Juilliard Journal

Opera Performs Fairy Tales With a Twist

By LISA B. ROBINSON

Snow White and several other cohorts from the Brothers Grimm meet up with the post-1950s poetry of Anne Sexton (pictured right) in Juilliard Opera’s production of Conrad Susa’s Transformations, taking place this month at the Rosemary and Meredith Willson Theater. Featuring a cast of eight singers, accompanied by eight instrumentalists, the production is directed by Edward Berkeley and conducted by Steven Osgood. More...

Drama Finds Inspiration In The Americans

By AMELIA PEDLOW

The next three generations of fourth-year drama students (Groups 39, 40, and 41) will share in performing the saga of The Americans, a play directed by Brian Mertes (pictured left) and culled from works by Sam Shepard. The first installment, The Americans, Part I: The Lay of the Land, promises to thoroughly work the chops of this year’s players, who are presented with a complex schedule of dance, music, and text-based rehearsals. More...

Center Stage 2010

It’s no surprise that in difficult economic times, performing artists—who often face financial challenges even in the best of times—can be left scrambling. Though the recent economic downturn probably unnerved even the most stalwart of the “glass half-full” types, some Juilliard alumni, like dancer-acrtress Lorin Latarro (pictured), have found creative ways not only to get by in these hard times but to thrive. This year’s issue of Center Stage explores what some of our alums have done to find the “silver linings” in the dark economic clouds. More...

Returning to the Winds, Carter Pens New Piece for the N.Y.W.Q.

By CHARLES NEIDICH

This year’s New York Woodwind Quintet Daniel Saidenberg concert promises to be exciting and memorable: a tribute to Elliott Carter (pictured left) featuring the premiere of his new work Nine by Five, commissioned by The Juilliard School for the N.Y.W.Q. The concert, at Paul Hall on Feb. 11, will include two earlier works for winds, the Eight Etudes and a Fantasy and the Woodwind Quintet, both of which changed the way composers wrote for woodwinds. More...

The Piano Maintenance Department’s Perfect Pitch

By DAVID CLAUSEN

The piano has many natural enemies. Its seemingly indestructible form is in fact vulnerable to the malign influences of (among others) excessive dryness, excessive humidity, overuse, spilled drinks, and certain modern performance practices (thank you, John Cage). At The Juilliard School, however, the Piano Maintenance Department stands between these noble instruments and oblivion. More...