By PAUL KWAK

Juilliard's centennial celebrations have given birth to an impressive array of collaborations and creations, all of which have provided occasion to reflect on the work that the School does, the people it nurtures, and the processes that have built its 100 years of tradition. An upcoming concert in January does all of these things by partnering teachers and students in a showcase of the vocal work that has come forth from Juilliard composers over its past century. "100 Years of Juilliard Composers in Song," to be presented in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater on January 17, represents the first official collaboration between Juilliard and the New York Festival of Song (NYFOS), whose artistic director, Steven Blier, is a coach in the Vocal Arts Department at Juilliard.

Steven Blier is the artistic director of the New York Festival of Song and a coach in the Vocal Arts Department at Juilliard. (Photo by Tes Steinkolk)

Conceived at every level as a collaborative project, the concert is intended as an opportunity for students to participate in the programming and exploration of song recitals as a way of augmenting and extending their work in opera at School. "I wanted to put the program together with the help of the students," Blier explained in a recent phone interview. "I wanted them to participate in the whole idea of researching and programming a concert and getting the benefit of the experience we've had at NYFOS."

The student performers were immersed in this process from the project's inception. Blier explains, "We have had group meetings and at the first meeting went over the list, and people expressed interest in certain songs. You do have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find a prince, but I think that's valuable for the students to know—that they're going to hear some slightly doggy music along the way to hearing something that makes you go 'Oh my gosh, that's fabulous.' I wanted them to understand that that's part of research—wading through the mud until you find the gold."

Inevitably, finding the right songs amid a vast collection of compositions by Juilliard composers was a complex and multifaceted process. Blier is drawing from long lists of everyone who taught or studied composition at the School, as well as of faculty who taught other subjects, "because some of the composers we would like to use are not composition teachers necessarily," he explained. The program thus expands the concept of a "Juilliard composer" in its inclusion of composers like John Jacob Niles—who, Blier notes, "in fact had a very light association to Juilliard, but to me very important."

The daunting list of composers under consideration notwithstanding, Blier emphasized the important intersection of programmatic variety and intent, personal taste—both his and the performers'—and historical representation. The program, still in progress, thus aims to balance idiomatic organization with a broader portrait of a century of writing. "The concert doesn't have an overarching theme," Blier maintains, "but I am trying to make groupings. For example, I am including a group of songs based around folk music: John Jacob Niles; Vittorio Giannini; Celius Dougherty, who did a great folk setting which will end the first half; Luciano Berio and his folk-song settings. I think it's interesting to put those guys together to get a sense of how folk music works. It's finding stuff that represents each composer well."

Ned Rorem (in the photo he submitted with his Juilliard application in 1945) is one of the many composers to be featured in the concert "100 Years of Juilliard Composers in Song." (Photo by Louise Barker)

Blier continues: "If we're going to do just one song by each composer—a three- or four-minute piece—the moment has to be super-saturated. With such a short space of time, the song has to leave a really strong impression; it can't turn into oatmeal. Of course, some composers really deserve a bit more time than others, and if they need it, they'll get it. For example, we want to do Elliott Carter's Warble for Lilac Time, and that is probably the longest song, but I've intended to tackle it for years and Ariana Wyatt is hot to sing it."

Indeed, much of the programming comes from Blier's own experience with new music as a result of his association with NYFOS. "I am familiar with many of the composers because I have played their music in the past. In certain cases, I'm especially happy to include music that was commissioned by NYFOS. In that category are Ned Rorem, Bob Beaser, and John Corigliano, each of whom wrote something really beautiful for us, which I think will be very appropriate for this concert. The Beaser song, for example, is one of the few songs I know about mentorship. It sounds like it might be a love duet between two men, but it really isn't about two guys being boyfriends; it's about two people learning from each other and in a sense guiding each other—which I think is what teaching is about, and what Juilliard should be about."

Programming is further complicated by the question of genre, and the often artificial boundaries that arise therein. To be sure, two of Juilliard's greatest composers are most often associated with musical theater: Meredith Willson and Richard Rodgers. In an interesting turn, Blier discloses, "We're going to pair Rodgers with Milton Babbitt, who wrote some theater songs in the '40s. I've wanted to do those songs because they're rarely heard. Juilliard nurtured a lot of different kinds of composers, and song is a big field." And Blier adds, somewhat coyly, "Let's just say that Meredith Willson, who wrote The Music Man, will also be represented in this concert."

The juxtaposition of Rodgers with Babbitt points up what, to Blier, are artificial divisions. "To me, a song is a song. A complex, 'arty' song in a slightly intellectual musical modality has got to hold its head up and make its case next to 'Some Enchanted Evening.' I've seen this at my own concerts. I'll think, 'I really want to do this, but it's maybe a little medicinal for the audience,' and then you find out that that's the thing that people really went for—and I'm not talking about musicians, but Joe Audience Member really got that piece; it spoke to him. There's an art to doing it so that all the songs talk to each other and bring out each other's beauty and individuality."

100 Years of Juilliard Composers in Song Stephen Blier, artistic director Peter Jay Sharp Theater Tuesday, Jan. 17, 8 p.m. Free tickets available Jan. 3 in the Juilliard Box Office.

For Blier, this art hinges on the energy that the student performers will bring to the concert. "This is a project," Blier is quick to emphasize. "It's not a credited course. It is a voluntary collaboration between NYFOS and Juilliard students. One thing I like about voluntary projects is that they're voluntary; people are there because they want to be. It plays into their own sense of responsibility as artists, as adults. They aren't there to get a credit, and they aren't there to fulfill some official capacity of their degree. They know they have to carry their weight, and I recognize that they're in the middle of operas and all kinds of obligations, but we're all playing a big trust game, which is what concert-giving is all about. I trust that you will not screw up, I trust that you will take this seriously, I trust that you will do yourself proud—and thereby do me and this school proud in the process. But mainly that you're responsible. I really love this group of students [Daniel Billings, Sasha Cooke, Paul LaRosa, Jeremy Little, Alex Mansoori, Faith Sherman, Benjamin Sosland, Matt Worth, Ariana Wyatt, and Jennifer Zetlan]; I think they're great. I'm very satisfied with who I have."

Paul Kwak is a master's student in collaborative piano.