MA Top 30 Professional: Andrew Lane

Vice President, Touring and Artistic Management
Curtis Institute of Music

When Covid abruptly canceled the March 2020 U.S. tour of the Curtis Institute’s then-resident Vera Quartet, Andrew Lane had to think fast. Lane was in his seventh year heading Curtis on Tour, a position from which he has booked students, faculty, and alumni for more than 300 performances across four continents.

Four months later, with Covid still raging, he launched the school’s full-service artist management atelier, undertaking general managerial duties for the Dover Quartet, which formed at Curtis 12 years earlier and is on the faculty. “We began the artist management initiative to support Curtis alumni as they advanced their professional careers,” says Lane who, before Curtis, booked instrumentalists for Opus 3 management. “We have lifelong relationships with these artists, which positions us to nurture and grow their careers at the right time.” Under Lane, the Dover toured Central and South America in October 2020, when international travel was still largely restricted. It offered virtual concerts and master classes that helped to grow the international partnerships Curtis on Tour had forged since 2008, all while satisfying the pent-up wanderlust and musical appetites of pandemic-weary U.S. music lovers, free of charge.

Lane, promoted in July 2021 from Curtis on Tour’s managing director to a newly created VP position, has cemented Curtis as one of few conservatories to embrace artist management. He plans to grow the division further, and with the world reopening, continues to focus on touring. This season, Lane sends premieres by faculty composers Richard Danielpour and Nick DiBerardino around Europe and the U.S., respectively, and shepherds the Curtis Symphony Orchestra on its inaugural tour of Asia and the U.S. West Coast.

“There is no better way for emerging artists to hone their craft than performing alongside seasoned faculty and alumni on professional tours,” says Lane, who holds an MM in choral conducting from Texas Tech University. “Curtis on Tour is one of the many ways the school prepares students for current and future careers.”