CURTIS INSTITUTE OF MUSIC

"Reassuring to our internal and external stakeholders"

For nearly a century, Philadelphia’s celebrated Curtis Institute of Music has provided each member of its small student body with an unparalleled education alongside musical peers and a faculty that includes actively performing musicians. The Curtis program is distinguished by a “learn by doing” philosophy and personalized attention. To ensure that admissions are based solely on artistic promise, Curtis makes an investment in each student so that no tuition is charged. Since its founding in 1924 by the Curtis publishing family of the Saturday Evening Post and the Ladies’ Home Journal, Curtis has been offering culturally and financially deprived children – many of whom were gifted enough for professional careers – with a music conservatory with rigorous standards of teaching and performance that continues to train the next generation of musical artists. Alumni have gone on to make history as soloists, composers, conductors, orchestral players, and chamber musicians. Curtis graduates have received Pulitzer Prizes, Guggenheim Fellowships, and Avery Fisher Awards, are members of the world’s leading orchestras, and have sung with La Scala, Covent Garden, the Vienna Staatsoper, the San Francisco Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera.

Larry Bomback, Senior Vice President of Administration, had been introduced to YPTC many years ago at another organization. When Curtis’ controller left to take a bigger position at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, “YPTC was the first organization that sprang to mind in order to get some immediate interim help,” he recalls. “They were extremely responsive, listened to what we needed, and wound up working with us longer than we anticipated because things were working out so smoothly.”

During the peak of YPTC’s engagement during the transition until a permanent controller was hired, as many as four YPTC associates were working with Curtis. “They didn’t need a lot of hand-holding, which was very helpful to me,” says Bomback. “They were able to figure things out on their own and identified areas that could be more efficient. They were able to staff up quickly with really good people.

“I think having a name like YPTC was very reassuring to our internal and external stakeholders that they would be here during the interim while we searched for a new controller,” he adds.