“A seismic shift is coming to the Curtis Institute of Music’s storied opera and vocal studies department,” writes Peter Dobrin in Thursday’s (5/10) Philadelphia Inquirer. “Eric Owens and Danielle Orlando will assume co-equal roles as head of opera starting in the 2019-20 season…. Both have long histories with Curtis. ‘It’ll be a shared partnership, so we’ll be basically the artistic directors of the opera and voice department, which is really great,’ said Owens, a bass-baritone known for his vivid vocal characterizations at the Metropolitan Opera…. Orlando is principal opera coach at Curtis, having joined the faculty in 1986. Owens—who studied piano and oboe at [Philadelphia’s] Settlement Music School—earned a master’s degree from Curtis in 1995…. Neither job has a title yet, and the exact duties and areas of concentration are to be worked out … The new duo will take over at the end of next season, when Mikael Eliasen, the Danish-born current chief of the Curtis opera and voice department, steps down after three decades…. Owens, 47, moves his base from Chicago to Philadelphia [for] the Curtis job. The Curtis- and Temple University-trained Mount Airy native will continue to perform, but more selectively than before as he approaches 50.”
Posted May 11, 2018
