Marcel Tabuteau First-Hand

MT era oboe

Orlando Cole

Orlando Cole (1908–2010) entered the first class of the Curtis Institute of Music in 1924 as a cello student of Felix Salmond and graduated in 1934. He was a founding member in 1927 of what was then known as the Swastika Quartet, but in 1932 renamed itself as the Curtis String Quartet after the school’s founder, Mary Louise Curtis. He taught cello at Curtis for over 75 years. As a student, he began attending Marcel Tabuteau’s classes in 1925, taking in his musical concepts.

The following is an excerpt  from Sarah Maude Wetherbee’s 2002 dissertation Marcel Tabuteau’s Influence on String Playing at the Curtis Institute of Music: a Philosophy of Twentieth-Century Performance Practice.

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An audio interview with Joan Browne (Champie), a private Tabuteau student in the early 1950s.

A photograph of the music stand that was in Tabuteau’s private studio in Philadelphia.

An autographed photo of Marcel Tabuteau inscribed to Vladimir Sokoloff.

An autographed photo of Marcel Tabuteau inscribed to Joan Browne Champie.

With the passing of Wilbur Isaac Hilles in August 2023 and now Martha Scherer-Alfee in February 2024, no oboe students of Marcel Tabuteau at the Curtis Institute are still living.

A letter sent to the Curtis Institute by Laila Storch’s mother about Tabuteau not teaching at Curtis—and the reply.