Learn

Students at Curtis Institute of Music enjoy a wealth of opportunities to perform, listen, and learn.

To create the environment Mary Louise Curtis Bok envisioned, the Curtis curriculum combines one-on-one training with master artists and courses in musical studies, liberal arts, and career studies.

Curtis is America’s most selective music conservatory, and its high standard for entry ensures that students rehearse and perform alongside musical peers. Curtis’s student body is international and multicultural, and there is no minimum or maximum age to audition

In a uniquely nurturing environment, the school’s superb faculty encourages students at every step to grow as artists and as members of the Curtis community.

  • "Students shall learn to think and express their thoughts against a background of quiet culture, with the stimulus of personal contact with artist teachers who represent the highest and finest in their art."

    — Mary Louise Curtis Bok, founder of the Curtis Institute of Music

Degrees and Diplomas

Curtis provides complete and diversified musical training. Students study with distinguished artist-teachers in private lessons, repertoire classes, and chamber music coachings.

Accreditation

The Curtis Institute of Music is operated under a charter granted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and is included in the list of Colleges and Universities in Pennsylvania Approved by the State Council of Education for the Granting of Degrees. The Curtis Institute of Music is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music.

The Curtis Institute of Music is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, 3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, (267) 284-5000. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.

Pre-college Students

Curtis does not offer preparatory music or academic programs, in the belief that gifted young musicians should study with leading teachers from the beginning of their conservatory days.

Accordingly Curtis sets no minimum age for the admission of exceptional students to most of its programs.

Academic Policies and Procedures

Curtis is committed to musical and academic integrity. Guidelines and policies detail students’ and teachers’ rights and obligations as members of Curtis’s community and are provided to foster excellence on stage and in the classroom.