October 11, 2005. In many ways, it was an ordinary day at Juilliard. Dancers warmed up at the barre before ballet classes. Actors worked on scenes. Musicians took lessons and were coached in chamber music. Singers vocalized. But the balloons and decorations in the lobby sent a different message, as the festivities of Centennial Day got underway, leading up to a climactic concert at Carnegie Hall. In the end, this was no ordinary day—the 100th birthday of The Juilliard School was cause for celebration, and celebrate, indeed, we did!

8:30 p.m. Dennis Russell Davies conducts the Juilliard Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in a program that included the premiere of Rautavaara's Manhattan Trilogy. For more images of October 11, go to the Slide Show: Centennial Day.

The gray skies and rain that fell that day didn't dampen spirits. From 9 a.m. to noon, coffee and cake were served in the lobby, while the Student Affairs Office gave away Juilliard messenger bags (stuffed with many goodies) to all college students. (Rainbow ribbons, to mark National Coming Out Day, were also distributed.) Later that afternoon, a fall fair (moved indoors because of the weather) gave students a chance to sample pumpkin pie and cider, take a photo with a cowboy (alias a fourth-year dancer in cowboy duds), and relax away from the demands of classes and rehearsals.

That evening, a Centennial Day concert at Carnegie Hall added to the festivities. Dennis Russell Davies led the Juilliard Orchestra in a program that featured the premiere of Manhattan Trilogy, a commissioned work by alumnus Einojuhani Rautavaara. After the final work on the program, Schubert's Ninth Symphony, the orchestra received a standing ovation. An alumni event in Carnegie's Rohatyn Room followed, reuniting 120 alumni and their guests, who had the chance to mingle with Maestro Davies and President Joseph W. Polisi. And for those who could see it through the fog, the Empire State Building, lit in Juilliard's colors, red and blue, stood like a giant birthday-cake candle in the New York sky.

Photos by Hiroyuki Ito unless otherwise noted.