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Curtain Rises on New Season As Juilliard continues to expand performing opportunities for students, the School heads into the 2004-05 season with more than 700 music, dance, and drama presentations lined up. They include a range of new works, premieres, and groundbreaking collaborations, in addition to the more traditional offerings. Among the highlights is a collaboration between Juilliard and London's Royal Academy of Music, launched this past July with a gala benefit concert with Sir Elton John at Radio City Music Hall that raised funds for scholarships at both schools (see related article). The connection continues in October when members of the New Juilliard Ensemble and the Royal Academy's Manson Ensemble premiere works by composition students from both schools in Paul Hall on October 22 and at the Royal Academy of Music on October 29. Other highlights of the year will include new dance pieces choreographed by alumni Robert Battle and Susan Marshall, a celebration of Soviet avant-garde composers, and the world premiere of the play The American Occupation by Joe Kraemer.
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| Conductor James DePreist is the new director of conducting and orchestral studies at Juilliard. (Photo by Nan Melville) |
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Launching the season is the New Juilliard Ensemble's September 18 concert at 8 p.m. in the Juilliard Theater (see related article). Additional performances by the N.J.E. will include two concerts in Alice Tully Hall: one on November 19 featuring world premieres by Virko Baley, Paul Desenne, and Wei-Chieh Lin, and a concert on April 8 including premieres by Indonesian composer Tony Prabowo and student composer and competition winner Edward Niedermeier. Also this month, the winners of the 2004 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, Esther Jung-A Park and Xun Wang, will be presented in concert on September 22 at 9 p.m. in Paul Hall (see related article). This concert will be broadcast live on WQXR's The McGraw-Hill Companies' Young Artists Showcase series, hosted by Robert Sherman.With the 2004-05 season, James DePreist becomes the director of conducting and orchestral studies at the School. He will lead the Juilliard Orchestra on September 30 at the Juilliard Theater in a program that includes a work by faculty member Robert Beaser, and on January 22 at Carnegie Hall with the Juilliard Choral Union in a performance of Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem. On October 29, Maestro DePreist will conduct the Juilliard Symphony in Alice Tully Hall. Distinguished guest conductors visiting Juilliard to lead the orchestra this season include Jahja Ling (November 1, Avery Fisher Hall), who will conduct Mahler's Ninth Symphony; former faculty member Otto-Werner Mueller (November 22, Alice Tully Hall); alumna Marin Alsop (February 14, Alice Tully Hall); and Raymond Leppard (May 19, Alice Tully Hall). The Juilliard Symphony will be heard under the baton of Mark Stringer (October 7, Juilliard Theater), alumna JoAnn Falletta (December 9, Alice Tully Hall), Otto-Werner Mueller (February 21, Alice Tully Hall), and Stefan Sanderling (April 6, Avery Fisher Hall).The Drama Division's fourth-year presentations in the Drama Theater get underway this month with performances of Beaumarchais's The Marriage of Figaro, directed by Timothy Douglas (see related article). In November, the Drama Division will present the premiere performances of The American Occupation, by Juilliard's own literary manager, Joe Kraemer. The new play will be directed by Trip Cullman and performed November 17-21. The third production, Rebel Armies Deep Into Chad by Mark Lee, directed by Regge Life, will be performed December 9-13. The fourth-year students will close with Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth, directed by Rebecca Guy, on February 10-14. All four productions will be reprised in the spring repertory season.
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| Alumnus Robert Battle will be one of four choreographers who create new works for students in the New Dances at Juilliard Edition 2004. (Photo by Nan Melville) |
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New Dances at Juilliard Edition 2004 will include choreography by alumni Robert Battle and Susan Marshall, Ronald K. Brown, and Janis Brenner. This innovative performance program pairs each choreographer with one class year of dancers, allowing students to experience the collaborative process of creating a new work. The performances will be in the Juilliard Theater, November 11-14. In the spring, Juilliard Dances Repertory Edition 2005 will present Mark Morris's New Love Song Waltzes, alumnus Ohad Naharin's Tabula Rasa, and William Forsythe's Limb's Theorem, from March 30 to April 3 in the Juilliard Theater. The end of the school year will include the annual Senior Production (April 27-30, Clark Theater), Choreographic Honors program (May 11-14, Juilliard Theater), and the Senior Dance Showcase (May 16, Juilliard Theater).The Juilliard Opera Center presents two full productions in the Juilliard Theater. On December 8, 10, and 12, the offering is a double bill of Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges and Debussy's L'enfant prodigue, directed by Lillian Groag and conducted by Yves Abel. Smetana's The Bartered Bride will be presented on April 27, 29, and May 1, conducted by Mark Stringer and directed by Eve Shapiro.Alumna and mezzo-soprano Brenda Patterson has been awarded the Alice Tully Vocal Arts Debut Recital, which she will present on November 16 with pianist Lydia Brown. The Alice Tully Young Artists Fund underwrites this annual concert advancing an outstanding young vocalist. Ms. Patterson's recital will include songs by Ives, Bach, Bolcom, Crumb, and Juilliard faculty member Edward Bilous.In addition to its performance with the Juilliard Orchestra on January 22, the Juilliard Choral Union will give its own concert on May 2 in Alice Tully Hall, featuring works by Rossini and his contemporaries.The Jazz Ensembles will begin their season with a performance in Paul Hall on the theme of the American Songbook—Volume II (October 4). The ensembles will also perform works of Ellington (November 8), music for trumpet (February 7), a concert titled "Grooves and Boogaloos" (April 4), and two concerts of student originals (December 7 and May 18), all in Paul Hall. The Juilliard Jazz Orchestra launches its season with a concert of arrangements and compositions by Juilliard students on October 11 in the Juilliard Theater. On January 19, Jimmy Heath will be a special guest with the orchestra in the Juilliard Theater as they perform his works. The music of John Lewis will be featured in a performance on April 12 in Alice Tully Hall.Composers of the post-Shostakovich generation will be celebrated in this year's Focus! Festival 2005, titled "Breaking the Chains—Soviet Avant-Garde 1965-1990." The New Juilliard Ensemble, conducted by Joel Sachs, opens the festival on January 21, and the Juilliard Symphony, led by Reinbert de Leeuw, closes it on January 28. All performances are in the Juilliard Theater; composers to be featured include Alfred Schnittke, Sofia Gubaidulina, Edison Denisov, Arvo Pärt, Valentin Silvestrov, and Leonid Hrabovsky.The annual Daniel Saidenberg Faculty Recital Series this season will include appearances by the American Brass Quintet (October 13, Juilliard Theater); pianist and newly appointed artistic director of the Vocal Arts Department, Brian Zeger (October 26, Juilliard Theater); the Juilliard String Quartet (January 31 and March 14, Alice Tully Hall); and the New York Woodwind Quintet (March 21, Paul Hall); as well as a chamber music concert with pianist Seymour Lipkin, violinist Ronald Copes, and cellist Jerry Grossman (February 24, Juilliard Theater).The annual Jerome L. Greene Concert, devoted to Baroque music, will feature works of Bach and Handel on November 12 in Alice Tully Hall.ChamberFest is an opportunity for student musicians to work in chamber groups during the last week of winter break. These groups are then heard in concert the first week of the second semester, this year on January 14 and 15 in Alice Tully Hall and the Juilliard Theater.Beyond the Machine, a festival of electronic and interactive music, will present two concerts on April 7 and 8 in the Clark Theater.The Juilliard William Petschek Piano Competition winner will be presented in recital at Alice Tully Hall on April 14.The Chiara String Quartet, in its second year as the graduate string quartet-in-residence, will present the annual Lisa Arnhold Memorial Concert in Alice Tully Hall on April 26.These are but a few of the many events taking place throughout the year. You can find complete information about Juilliard concerts on our online calendar.—Compiled by Lisa Yelon
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