Curtis Organ Studio

Curtis Organ Studio A page dedicated to the organ studio, past and present, of the Curtis Institute of Music.

Dobson Opus 100 made her debut last evening in an official “soft opening” in a concert featuring music for organ and Bra...
03/07/2026

Dobson Opus 100 made her debut last evening in an official “soft opening” in a concert featuring music for organ and Brass. Works by Gigout, Laurin, Jean Baptiste Robin, Guilmant and Franck along with other festive works proved what a fine, cohesive and expressive this instrument can be in ensemble. Now we are preparing for the official solo dedication on March 31! Pictured are some Dobson crew with students. The second photo included recent alum Isza Wu who made a special trip from Washington, DC!

I had a wonderful time these past few days hosting Thomas Ospital, organ professor at the Paris Conservatoire and organi...
02/12/2026

I had a wonderful time these past few days hosting Thomas Ospital, organ professor at the Paris Conservatoire and organist at St. Eustache. He’s a bundle of fun energy and it seems all we did was eat and talk shop. But in between he gave a delightfully inspiring class for my students. Shout out to James Kealey for hosting us on the Rieger organ at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church. Students Andy Brown, Jessie Zixi Deng, Daniel Carroll, Daniel Colaner and Sarah Palmer played the following repertoire:
Alain - Dieuxieme Fantasie
Vierne - Toccata (Second Suite)
Franck - Prière
Dupré - Prelude and Fugue in B Major
Duruflé- Fugue on Alain

01/23/2026

Dobson Opus 100 is coming along brilliantly! Fundraising has gone extremely well and there’s still time to donate to the instrument and the maintenance endowment- any amount - to be included on the donor plaque. You may contact [email protected] for more info by Feb 1! Save the date of March 31 for our dedication. 😃

Second week of school included a nice organ class of music by Hampton, Barber, Dupré, Vierne and Ravel.
09/12/2025

Second week of school included a nice organ class of music by Hampton, Barber, Dupré, Vierne and Ravel.

It’s really happening! Dobson Opus 100 is coming along nicely. I’m fairly certain this is the first teaching console eve...
09/12/2025

It’s really happening! Dobson Opus 100 is coming along nicely. I’m fairly certain this is the first teaching console ever built but don’t quote me. More to come!

For the interest of Curtis alums, here is the practice situation now! From a single trustworthy Moeller Artiste, we now ...
08/09/2025

For the interest of Curtis alums, here is the practice situation now! From a single trustworthy Moeller Artiste, we now have maxed out our allotted spaces - one instrument per student plus the new Dobson Opus 100 in Field Concert Hall. Flentrop, Dyer, Wahl, Dyer, Oberlinger. We also have a three manual custom Allen that belonged to the late Stephanie Liem (‘08) that is being outfitted soon with Hauptwerk.

Well, I donated my Flentrop to Curtis earlier than expected! This was the house organ of Dr. John and Margaret Mueller i...
08/07/2025

Well, I donated my Flentrop to Curtis earlier than expected! This was the house organ of Dr. John and Margaret Mueller in Winston Salem, NC. Not many people know I started my college career at North Carolina School of the Arts pre-Curtis under his tutelage. It will be put to exhaustive use and I’m thrilled to add it to our collection. Now for my students to name it. I have ideas but I’ll let them decide. Thanks to Patrick Murphy for removing it, fixing her up and reinstalling!

The scene: 24 years ago in the Office of the Dean at The Curtis Institute of Music (that’s back when “The” was still use...
07/17/2025

The scene: 24 years ago in the Office of the Dean at The Curtis Institute of Music (that’s back when “The” was still used 😉).
Me: “We need a new instrument in the hall and we need a new practice organ.”
Dean: “I understand and I feel your pain but we can’t right now.”
Little by little we gained several practice organs and new studios. One for each student. And now, finally, 24 years later the beginnings of Dobson Opus 100 has started to arrive! I’m grateful to donors (and future donors to help get across the finish line!) and the support of the administration for realizing the importance of this instrument for the students studying here. I’ve been blessed with the cream of the crop (and there were plenty crops of cream before me!) and they deserve this. I’ve always been envious of peer institutions and their facilities and at Curtis, it’s just different. Our quaintness has been confined to limited spaces. And yes, they are lovely. Being fully mindful of our incredible surroundings in the way of instruments where the students get to play (Wanamaker organ, Girard Chapel, Longwood Gardens, Tindley Temple, St Mark’s Locust St, Old Christ Church etc…), my team of fellow alums knew exactly what was needed for teaching in our given space. Thank you Ken Cowan, Nathan Laube, Matthew Glandorf and ex-officio member Fred Haas for all the work and brainstorming. We have downsized from approx 116 ranks to a bit over 70 ranks of sheer quality. This includes eight 16’ manual stops and three 32’s! Oh, and a Physharmonica free-reed. 😉 My over the top request was a second teaching console so I can sit side by side for any demonstration without having to waste time moving them off the bench and readjusting bench height. I don’t demonstrate much. But all my piano lessons were with a second piano and that was SO beneficial watching my teachers. When I felt being over budget might not be so popular with the administration, I was told without hesitation, “No, you need what you need to benefit the students and now is the time to do this right.” How lucky I am. And how lucky are the students for years to come. Well done Curtis Institute of Music! Now for the work to commence. Stay tuned.

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Philadelphia, PA

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+12158935252

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