Biography

A winner of Astral’s 2006 National Auditions, violinist Jennifer Curtis is also the recipient of the inaugural MILKA/ASTRAL VIOLIN PRIZE, designated for a violinist invited to join the Astral Artists roster. Astral presented her Philadelphia recital debut, and her solo debut with Symphony in C on Astral’s series last season was praised by The Philadelphia Inquirer as “a startlingly authoritative performance.” Astral presents her this season in a program of chamber masterworks. Noted for her dynamic performances, Ms. Curtis appears regularly as a featured soloist and collaborative chamber musician across the U.S. and abroad. Also an accomplished composer, her works have been performed in New York City, at Italy’s Spoleto Festival, and at the Verbier Festival de Musique in Switzerland, among others.

Ms. Curtis captured first prizes in both The Juilliard School and The University of California’s concerto competitions, and received an award from The California Music Federation’s Competition for Soloists. As the winner of the Artists International Competition, she gave her New York recital debut in Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in May 2006, about which The New York Concert Review described her interpretations as “inventive” and “quite fascinating.” The New York Times also recognized Ms. Curtis’ “fine solos” after leading the Juilliard Orchestra in Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 at Avery Fisher Hall. She made her New York concerto debut in 2004 in Dutilleux’s L’Arbre des Songes with the Juilliard Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall. Ms. Curtis recently appeared as soloist with the celebrated Simón Bolívar Orchestra in Venezuela and in chamber performances at Mexico’s Festival Internacional de Música Contemporánea and France’s Musique de Chambre à Giverny. She also recently performed Paul Desenne’s The Two Seasons with the University of North Carolina’s Festival On The Hill, as part of the festival’s Modern Music of Latin America series, and gave a recital in Merkin Concert Hall, in which she gave the New York première of Enescu’s Airs in Romanian Folk Style for Solo Violin.

Ms. Curtis has collaborated with such artists as Bonnie Hampton, Paul Katz, Nicholas Mann, Robert Mann, and conductor James Judd. She has performed, recorded, and toured with the Argento Chamber Ensemble, the Momenta Quartet, the Mark Morris Dance Group, and Continuum, with which she performed at the Ilkhom Festival of Contemporary Music in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. She is also a member of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) and the Ikarus Chamber Players.

Possessing an avid interest in music of all kinds, Ms. Curtis has performed new works by composers Virko Baley, Fred Lerhdal, and Tristan Murail. She also worked closely with composer Lou Harrison on his Philemon and Baukis, a work for solo violin and gamelan, which she performed at gamelan festivals throughout the west coast. She also performed Harrison’s Concerto for Violin, Percussion, and Celeste at Juilliard’s FOCUS! Festival. Also a proficient mandolin player, she has been engaged to perform original, traditional, and orchestral mandolin compositions, and played the instrument in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex and Le Rossignol.

Ms. Curtis has studied West African, Haitian, and Afro-Cuban percussion, and travels worldwide to continue to expand her understanding of artistry and expression through experiencing the music of different cultures. She is the founder and director of the Tres Americas Project, a non-profit, community-focused exploration of the musical traditions of the Americas. Through performances of original, traditional, and classical repertoire, TAP expands the boundaries of the aesthetics of music performance and creates alternative performance venues.

Ms. Curtis holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Mills College in California, where she studied with David Abel, and a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School, where she was a student of Robert Mann. She has also studied with Laurie Smuckler.

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JULY 2008 (Please destroy any previously dated material.)