Juilliard VS Curtis

[rainmaker]

which is the best and why?

[rosie]

It depends on what one is looking for. Curtis is pretty small, tuition is free if one can get in, but there are no dorms, so finding a place to stay is necessary. Juilliard is bigger, has dorms, also has a dace and drama program. In my opion, Curtis is geared toward prodigies, but at Juilliard one  can get a masters and doctorate. I have never vistited Curtis, but I have Juilliard, and I think it is an amazing school. Both carry a great reputation. The teachers at both places are pretty old and well known. Juilliard has free massage therapy!!

rosie

[Motrax]

Curtis is a few leagues ahead of Julliard (or any other music school), but getting in is that much more difficult. This year, 70 pianists applied, and 7 were accepted, which is a whole lot. Usually they only accept two or three pianists.

However, I might venture to say that going to Julliard is more beneficial, if only for the social aspect. Having wonderful teachers helps, but being a great pianist really must come from within in the end. That's just my opinion though - if you want to be a piano-hermit (nothing wrong with that!) Curtis is the better choice.

[faulty_damper]

I'm ignorant of music schools but if the teachers are the ones teacher, then does not the "best" depend on those teachers?  And of course great equipment to provide for the students.

Just because of the name of a school does not mean it's the best, right?  It's those who teach there that matter more?

[rainmaker]

..but faulty damper, don't you think that the school is famous just because of the teachers? otherwise i don't think it would be famous, i mean if you think about it there is no reason at all for the school to be known worldwide.
 i'd also like to say that a friend of mine, 17 years old studies at juilliard with perlman so there is no difference of ''teacher quality''.
 i applied once at curtis and i felt something unique in it. it is so beautiful, the building and all the inside set. all this great atmosphere maked me love piano more than i did till then. i believe that the atmosphere is very important.
 as you can imagine i am not a prodigy so here i am outside curtis! it was a great experience though!
 people that i've talked with has told me that they prefer curtis, among them my dad.
 i think there is something more than just the school itself. what is it? i really don't know!

[faulty_damper]

There is something to be said about exclusivity as well.  Harvard, UC Berkeley, et al, have more stringent acceptance policies.  Just as does Juilliard et Curtis.  This exclusivity makes people just want it more.  Who would want a Honda if they can drive a Mercedes?  An apartment or a mansion?  The girl next door or a supermodel?

But what if you are a prodigy?  Then would it really matter if you were in a school like Curtis et Juilliard?  Wouldn't a really great teacher suffice?  It seems to me that the only reason one would want to get into those schools is because of the name.  Harvard looks better than Stanford.  Juilliard looks better than the State college music program.  And from a lay person who knows little about music conservatories like Juilliard et Curtis, the name Juilliard has been used more often in contemporary conversations and how difficult and desirable it is and that means that Juilliard is the more known and desirable of music conservatories.  Like that show on the WB, Everwood, and the teenager who wants to get into Juilliard and is getting a chance in the summer.

[Dave_2004_G]

I think I saw somewhere that at juilliard last year the only pianists they accepted were Lukas Vondracek (who's pretty brilliant I've seen him play) and one other guy

I don't know about the other one, but Vondracek has already toured playing concertos with Vladamir Ashkenazy!

Dave

[thracozaag]

which is the best and why?

 I'll do my best to try and answer this question with some modicum of intelligence.  Curtis is a throw-back school, you can just feel it when you enter the building (it's actually an old house).  It's a preserver of tradition, old and steeped in lore.  Curtis is much, much smaller than Juilliard (for example there as nearly as many piano professors at Juilliard as there are piano STUDENTS at Curtis) with all the advantages (and disadvantages) that entails.  I rather liked the close-knit, supportive atmosphere there, but you couldn't get a drink of water without someone knowing about it.  
 Juilliard is more diversified, owing to the fact that you have graduate programs and the drama and dance departments there.  There's a greater variety and encouragement to explore (at least I found) the piano repertoire.  Curtis is a germanic based school which emphasizes Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, Schubert, etc.  
 And then you have the cities: Philadelphia is a wonderful, old metropolis with a wonderful orchestra but still pales in comparison with the frequency of performances one can hear compared to New York (I love the fact you can just walk over to the MET and hear some amazing opera performance).
 My five years at Curtis was a great priviledge that time has only illumined, I doubt I'll ever feel that affection towards Juilliard, ever.

koji

[thracozaag]

 And of course, I forgot to mention at Curtis you get your own Steinway grand.

koji

[thracozaag]

There is something to be said about exclusivity as well.  Harvard, UC Berkeley, et al, have more stringent acceptance policies.  Just as does Juilliard et Curtis.  This exclusivity makes people just want it more.  Who would want a Honda if they can drive a Mercedes?  An apartment or a mansion?  The girl next door or a supermodel?

But what if you are a prodigy?  Then would it really matter if you were in a school like Curtis et Juilliard?  Wouldn't a really great teacher suffice?  It seems to me that the only reason one would want to get into those schools is because of the name.  Harvard looks better than Stanford.  Juilliard looks better than the State college music program.  And from a lay person who knows little about music conservatories like Juilliard et Curtis, the name Juilliard has been used more often in contemporary conversations and how difficult and desirable it is and that means that Juilliard is the more known and desirable of music conservatories.  Like that show on the WB, Everwood, and the teenager who wants to get into Juilliard and is getting a chance in the summer.

 Except that Juilliard HAS no summer program.

koji

[rainmaker]

 congratulations ''thracozaag'' for being accepted at curtis. who was your teacher?
 i agree with you, but i don't think that the name stays by itself as i said in a previous post. also i believe that students who knows about music schools prefer curtis than juilliard. and if you study at juilliard you've got to be a very very good student (if you prefer) so you are obliged to spend your time up the great black machine.
 from the other side, if you are able to do everything in NYC, than, wow man, you are the one. i mean that there is no time from the moment you get into that environment( of the absolute competition every day) you won't have time for many things to do, unless you are trying to be just a usual juilliard student.

[Hmoll]

  Curtis is a germanic based school which emphasizes Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, Schubert, etc.  
 

Koji - and once again, sorry I missed the Scriabin concert,

Is there still a Serkin influence at Curtis after all these years?

[thracozaag]

Koji - and once again, sorry I missed the Scriabin concert,

Is there still a Serkin influence at Curtis after all these years?

 No worries (everyone played beautifully).  Yes, the ghost of Serkin hovers over the school through his son, Peter and Lipkin.  Claude Frank's speciality is of course, Beethoven.

koji

[thracozaag]

 congratulations ''thracozaag'' for being accepted at curtis. who was your teacher?
 i agree with you, but i don't think that the name stays by itself as i said in a previous post. also i believe that students who knows about music schools prefer curtis than juilliard. and if you study at juilliard you've got to be a very very good student (if you prefer) so you are obliged to spend your time up the great black machine.
 from the other side, if you are able to do everything in NYC, than, wow man, you are the one. i mean that there is no time from the moment you get into that environment( of the absolute competition every day) you won't have time for many things to do, unless you are trying to be just a usual juilliard student.

 My main teacher was Seymour Lipkin.  However, I was free to play for other people there (Curtis has fewer political issues than Juilliard), and played often for Claude Frank, Graffman, Edward Aldwell, and had a couple of memorable lessons with Horszowski.

koji

[rainmaker]

 i believe there is still the ghost of hofmann and i think peter serkin has left( i'm not sure though).
 what do you think about a conservatory in europe (paris, prague, berlin etc.). would it be same as these two schools in the states? and i am talking about quality in general.
 

[thracozaag]

 i believe there is still the ghost of hofmann and i think peter serkin has left( i'm not sure though).
 what do you think about a conservatory in europe (paris, prague, berlin etc.). would it be same as these two schools in the states? and i am talking about quality in general.
 

 I thought Peter still had a couple of students there, but I might be mistaken.  I've been out of the loop for a couple of years.  
 Curtis (now Field) Hall used to actually be called Casmir, after Hoffman's father.
 I've heard many positive things about the Paris Conservatory and music schools in London (The Royal College, Academy or School...I can't recall, wherever Chris Elton is teaching)

koji

[faulty_damper]

 Except that Juilliard HAS no summer program.

koji

It's just a TV show.  That's interesting to know, though.  Puts the fiction into that show.  Like why is it that he rarely practices but still sounds like: Gould, Kissin, Yundi Li et al?  Because they play their records when someone is doing a hand double for that character!  Pretty sneaky the way they do it: it looks like he's actually playing.  Fooled me the first time I saw it.  And going to summer school at a real music school that has no summer program?  That's fictitious to the max.

[musicsdarkangel]

one of my teacher's attended Paris conservatory - he loved it

[musicsdarkangel]

oh crap,

this thread is old.