The Philadelphia Orchestra Presents 2025 C. Hartman Kuhn Award to Principal Tuba Carol Jantsch

Retiring musicians Udi Bar-David, cello; Jeffrey Curnow,  

associate principal trumpet; Kiyoko Takeuti, piano and celesta,  

honored for decades of contributions to the Orchestra 

 

Jason DePue, violin; Daniel Matsukawa, principal bassoon, 

recognized for 25 years of service  

 

(Philadelphia, June 10, 2024)—The Philadelphia Orchestra recognized six members of the Orchestra family for their exemplary contributions to the organization in a ceremony during the June 7, 2025, concert in Marian Anderson Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. Principal Tuba Carol Jantsch was presented with the 2025 C. Hartman Kuhn Award. Retiring musicians Udi Bar-David (cello), Jeffrey Curnow (associate principal trumpet), and Kiyoko Takeuti (piano and celesta) were honored after 99 years of combined service to the Orchestra. Jason DePue (violin) and Daniel Matsukawa (principal bassoon) were each recognized for 25 years of service.  

 

Established in 1941 and named for a charter member of the Orchestra’s Board of Directors who served from 1901 to 1933, the C. Hartman Kuhn Award is given annually to “the member of The Philadelphia Orchestra who has shown ability and enterprise of such character as to enhance the standards and the reputation of the ensemble.” Music and Artistic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin selected Principal Tuba Carol Jantsch, praising her artistry and dedication to the Orchestra’s education programs. Jantsch is an active and enthusiastic participant in PlayINs, side-by-side rehearsals and performances, and master classes and serves as a host of Sound All Around engagements both at home and at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center during the Orchestra’s summer season. In addition, Jantsch has written arrangements for, and participated in, episodes of the Orchestra’s digital community outreach series, Our City, Your Orchestra, and she has been an active member on several musician committees, currently serving on the Members’ Committee and the EDI Committee.  

 

About the Kuhn Award recipient:

 

Carol Jantsch has been principal tuba of The Philadelphia Orchestra since 2006. She won the position during her senior year at the University of Michigan, becoming the first female tuba player in a major symphony orchestra. She is a renowned tuba soloist and has appeared as a concerto soloist with various ensembles. She regularly commissions new work for the tuba, and two major concertos were written for her as soloist: Reflections on the Mississippi (2013) by GRAMMY^® Award–winning composer Michael Daugherty and the Tuba Concerto (2021) by the Pulitzer Prize–winning jazz legend Wynton Marsalis. She can be heard on numerous Philadelphia Orchestra recordings, including the 2010 release of Ewald Quintets Nos. 1 and 3 with fellow Philadelphia Orchestra principal brass. Jantsch enjoys interacting with audiences in a very different way than her orchestra role as a member of Tubular, a tuba cover band that performs at bars and events. Comprised of tubas, euphoniums, drums, and vocals, Tubular is committed to presenting pop and rock music in a fun and engaging way, while guilefully stretching people’s notions of the capabilities of low brass instruments. As the chief arranger of Tubular, she revels in the challenge of adapting music from ABBA to Led Zeppelin for this unique setting. She has released two solo recordings, Cascades (2009) and Powerhouse (2020), and the Tubular album There’s No Going Back (2020).  

 

About the retirees: 

 

Udi Bar-David is widely considered one of the most versatile cellists in the world, performing on international stages with both classical and ethnic musicians. He studied in Tel-Aviv, with Leonard Rose at the Juilliard School, and orchestral conducting at Curtis Institute of Music. He won the International Villa Lobos Competition in Brazil and has appeared as a soloist with numerous orchestras worldwide. He has served as principal cello with many orchestras, including the International Youth Orchestra and the National Orchestra of New York, and with American Ballet Theatre. He was a member of the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia and in 1987 joined The Philadelphia Orchestra. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with Christoph Eschenbach, Leon Fleisher, Jaime Laredo, Rudolph Buchbinder, Emanuel Ax, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and others. As founder and artistic director of Intercultural Journeys and ARTolerance, Bar-David has planned, produced, and performed numerous cross-cultural events around the globe, while fulfilling the mission of advancing the role of the arts in dialogues, transcending communication boundaries, and exploring common ground. He has toured the United States, Europe, Palestine, Israel, Cuba, and Asia with world-renowned artists, including Jie Bing Chen, Nawang Khechog, Hanna Khoury, Wu Man, Diane Monroe, R. Carlos Nakai, Mandy Patinkin, and Simon Shaheen. Bar-David has trained numerous outstanding cellists worldwide and currently serves on the faculties of Rowan and Temple universities, as well as Swarthmore College. 

 

Jeffrey Curnow joined The Philadelphia Orchestra as associate principal trumpet in 2001 after serving as principal trumpet of the Dallas Symphony for six years. He began his career in music as an undergraduate at Temple University and quickly won a coveted position as Concerto Competition Soloist at the Philadelphia Academy of Music. He pursued graduate studies at Wichita State University, where, as a graduate assistant, he became a member of both the teaching faculty and the Wichita Symphony. In 1983 he was appointed principal trumpet of the New Haven Symphony and soon after became a member of the New York Trumpet Ensemble, recording on the MMG/Vox and Newport Classics labels. Four years later he joined the Empire Brass Quintet. During his tenure with that ensemble, he recorded 15 compact discs for the Angel/EMI and Telarc labels, and he appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, St. Paul Sunday Morning, Taipei Television, Japan Television, and BBC Television and Radio, as well as appearing with such ensembles as The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the Saint Louis Symphony, the National Symphony, and major orchestras in Japan and Switzerland. In 1995 he was appointed principal trumpet of the Dallas Symphony. Not content to limit himself to performing, Curnow is well established as an educator, clinician, adjudicator, arranger, producer, and cartoonist contributing to NPR Classical. He has taught at Wichita State University, the University of Connecticut, Boston University and Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute, and the Royal Academy of Music in London. He is presently a faculty member of both the Curtis Institute and Temple University.  

 

Kiyoko Takeuti has been piano and celesta player with The Philadelphia Orchestra since 1988. She is heard frequently in recitals and chamber music concerts. She has been the pianist of the Philadelphia Chamber Ensemble since its inception and has introduced to the public to many unknown chamber music works, old and new. Most recently she performed Ned Rorem’s trio Pas de Trois. Born in Tokyo, she began playing the piano at the age of three. Among her early teachers in Japan and the United States were Tanya Ury, Max Egger, and Soulima Stravinsky. Her formal musical training culminated in studies with renowned artists Rudolf Serkin and Mieczyslaw Horszowski at the Curtis Institute of Music. She studied chamber music extensively with Misha Schneider and the members of the Guarneri Quartet. Takeuti’s performing career began with solo recitals at the age of 11. At 19 she was a winner of the J.S. Bach International Competition in Washington, D.C., where she played the “Goldberg” Variations. She has been a soloist with The Philadelphia Orchestra as a winner of the Greenfield Competition, in addition to appearances with other orchestras. She has been a participant at the Marlboro and Lucerne music festivals and has toured Europe as a member of the World Orchestra for Peace. 

 

About the anniversary celebrants: 

 

Jason DePue, a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, joined The Philadelphia Orchestra at the age of 23. Among highlights in his career with the Orchestra, he was honored to be invited to write four original arrangements that premiered at the 2014 Opening Night Gala, and subsequently were performed at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. He is a member of the DePue Brothers Band, a group known for pioneering the genre "Grassical Music,” which blends classical and bluegrass styles. The band has produced several albums, including When It’s Christmas Time, WOGC, and Classical Grass. Born into a musical family in Bowling Green, Ohio, DePue’s upbringing was steeped in musical tradition. The DePue family is recognized for its musical legacy and was featured in a PBS documentary, as well as being honored as “Musical Family of America” by presidential decree. A participant in various workshops and festivals, including the Isaac Stern Workshop at Carnegie Hall, Jerusalem Music Encounters in Israel, and Ravinia, among many others, DePue was also concertmaster of the Verbier Festival Orchestra in Switzerland, the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, and the New York String Seminar. He continues to expand his repertoire for the primary purpose of enhancing the learning experiences of his violin students. DePue plays a French violin crafted by Charles Francois Gand, circa 1824.  

 

Daniel Matsukawa has been principal bassoon of The Philadelphia Orchestra since 2000. In addition to his duties on stage, he currently serves on the Orchestra’s Artistic Advisory, EDI, and Audience Experience committees. He is on the faculty at both the Curtis Institute of Music and Temple University, and he is music director of the Independence Sinfonia Orchestra. He studied at the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music. He has performed and soloed with various orchestras around the world. He has also conducted in the United States and Japan. Along with his orchestral and teaching positions, he serves on the Faculty Council at the Curtis Institute of Music and on the Advisory Board for the Pacific Music Festival in Japan, which was founded by Leonard Bernstein. He is also a grandmentor for Musical Mentors Collaborative, a nonprofit that addresses structural inequities in music education. He was chosen to serve on the Pennsylvania Governor’s Advisory Commission for Asian Pacific American Affairs. Through empathy and intersectionality, he hopes to advocate for Asian Pacific American communities and help to amplify all BIPOC voices. He is also the co-chair of the Council for Inclusive Excellence at the Curtis Institute. Matsukawa is deeply involved in The Philadelphia Orchestra’s education and community initiatives. He also works to help increase accessibility to classical music for historically underrepresented communities. He has found music to be a form of communication, self-expression, and social commentary, bringing people together and lifting them up. Through his belief that art has the power to create conversations, healing, and change, he strives to create an empathetic and equitable society for everyone.