By CHRISTOPHER MOSSEY

Marking the centennial season's first wave of artistic outreach, the Juilliard Orchestra played to packed concert halls in Lucerne, Berlin, Helsinki, Aldeburgh, Leicester, and London in six performances between August 21 and September 3, 2005. The first week of the tour involved the Juilliard Orchestra—conducted by James DePreist, with Sarah Chang and Tai Murray as violin soloists—in a logistically intense series of four concerts over five days. In the second week, 60 Juilliard Orchestra musicians melded with an equal number from London's Royal Academy of Music Orchestra; after a rigorous rehearsal period, the combined orchestra performed twice under the baton of Sir Colin Davis, with the final performance in Royal Albert Hall as part of the world famous BBC Proms concerts.

The Juilliard Orchestra performed under the baton of Sir Colin Davis at London's BBC Proms in August. (Photo by Chris Todoulou) For more images of the orchestra and jazz tours, go to the Slide Show: Tours 2005 on the Centennial Page.

"It was kind of surreal to see so many cities in such a short period of time," commented violist Nadia Sirota. "That much air travel was physically taxing, and we all adopted a superstitious attitude toward vitamins. However, we did get an intense flavor of each location, albeit brief. At the very least, we saw a lot of cities which I'm sure we would like to visit again."

The orchestra's program in Lucerne and Berlin comprised John Adams's Short Ride in a Fast Machine, the Violin Concerto of Antonin Dvorak, and Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2. Sarah Chang performed the Concerto in Lucerne, while Tai Murray was the soloist in Berlin. In Helsinki and Aldeburgh, the concerto on the program was the Violin Concerto in A Minor of Dmitri Shostakovich, performed by Ms. Chang.

Invited to Lucerne by Juilliard alumnus Michael Haefliger, intendant of the Lucerne Festival, Juilliard's was the only conservatory orchestra presented this year in that esteemed festival and shared company with such legendary ensembles as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Vienna Philharmonic. "Before James DePreist gave the downbeat for Short Ride in a Fast Machine, it occurred to me that the work was more than our curtain-raiser in Lucerne: its title was an apt metaphor for the tour. The [August 21] concert began at 11 a.m., the fifth hour of what was to be a 19-hour day packed with a rehearsal, a concert, a reception, sightseeing, chocolate eating, and the flight to Berlin," wrote violinist William Harvey in his travelogue. As for the concert portion of that marathon day, the performance garnered two encores, and as the orchestra had only prepared one, Bizet's "Farandole" from L'Arlésienne Suite No. 2, Maestro DePreist offered a second playing of the final movement of the Rachmaninoff symphony.

It was off to Berlin by plane via Zurich later that evening. On the heels of an enormously successful opening to the tour, Maestro DePreist had to be driven from Zurich to Berlin after the airline cancelled his flight and could not provide alternate accommodations by air. Despite the 12-hour drive, the maestro led a two-hour dress rehearsal and full performance on August 22. "Jimmy and his wife Ginette deserve a medal from Juilliard," remarked Juilliard President Joseph W. Polisi.

In Berlin, the Juilliard Orchestra performed at the Konzerthaus, in the former East Berlin, as the penultimate concert of the Young Euro Classic festival. The festival features youth orchestras from around the world. "The ornately gold-wrought Konzerthaus, flanked by statues of composers, topped with gigantic crystal chandeliers and beautiful paintings, was magnificent," wrote Harvey. But the performance outshined the decor. "Once again," said President Polisi, "the Rachmaninoff brought down the house, necessitating another set of two encores, but this time the audience would not stop applauding. Finally, Maestro DePreist had to announce that we no longer had any more music to play, which brought a laugh and more applause. The response to the orchestra in Lucerne and Berlin was enormously enthusiastic. I quickly realized that the cities we toured have very sophisticated audiences who have high expectations regarding orchestral concerts." After the concert, the U.S. Embassy in Berlin held a festive reception for the orchestra at the Deutsche Bank headquarters.

Early the next morning, August 23, the orchestra was off to Helsinki for an evening performance at the Temppeliaukio "Rock" Church, built into the side of a stone outcropping in the center of the city. Juilliard's hosts for this concert were Earle I. Mack, the United States ambassador to Finland, and the Sibelius Academy. The ambassador and his staff met the Juilliard musicians at the airport and, along with administrators of the Academy, were extremely accommodating after what was a very taxing transfer from Berlin to Helsinki. Sarah Chang rejoined the orchestra for the performance, this time for the Shostakovich Violin Concerto. To the program was also added a "preview performance" of one movement from Manhattan Trilogy, by Einojuhani Rautavaara, perhaps the most revered composer in Finland and a 1956 alumnus of Juilliard, who was commissioned by the School to write the work. A rare standing ovation marked the appreciation of the Finnish audience. The full work will receive its premiere on October 11 in Carnegie Hall. (See related article.)

The next day, August 24, was a travel day from Helsinki to London, where the full orchestra would stay for two nights and a group of 60 musicians of the orchestra would be encamped for 10 days during the collaboration with the Orchestra of the Royal Academy of Music. The full orchestra's final performance took place on August 25 in the tiny town of Snape in Suffolk, a three-hour drive from London, as part of the Aldeburgh Festival. The concert was in Snape Maltings Concert Hall, a former brewery made entirely of brick. Of this performance President Polisi wrote, "The orchestra and Sarah played at even a higher level than Helsinki. It has been remarkable for me to experience the focus, energy, and artistry of these young artists. I've done plenty of tours with the Juilliard Orchestra, but in terms of consistency and excellence this was by far the best."

Read a related article about the tour by William Harvey. Read a related article, There and Back Again: International Tours for Juilliard Jazz.

The 60 orchestral musicians who remained in London in preparation for the Proms concert enjoyed a five-day stretch with only rehearsals and some time off. Sir Colin Davis prepared the orchestra for a program of Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 6 in E Minor, and Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique. A runout concert of the combined orchestra at De Montfort Hall in Leicester on September 1 provided an excellent opportunity for the musicians of the two schools to perform in public together prior to the televised performance at Royal Albert Hall two days later.

Just prior to the Proms performance on September 3, President Polisi participated in a preconcert talk with Curtis Price, the Royal Academy of Music's principal, and a student from each institution. "Albert Hall holds a mammoth 6,000 people and 1,000 of those audience members are 'Prommers' who stand quietly and motionless throughout a concert in the orchestra section of the hall," wrote President Polisi. "[Sir Colin Davis] commented afterward that he had never done a more precise performance of the work—quite a statement from the Berlioz expert of our day. The performance 'brought down the house' with numerous curtain calls and Sir Colin having to lead the concertmaster and the rest of the orchestra off stage."

The mission of Juilliard's centennial touring program is simply to touch new audiences around the country and the world with the passion, dedication, and formidable talents of Juilliard's young artists. By this measure, the Juilliard Orchestra has created an auspicious start to the School's historic anniversary season.

Christopher Mossey is Juilliard's director of centennial planning. A member of Juilliard's development staff since 1999, he holds a Ph.D. in musicology from Brandeis University. His edition of Francesco Cavalli's 1645 opera, Doriclea, was published by A-R Editions in 2004.