Endowment Funds

Curtis’s founder, Mary Louise Curtis Bok, was a woman of great vision. Encouraged by her husband, Edward Bok, and her friends Leopold Stokowski and Josef Hofmann, she not only conceived the Curtis Institute of Music; she had the foresight to establish a generous endowment that would support the school for the future. Thanks to wise and careful management, her initial gift of $500,000 (supplemented a few years later by $12 million) has grown. Over time other generous friends have followed Ms. Bok’s example, making mission-sustaining contributions to Curtis during their lifetimes and through their estates.

Such forward-thinking generosity has given Curtis a sound financial foundation, allowing the school to engage in immediate and long-term strategic planning to assure its leadership position among the world’s greatest conservatories. In recent years, income from Curtis’s endowment resources—around 5 percent annually—has supported almost 60% of Curtis’s annual operating budget, helping to perpetuate the merit-based, full-tuition scholarship policy that benefits every student.

Donors to the Curtis endowment are recognized in school publications and in press releases regarding Curtis fellows, faculty, and programs.

To learn more about contributing to the Curtis endowment, please contact [email protected] or (215) 717-3131.