 After her graduation , Simone spent the summer of 1950 at the <unk> School , preparing for an audition at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia . Her application , however , was denied . As her family had relocated to Philadelphia in the expectation of her entry to Curtis , the blow to her aspirations was particularly heavy , and she suspected that her application had been denied because of racial prejudice . <unk> , she took private piano lessons with Vladimir <unk> , a professor at Curtis , but never re @-@ applied to the institution . For several years , she worked a number of <unk> jobs and taught piano in Philadelphia . 
