Date(s): August 15, 2026
Type of Show: Concert
Showtime(s): 3:00PM
Tickets: $30 + tax/fee
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, performed her own mini concerto with the Knights Chamber Orchestra, been presented as a soloist at Carnegie’s Weil Hall, Philadelphia‘a Kimmel center and Academy of music, 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, for which pitchfork magazine wrote that “Curtis’s range as a soloist is a revelation.” Other recordings such as Routes of Evanescence with Ariana Kim, include her compositions.
Currently, Jennifer is finishing up an album of rarely heard repertoire by violinist/composer George Enescu. She has given American premeires 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. Her formidable teachers were Robert Mann, Itzhak Perlman and Don Weilerstein.
Gabriel Pelli is a lifelong musician who has taught hundreds of students in the Chapel Hill, North Carolina area over the last 25 years. He started playing violin at age 5 in his home town of Zurich, Switzerland, with the Suzuki Method. This style of violin pedagogy stresses learning by ear and memorization, listening, step by step skill building, positive reinforcement, and repetition and review.
He was voted a finalist in the 2021 Indy Weekly “Best Music Lessons in the Triangle” category. Along with teaching private and personalized one-on-one lessons out of my home studio, He also teaches group lessons at the Chapel Hill/Durham Suzuki Workshop, Carrboro Django Reinhardt Festival, Hoppin’ John Fiddlers’ Convention, Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival of Music & Dance, Pine Cone, local schools, and more.
He spent 10 years working for UNC Hospitals “Door to Door” program, playing music for patients in various states of health and hospitalization.
He holds a degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and lives here with his wife, two children, and a dog.
He also perform locally and beyond, with his bands Onyx Club Boys, The Old Ceremony, Grand Shores, and has composed and performed music for film and theater.
