May 292012
 
music scholarships from curtis institute

Scholarships from Curtis Institute of Music

Students with an interest in music looking for full tuition scholarships may wish to consider Curtis Institute of Music. Each student who gains admission to Curtis Institute of Music will receive a full-tuition scholarship. Prospective applicants should understand the school is highly selective and only admits 160 new students per year. Those students who are admitted will receive a high-quality education from what is considered to be one of the best music conservatories in not only the country, but the world.

The Curtis Institute of Music has become known for training and educating musicians with exceptional talent to embark upon careers as performing artists at only the highest professional level. In meeting that goal, the Institute offers full-tuition scholarships to all accepted students. As a result, admissions are based solely on a student’s artistic promise and not their ability to pay.

The school offers a diversified, comprehensive musical training program, along with liberal arts courses. Students at the school may pursue a diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music (opera students) and Professional Studies Certificate for vocal students.

Curtis has maintained an all-scholarship policy since 1928. The guaranteed scholarships at Curtis are merit-based and are offered to graduate as well as undergraduate students. The annual value of this scholarship is approximately $36,500 for undergraduate students and $49,500 for grad students.

Scholarships are renewed each year a student is enrolled. Students are not required to complete a financial aid application in order to receive the full-tuition scholarship at Curtis. Students may apply for and receive other grants and scholarships, including the Pell Grant. The school has a policy of ensuring that no student will need to leave due to financial need. Students who do demonstrate financial need will be provided with sufficient assistance in order to attend Curtis, including financial assistance for living expenses, which is based upon financial need. Curtis will also pay for transportation to take lessons which occur outside of Philadelphia. In addition, Curtis will also provide financial assistance for students with financial need for travel expenses related to auditions and competitions.

The Curtis Institute of Music officially opened in 1924 and came about as a fulfillment of the dream of Mary Louise Curtis Bok, who was the only child of the head of Curtis Publishing Company, a publishing house most well-known for the publication of The Ladies’ Home Journal and The Saturday Evening Post. After Mrs. Bok spent time working at the Settlement Music School in South Philadelphia with a mix of financially needy children and became convinced that many of the students there possessed enough talent to have a professional music career. Through this experience, she saw a need for a music conservatory capable of rigorously training a new generation of musical talent.

The school’s rare tuition-free policy was originally established four years after the school was first opened and today continues to offer a quality education to students regardless of their financial background. During its history, Curtis Institute of Music has trained composers, soloists, conductors and chamber musicians. Graduates of Curtis have been the recipients of Guggenheim Fellowships, Pulitzer Prizes and Avery Fisher Awards. Graduates of Curtis have gone on to become members of some of the leading orchestras in the world. This exceptional level of training and education is possible through the school’s unique personalized attention from an extraordinary faculty of approximately 90 top-tier musical artists and classroom teachers. Students at Curtis are able to access several instructors for their major instrument. No teaching assistants are used at Curtis. Instead, classes remain small in order to ensure curricula can be specifically tailored for each individual student.

All students at Curtis are highly encouraged to frequently perform. Students present more than 125 performances annually. Approximately five productions of the Curtis Opera Theatre are made per season. The Curtis Symphony Orchestra also gives a 3-hour concert season in Verizon Hall in Philadelphia, in addition to performing in Carnegie Hall. All instrumental students at Curtis also participate in chamber music. In addition, more than 100 student recitals are offered at Curtis each season. As a result, students at Curtis are able to truly learn by doing and do so without the worries of student debt due to the automatic scholarships guaranteed to all students who are admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music.

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