Orlando Cole - Teaching Career

Teaching Career

Cole taught at the Curtis Institute of Music for seventy-five years, first as Salmond's assistant while still a student and then in succession of his own teacher. There was a brief gap in his tenure at the school, however, during the years following World War II. The members of the quartet had grown dissatisfied with certain of the objectives and policies of the school and decided to found their own institution for the training of chamber and orchestral musicians, called the New School of Music, which was located just a few blocks from Curtis, and, for more than thirty years, served as an important training center. After returning to their duties at Curtis in 1953, Cole and the members of the quartet taught concurrently at both schools. After the 1981 death of the ensemble's violist, Max Aronoff, who was also director of the New School, the school was absorbed into Temple University where Cole and Brodsky continued to teach. During most of this time, Cole was assisted by his former student and colleague, Metta 'Billy' Watts.

Cole gave master-classes all over the world. In 2005 he was appointed to the emeritus faculty of the Curtis Institute. He died on January 25, 2010, aged 101.