Curtis hires four grads as teachers

Curtis hires four grads as teachers

News

norman lebrecht

August 26, 2024

There are the new teachers:
Soloist, chamber musician, and humorist Nicholas Canellakis (Cello ’06);
Philadelphia Orchestra assistant principal Yumi Kendall (Cello ’04);
Boston Symphony Orchestra member Christine Jeonghyoun Lee (Cello ’13);
and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra principal clarinet YaoGuang Zhai (Clarinet ’09),

Comments

  • Gerry Feinsteen says:

    This is the best they can find? For cello, long gone are the days of Cole, Soyer, Harrell, Rostropovich….Hoffmann.

    Then again, Curtis was never producing cellists like Juilliard, NEC, or even USC.

    Just goes to show, Curtis enjoys the luxury of selectivity; and being choosy means students arrive on Day 1 at Locust St with excellent training and experience, in hand.
    How nice to offer free lessons to students whose parents already shelled out thousands in lessons.

    Lon gone, too, are the days of struggle in the journey of music. At one time in the past, the best teacher was being poor, and on the run.

    • John Kelly says:

      Yumi Kendall is a fabulous cellist.

      • Gerry Feinsteen says:

        The position isn’t about her playing, it’s about her teaching, and more to the point: teaching students if a very high caliber.

        She’s a wonderful cellist, from a most musical family.

        Ralph Kirshbaum, David Geringas, Frans Helmerson, Steven Doane, just to name a few that are deserving. Curtis seems bent on hiring relatively young alumni with second tier performing experience and minimal teaching experience (see: Recent Violin Hires)

        • Retired Cellist says:

          The four cellists you mention are in their seventies (three of them are nearly 80). Are you suggesting one of them should have been hired instead? Are they even looking for jobs? How odd.

          • Gerry Feinsteen says:

            Hans Jensen is 70+ and his studio might be the strongest in North America.

            Since you haven’t an idea of any cello teacher between 40 and 65 here are a few (* denotes Curtis alumnus):

            Richard Aaron
            Nicolas Altstaedt
            Sol Gabetta
            Alban Gerhardt
            Clive Greensmith
            Matt Haimovitz
            Desmond Hoebig*
            Melissa Kraut
            Truls Mork
            Johannes Moser
            Amit Peled
            Daniel Müller-Schott
            Brinton-Averil Smith
            Bion Tsang
            Jan Vogler
            Jian Wang
            Paul Watkins
            Alisa Weilerstein
            Pieter Wispelwey
            Sung-Won Yang

            (special thanks to my niece’s boyfriend for the suggestions)

  • Cello enthusiast says:

    But Canellakis can’t make any sound and he’s a comedian!

    • Philip says:

      Funny that seems to run in the family. But I far prefer his videos to his sister’s………

    • Gerry Feinsteen says:

      The cellists at CMS have a very stiff albeit American sound, which is far from the subtlety and nuance one might find in UK and Europe-based cellists.

    • Gerry Feinsteen says:

      He is a brilliant comedian.

      Would a brilliant young cellist choose one of these cellists over a Kovner fellowship at Juilliard, studying with its illustrious faculty?

      This isn’t a dig at the cellists, but let’s face it, these names have very little to show as teachers of excellent players. Soon Curtis might have a preparatory program for beginners and a satellite campus in a second tier Chinese city. Let’s look forward to it.

      The cello students at Northwestern might be guest faculty sooner than later.

      Bravo to all!

    • Not Canellakis says:

      A poor (taste) comedian at that

      • John Kelly says:

        I still remember him insisting Sibelius was Swedish, much to Osmo Vanska’s incomprehension…………

  • OSF says:

    YaoGuang Zhai is a fabulous clarinetist.

  • Commenter says:

    It’ll be an easy commute for Nick Canellakis from Dr. Oz’s New Jersey estate, where he lives with his fiancée, the daughter of the famous scammer and erstwhile senatorial candidate.

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