Celebrating the Most Talented Curtis Institute of Music Graduates
Plus, a look at the prestigious Rittenhouse school's rising stars, including a 14-year-old who insists on remaining mononymous.
Lang Lang / Photograph by Olaf Heine, courtesy of the Philadelphia Orchestra
This week, pianist extraordinaire Lang Lang — fresh off his performance at the Winter Olympics opening ceremony — returns to the Kimmel Center for the umpteenth time to perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Philadelphia Orchestra. If you know Lang Lang at all, you likely know that the musician’s Philly ties run deep; he spent five formative years, beginning at age 15, at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music on Rittenhouse Square. He left town in 2007 but still thinks of Philly as his second home, he says — and remembers his time at Curtis as “fun”: “It was so much more relaxed than China.”
Of course, Lang Lang isn’t the only world-famous musician drawn to Philly via Curtis, which isn’t just one of the most esteemed music schools in the world, but also one of the most difficult schools of any type, anywhere, to get into. Here, a snapshot of other big-time alums.
Leonard Bernstein
Photograph via Underwood Archives/Getty Images
Years Attended: 1939–1941
Career Highlight: Ever heard of a little musical called West Side Story?
The great conductor and composer’s father wanted him to go into the family beauty supply business. Instead, Bernstein, who grew up outside of Boston, studied music at Harvard from 1935 to 1939 before spending two years studying conducting at Curtis. In 1975, Philly dignitaries and socialites clamored to get invites to hear him speak at the Bellevue-Stratford in celebration of the school’s 50th anniversary.
Hilary Hahn
Photograph by Chris Lee
Years Attended: 1990–1999
Career Highlight: One of the world’s foremost violin players of Bach has won all sorts of awards (including three Grammys), but we still love her 2000 performance of Bach’s Sonata No. 2 on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. “Oh my,” exclaimed dear old Fred. “That made me feel so happy!”
The Virginia-born violinist enrolled at Curtis at just 10 years old and wound up spending the next decade of her life there. Just two years after being admitted to Curtis — so, at age 12 — she made her major orchestra debut with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and then with the Philadelphia Orchestra a year later. Another Philly connection? She plays on the eerie score for M. Night’s The Village.
Yuja Wang
Photograph by Hiroyuki Ito/Getty Images
Years Attended: 2002–2008
Career Highlight: In 2023, she pulled off the previously unthinkable, performing all four Rachmaninoff piano concertos — it took more than four hours — at Carnegie Hall.
Like Lang Lang, Wang moved from China to study at Curtis. Today, her live performances have been described as “brilliant,” “dazzling,” and “technically flawless” by music critics, while her flashy style — in fashion, that is — has caught the attention of publications like Vogue and the New Yorker. Wang’s primary home is in Manhattan, but she’ll be spending a lot more time in Philly — she’s going back to Curtis for a newly created role helping “shape the school’s next century of tradition, innovation, and artistic excellence.” Your next chance to see her live? April 2027 at the Kimmel.
The Curtis Institute of Music / Photograph by M. Fischetti for Visit Philly
Star Search
The next generation of Curtis talent to watch
(Photo by Benjamin Ealovega, courtesy Eric Lu)
Eric Lu
Class of 2020
The pianist skyrocketed to classical music fame this past fall when he won the 2025 edition of the quinquennial International Chopin Competition — basically the Olympics of the classical piano world. He’s performing at the Mann on July 21st.
(photo courtesy Micah Gleason)
Micah Gleason
Class of 2024
The Yannick Nézet-Séguin mentee has conducted major orchestras from coast to coast and in Europe and has already earned a “fiercely skilled” rave from The New York Times.
(photo courtesy Himari)
Himari Yoshimura
Class of 2029 (est.)
Curtis describes the 14-year-old violinist, who insists on the mononymous “Himari” for her stage name, as a “megastar.” She’s already performed with the Chicago, Philadelphia, London, and Berlin symphonies, and the school regularly gets calls from media outlets around the world looking to film her story.
