A Juilliard faculty member for almost 40 years, Julius Baker is an institution in American flute playing: a virtuoso artist and perfectionist who has mastered a musical style that is at once both open and mysterious, reflective and forward-looking. Renowned French flutist Marcel Moyse once said of him, "Nobody in France plays like Julius Baker, no one!" During more than 60 years of professional performing, Baker has established himself as one of the most respected orchestral flutists of our time.

Baker's interest in the flute was encouraged early in his childhood while growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, in the 1920s. His father played the flute, though not professionally, and gave his son his first lessons. He later played in his high school orchestra before being admitted into the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he studied under William Kincaid, then the esteemed principal flutist of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Julius Baker

After graduating from Curtis in 1937, Baker returned to his hometown to play in the Cleveland Orchestra under the leadership of Arthur Rodzinski, who had been head of the orchestral department at the Curtis Institute 10 years earlier and had heard of the talented flutist. During Baker's tenure in Cleveland from 1937 to 1941, the ensemble grew into one of the most significant orchestras in the country. It took being courted by the Hungarian conductor Fritz Reiner to lure Baker away, to take over as solo flutist for the Pittsburgh Orchestra in 1941.

His stay in Pittsburgh was brief; three years later, he left to become solo flutist of the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) Symphony Orchestra in New York City. Under the leadership of Bernard Herrmann, the CBS Symphony Orchestra was formed to compete with Arturo Toscanini and the well-known NBC Symphony. It also served as the off-season summer replacement for the Sunday-afternoon broadcasts of the New York Philharmonic throughout much of the 1940s.

While with the CBS Symphony Orchestra, Baker became one of the founding members of the famed Bach Aria Group, an ensemble that was formed in 1946 by musicologist and philanthropist William Scheide. Baker performed and recorded with the group for the next two decades. His work with the group helped to bring about an awareness and appreciation for J.S. Bach's little-known cantata literature.

When the CBS Symphony Orchestra was disbanded in 1950, Baker made a brief stop in the Chicago Symphony before joining the faculty of Juilliard in 1954. He would spend the next 38 years with the School, imparting his vast knowledge to such luminaries as Jeanne Baxtresser, Paula Robison, Jeffrey Khaner, Joshua Smith, and Gary Schocker. Many of his former students count Baker's tutelage as a major factor in their success as solo recitalists and as principals in the world's greatest orchestras.

Baker is perhaps best known for his work with the New York Philharmonic, which he joined when Leonard Bernstein hired him as principal flute in 1964. During the next 18 years, this high-profile position introduced Baker's playing--noted by New York Times music critic John Rockwell for its "rhythmic vivacity, precision and bright, focused, and direct tone"--to a much wider audience.

In the years since leaving the New York Philharmonic in 1983, Baker has taught at both Juilliard and Curtis, given solo recitals in Japan and Korea, served on the faculty of Toho University in Tokyo, and was president of the jury for the 1999 and 2002 Leonardo DeLorenzo International Flute Competitions in Viggiano, Italy.

In 1999, Baker made adonation to Juilliard's Lila Acheson Wallace Library of his entire collection of flute music, including 1,900 published scores, 275 unpublished manuscripts, and numerous rare books and first editions. This generous gift ensures that current and future generations ofJuilliard students will have access to a comprehensive collection of flute literature.

Time magazine once proclaimed: "[Julius Baker] produces what is surely the most glorious tone that ever came out of a flute." In recognition of Julius Baker's remarkable contributions to American music, The Juilliard School will award him an Honorary Doctor of Music degree on May 23.

—Josh Jacobson