Curtis fields a triple

A music school is known by its graduates, and Curtis has scheduled a triple threat alumni roster for the Curtis Symphony Orchestra’s spring concert. The centerpiece will be the American premiere of Krzysztof Penderecki’s 2012 Double Concerto for Violin and Viola, featuring two world-class string players: Benjamin Schmid (Curtis ’91) and the current President of Curtis, Roberto Díaz (‘84). The conductor will be faculty member and Curtis alumnus Ignat Solzhenitsyn, the Principal Guest Conductor of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra and the former conductor of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. Penderecki is the current Composer-in-Residence at Curtis, so his presence will add the crowning touch to the premiere. The concert will open with Stravinsky’s Fireworks fantasy and conclude with one of the core works in the Russian repertoire, Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique symphony.

Curtis Symphony Orchestra’s spring concert is coming up on Sunday, April 13 at 8pm at the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall, 300 S. Broad St., Philadelphia. For tickets ($5-$45) and more information, call 215-893-1999 or visit www.curtis.edu.