Grace Anderson and Jennifer Curtis
In Concert on Sunday, August 10 @ 2PM
BAC Members: $30. Non Members $35
Program: J.S. Bach Goldberg Variations
Composer/performer Jennifer Curtis has been described as a “multi genre maverick” by the San Diego union tribune. Her second solo concert in Carnegie Hall was described by the New York Times as “one of the gutsiest and most individual recital programs,” and she was celebrated as “an artist of keen intelligence and taste, well worth watching out for.” As a violinist Jennifer has won the milka-astral grand prize for violin, Juilliard concerto competitions and competed in Austria at the international Brahms competition.
She has appeared as a soloist with the Simon Bolivar Orchestra in Venezuela, been presented as a soloist at Carnegie’s Weil Hall, Philadelphia‘a Kimmel center and Academy of music, performed in Romania in honor of George Enescu; given world premieres at the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center; collaborated with composer John Adams at the Library of Congress; appeared at Giverny international festival de musique de chamber, Spoleto Festival, El Festival de las Artes Esénias in Peru, and many other festivals worldwide.
An improviser, composer, and multi-instrumentalist, Jennifer was a member of the acclaimed new music group; International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) for 14 years. She appears on many recordings such as Invisible Ritual with Tyshawn Sorey, routes of evanescence with Ariana Kim and many more collaborations.
Currently, Jennifer is finishing up an album of rarely heard repertoire by violinist/composer George Enescu. She has given American premieres of his solo violin works and performed many times in Romania in his honor. As a composer, Jennifer has been in residence at Cornell, composed in India for classical dance and been presented at Spoleto Festival Italy and Verbier, where she joined the Curtis Orchestra during their residency. She has been part of multiple residencies at the Baryshnikov arts center in New York City as composer/performer and improviser.
An educator with a focus on music as humanitarian aid, Jennifer has also collaborated with musical shamen of the Andes, improvised for live radio from the interior of the Amazon jungle, and taught and collaborated with Kurdish refugees in Turkey. She has given her masterclass on the Art of Interpretation through improvisation and applied music theory at Oberlin Conservatory, San Francisco Conservatory, Cornell and more.
Jennifer teaches violin at Duke University, performs regularly with the North Carolina Symphony and plays on a 1777 Vincenzo Panormo violin. She has studied with Robert Mann, Itzhak Perlman and Don Weilerstein.
Grace Lin Anderson is a soloist and chamber musician whose performances have spanned the Americas and Europe, with appearances at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Bargemusic, 92nd Street Y, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Lincoln Theater in Miami, Caramoor Festival, and Scotia Festival of Music. She has served as cellist in residence for the contemporary music ensemble at Aspen Music Festival, soloed with the Juilliard Percussion Ensemble performing Tan Dun's Elegy: Snow in June, and performed Schubert's String Quintet at the historic Trinity Church at Wall Street in a concert broadcast live on BBC television. Internationally, she has performed in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Canada and Peru.
Anderson is a recipient of awards from Artists International, the National Federation of Music Clubs, and the National Endowment for the Arts, and was awarded the Braverman Prize from Harvard University and the Morse Fellowship from The Juilliard School.
Critics have praised Anderson for her "rapier definition and boundless energy" (New York Concert Review) and for delivering a "transforming performance" (Classical Voice of North Carolina). Her recent appearances in Arequipa, Peru were noted for "dazzling with refined technique and musical expressiveness" and her "virtuosity, sensitivity and generosity that left an indelible mark on the Arequipa community" (El Pueblo, Arequipa).
Recent performance highlights include summer 2025 solo appearances with the Arequipa Symphony Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra of the National University San Agustín in Arequipa, Peru, performing the Dvorak Cello Concerto and Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations. The 2024 season featured solo recitals of Bach's Cello Suites at historic venues in Germany, including Köthen Castle and St. Thomas Church in Leipzig.
Based in North Carolina, Anderson is a sought-after chamber musician whose performances have included concerts at Duke University, Carolina Performing Arts at UNC Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and Queens University of Charlotte. She has also appeared at Wake Forest University's Secrest Artists Series, where she collaborated with Grammy Award-winning tap dancer Savion Glover, the Eastern Music Festival, Bechtler Museum of Art, and Reynolda House Museum of American Art. She formerly directed Triad Chamber Music and the Young Performers Chamber Music Workshop, and was a nominee for North Carolina Symphony's Best Educator Award.
She holds degrees from Harvard University and The Juilliard School, where she studied with Fred Sherry, and later continued her studies with the renowned Bernard Greenhouse of the Beaux Arts Trio. She earned her doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and her doctoral dissertation has been published by Scholars' Press. She currently teaches at Queens University of Charlotte.