Biography

Jeffrey Curnow joined The Philadelphia Orchestra as associate principal trumpet in the fall of 2001 after serving as principal trumpet of the Dallas Symphony for six years.

Curnow began his career in music as an undergraduate at Temple University, where he was a student of Seymour Rosenfeld, and quickly won a coveted position as Concerto Competition Soloist at the Philadelphia Academy of Music. Upon receiving a bachelor of music degree from Temple, Curnow pursued graduate studies at Wichita State University, where as a graduate assistant he became a member of both the teaching faculty and the Wichita Symphony. In 1983 he was appointed principal trumpet of the New Haven Symphony and soon after became a member of the New York Trumpet Ensemble, recording on the MMG/Vox and Newport Classics labels.

Four years later, Curnow joined the internationally renowned Empire Brass Quintet. During his tenure with that ensemble, he recorded 15 compact discs for the Angel/EMI and Telarc labels, and he appeared on the TODAY show, Good Morning America, St. Paul Sunday Morning, Taipei Television, Japan Television, and BBC Television and Radio, as well as appearing with such ensembles as The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the Saint Louis Symphony, the National Symphony and major orchestras in Japan and Switzerland.

In 1995 Curnow was appointed principal trumpet of the Dallas Symphony, where on several occasions he performed as soloist, most recently in Lowell Liebermann’s Trumpet Concerto.

Not content to limit himself to performing, Mr. Curnow is well established as an educator, clinician, adjudicator, arranger, and producer. He has taught at Wichita State University, the University of Connecticut, Boston University and Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute and the Royal Academy of Music in London. He is presently a faculty member of both the Curtis Institute and Temple University.

Biography courtesy of The Philadelphia Orchestra
Photo: Jessica Griffin