Following a national search, Shenandoah Conservatory is delighted to announce the appointment of Julietta Curenton, M.M., as assistant professor of flute beginning August 2022. She succeeds Professor of Flute Jonathan Snowden, A.G.S.M., who retires in May 2022 after 10 years of teaching at Shenandoah Conservatory.
“Julietta brings with her world-class musicianship and an infectious enthusiasm for music making, both solo and chamber,” said Shenandoah Conservatory Dean and Professor of Music Michael Stepniak, Ed.D. “So importantly, she also brings an infectious passion for inclusion and engaging and enlarging audiences. I know she will be a wonderful mentor and inspiration for our students, both within and beyond the flute studio.”
Praised for her “bold and dramatically characterized playing” by the Dallas Morning News and “great artistic sense” by the Philadelphia Inquirer, Curenton has established herself as a leading soloist, chamber musician and orchestral flutist of her generation. Curenton is thrilled to be joining the faculty of Shenandoah Conservatory and previously taught at the Conservatory of Music of Brooklyn College and Stony Brook University in New York. She has collaborated extensively with several acclaimed groups such as the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and is currently the principal flutist of Soulful Symphony, the Baltimore-based ensemble acclaimed for its performances of classical, jazz, gospel and popular music. Curenton’s solo pursuits include commissioning women and African American composers to write new, innovative and accessible works for the flute. She is a proud Burkart Flutes & Piccolos artist.
“The Instrumental Division is delighted to appoint and welcome Julietta Curenton as its next professor of flute,” said Search Committee Chair, Conductor, Director of Orchestral Studies and Professor of Conducting Jan Wagner, Diploma and Korrepetitions Praxis, Academy of Music in Vienna (Austria). “Julietta is an accomplished flutist whose artistry invites the listener to enjoy an array of colors and emotions. She will be an inspiration to our next generation of flute students and a wonderful, collaborative colleague in our conservatory community.”
Curenton has made several solo guest appearances with the National Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Temple University Orchestra, Kennedy Center Institute Orchestra and the Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra, and has participated in music festivals spanning the globe including the Shanghai Contemporary Music Festival, Beijing Modern Music Festival, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Chamber Music Northwest, Dallas Chamber Music Society and Mostly Mozart Festival of Lincoln Center, among others.
Curenton holds a Bachelor of Music from The Juilliard School, studying with Jeanne Baxstresser and Carol Wincenc, and a Master of Music from The Royal Northern College of Music, studying with Peter Lloyd. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts from Stony Brook University.