Violinist Curt Thompson serves as Associate Professor and Head of Strings at the University of Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, where he is a founding member of the Ormond Quartet, whose residency at the MCM began in 2016. He is Founder and Executive Director of the Fort Worth, Texas-based Mimir Chamber Music Festival, which will present its19th season in Fort Worth and 4th season in Melbourne this year. Prior teaching appointments include the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and the TCU School of Music.
Thompson performs throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Australia as concerto soloist, recitalist, concertmaster, and chamber musician in such prestigious venues as Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, Salle Gaveau (Paris), Teatro Naçional de Costa Rica (San José) and the Shanghai Concert Hall. His debut recording of the violin sonatas by Charles Ives (Naxos) is regularly broadcast worldwide and has received outstanding reviews, including The Strad, The Wire, and The New York Times, where it was included in a listing of “Critics’ Favorites” and was called “…a hole in one…perfectly demonstrating Ives’ spicy, earthy rawness and appeal….” Gramophone acclaimed the CD in 2016 as one of the “Top 10 Ives Recordings” alongside those by the New York Philharmonic (with Leonard Bernstein) and mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, stating that of the recordings of the violin sonatas, “…This is now the version to choose….”
Concerto appearances include the Qingdao Symphony (China), Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra (Colombia), the symphonies of Corpus Christi, San Angelo, Las Colinas, Irving, Arlington, Garland, and the Texas Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Thompson has been a featured artist in the Copland/Shostakovich Festival (Rio de Janeiro), the Festival de Primavera (Oaxaca, Mexico), the Seventh Centennial Festival of Villarobledo (Spain), and Inter-Harmony International Music Festival (Hinterzarten, Germany). As Concertmaster, Curt has performed with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Spoleto Festival Orchestra (Italy), and the Corpus Christi, Las Colinas, and San Angelo symphonies. He has given master classes at the Royal Academy of Music (London), The Juilliard School, Beijing Central Conservatory, El Escorial Conservatory (Spain), and the Bulgarian State Academy of Music.
Thompson has served as juror in several international competitions, including the National Concerto Competition of New Zealand, the Pancho Vladigerov International Violin Competition (Bulgaria) and the Dorcas Mclean competition (Australia), and he serves on the Artistic Committee of Chamber Music Australia. He holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees and the prestigious Performer’s Certificate from Indiana University, and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Rice University. His principal teachers included Nelli Shkolnikova and Sergiu Luca.
