Coming up in Philly Music: The Curtis Student Recital Series goes virtual and free

The Curtis Institute of Music is known for its instrumental graduates, but it has a vocal department that is just as illustrious. The Curtis Student Recital Series is premiering a series of online concerts featuring vocal students singing songs that span the art song repertoire, from Mozart to cabaret. The concerts are available for on-demand streaming.

Voices of the world

Curtis is an international institution, and the students in the online recitals are performing from various places in the world (including Philadelphia). The final three concerts in the series include two sopranos, a mezzo-soprano, a baritone, a bass-baritone, and a tenor.

The three concerts have a hearty list of 40 songs. In the recital that premieres Wednesday, November 25, mezzo Anastasia Sidorova will open her stint with a Handel aria and continue with a song by Brahms, two cabaret songs by William Bolcom, songs by the romantic Soviet composer Georgy Sviridov, and a rare setting of a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay. She’ll be preceded by baritone Patrick Wilhelm singing three pieces by Mozart, Strauss, and Brahms. The other two programs are just as varied.

One of the big events of 2020 was the six-concert art song series the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society presented just before the season was canceled due to the pandemic. If that series whetted your appetite for songs in the classical tradition, this song festival will be worth a look.

What, When, Where, and Accessibility:

The Curtis Student Recital Series will premiere art song concerts on Wednesday, November 25, Monday, November 30, and Wednesday, December 2. Tickets are free and viewing is unlimited: register for access online.

Image Description: A woman in the background sits at the piano, to the left and slightly out of focus, and another woman stands in the foreground, in focus to the right, wearing a blackcurrant-colored dress.