Settlement Alumni Offer Tributes to Shirley Curtiss

Last month, we announced that our woodwind program is being renamed in honor of Shirley Curtiss, founder of Settlement's woodwind program and longtime faculty member and chamber coach. The announcement has prompted many of Shirley's former students to write in with stories about what they learned from Shirley, how her teaching has shaped their lives and careers, and what woodwind players who come to study at Settlement can expect. 

This one comes from an oboist who went on to a career as an orchestral musician. She said that coming up with a tribute to Shirley was a daunting prospect, but her memories of Shirley's high standards and down-to-earth words of wisdom certainly ring true. Look for more tributes to Shirley over the next month in our Fall 2013 newsletter and on our Facebook and Twitter pages.


 

Emily (third from right, next to Mrs. Curtiss) as a member of the
Weinstein Advanced Study Woodwind Quintet in 2001

Mrs. Curtiss demanded that I have high expectations of myself and of those around me, even as a scrawny 10 year old oboist. To this day, when I hear myself playing something that wouldn't have been up to her standards, I can hear her voice in my head: "Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades!” “That crescendo was between you and God, and even HE'S not sure!" 

She taught me to work hard in order to have pride in my performance and to demand excellence at every turn. To this day, the woodwind quintet program at Settlement is still one of the best chamber music experiences I've ever had -- a sentiment that I've heard echoed many times from other Settlement alums through the years.

-- Emily Brebach, English horn and oboe, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Emily was a member of the woodwind program at Settlement from 1993 to 2001.


Auditions for all Center ensembles will be held Thursday, September 19 from 3 to 9 PM at the Mary Louise Curtis Branch and are open to musicians between the ages of 12 and 18 and who play flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and French horn. More information on the Center and auditions is available at www.smsmusic.org/woodwinds