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Vol. XVII No. 1 September 2001 |
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 A Letter From the Editor With this issue, I begin my eighth year as editor of The Juilliard Journal. So why am I writing this letter now? When I arrived seven years ago, I vaguely noted that the Journal was about to have its 10th anniversary… but I was way too busy (and terrified) to do anything about it. I had to hire someone to lay out the paper, learn a new computer system, put names to hundreds of new faces, scramble to get all the articles edited, and fight off repeated nightmares that I would get all this done just to find there was nothing on hand for the October issue. Even though this year is not a “round-number” anniversary for the Journal, it marks a number of changes that seem significant enough to reflect upon. With this issue, The Juilliard Journal debuts on the Web—a leap that would have seemed as wildly impossible three years ago as scanning in all our own photos did when I started back in 1994. (My first designer spent hours sizing photos with the aid of a proportion wheel; when we received our proofs, the empty spaces in the layout would be filled with images the printer had cropped according to the numbers she had provided. Sometimes there were surprises.) Our extension into cyberspace creates a springboard for future leaps: the ability to enhance articles with more than we have room for in these pages, including sound and video. The arrival of Ira Rosenblum as director of Publications, with his years of experience at The New York Times and the Web site New York Today, makes it possible for some long-envisioned projects to become regular features of the Journal. (You’ll notice the introduction in this issue of a student editorial column, “Voice Box,” and an alumni “Spotlight” column, as well as an invitation—OK, call it a plea—for Letters to the Editor.) We tend to think of Juilliard as an educational institution carrying on a long tradition, but in fact, newness has been part of “the Juilliard experience” all along. Think of the sense of excitement and anticipation that everyone must have felt when those first Juilliard dancers walked through the doors of the School’s building on Claremont Avenue 50 years ago, as Juilliard’s Dance Division was launched. (And again, when Juilliard expanded its scope to begin training actors 20 years later, upon its move to Lincoln Center.) Now we ourselves are privileged to shiver with anticipation, as 18 trailblazing young people arrive to begin Juilliard’s journey into jazz. But there are things I hope will never change, and one of them is the deep satisfaction I get when—after holding hands and pulling teeth for weeks—I see all the various voices come together from every corner of this building and beyond, to create a reflection of what Juilliard is all about. I am endlessly amazed by—and deeply grateful for—the number of people who have come forth unbidden to share their experiences. A word to students, both new and returning: The Journal is your paper. I invite you to view it as part of that wonderful collaborative process that everyone is always talking about at Juilliard. There is so much talent here—and not all of it the kind that finds its way onstage. Whether you want to write, draw, take photographs, or just make suggestions, my door (nestled among the fourth floor practice rooms) is open. Jane Rubinsky 
The Juilliard Journal welcomes letters to the editor. Please send letters to:
The Juilliard School, Room 442A 60 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023. Letters may be edited for length or content. |
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