opera Theatre, Curtis New Music Ensemble concerts, Curtis Recital Series, and more, visit Curtis.edu/Calendar.

Curtis Symphony Orchestra
The Jack Wolgin Orchestral Concerts

“Prokofiev & Time for Three”
Sunday, October 27, at 3:00 p.m.
Marian Anderson Hall at the Kimmel Center; Broad and Spruce Streets, Philadelphia

Osmo Vänskä, conductor
Time for Three, guest artists

Nicolas “Nick” Kendall (’01): violin, vocals
Charles Yang: violin, vocals
Ranaan Meyer (’03): double bass, vocals

Curtis Symphony Orchestra

Philanthropic Support for Curtis’ 2024–25 Season
Curtis’ Centennial Season is made possible through the support of Derek and Sissela Bok, the Mary Louise Curtis Bok Foundation, Deborah M. Fretz, Charles C. Freyer and Judith Durkin Freyer, Mignon and Jim Groch, Rita E. Hauser, Lisa and Gie Liem, Bob and Caro Rock, and Mark and Robin Rubenstein. 

Mainstage productions were financed in part by a grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development. 

Curtis Institute of Music receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 

Orchestral concerts are supported by the Jack Wolgin Curtis Orchestral Concerts Endowment Fund.

About the Curtis Institute of Music
At Curtis, the world’s great young musicians develop into exceptional artists, creators, and innovators. With a tuition-free foundation, Curtis is a unique environment for teaching and learning. A small school by design, students realize their artistic potential through intensive, individualized study with the most renowned, sought-after faculty. Animated by a learn-by-doing philosophy, Curtis students share their music with audiences through more than 100 performances each year, including solo and chamber recitals, orchestral concerts, and opera—all free or at an affordable cost—offering audiences unique opportunities to participate in pivotal moments in these young musicians’ careers. Curtis students experience a close connection to the most renowned artists and organizations in classical music, as well as innovative initiatives that integrate new technologies and encourage entrepreneurship—all within a historic campus in the heart of culturally rich Philadelphia. In this diverse, collaborative community, Curtis’s extraordinary artists challenge, support, and inspire one another—continuing an unparalleled 100-year legacy of musicians who have led, and will lead, classical music into a thriving, equitable, and multidimensional future. Learn more at Curtis.edu.

Photo Credits: 1.) Time for Three (courtesy of the artists). 2.) Osmo Vanska with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra (David DeBalko). 3.) Osmo Vanska (Joel Larson). 4.) Time for Three (courtesy of the artists). 5.) Jennifer Higdon (J.D. Scott).

***