By CAROLINA ALVAREZ

Renée Fleming (Photo by Decca/Andrew Eccles)

The Juilliard School's biennial gala on April 3 will be the most memorable and high-profile in the School's history. Comprising a 90-minute concert followed by a festive dinner-dance as in years past, the gala's special element this year is its national telecast as part of the award-winning Live From Lincoln Center series. It is the capstone event in Juilliard's yearlong centennial celebration and has emerged as one of New York's most sought-after social events of the year.

The stellar lineup for the 8 p.m. Live From Lincoln Center telecast will feature Juilliard alumni, current students, and faculty, including Emanuel Ax; Christine Baranski; Renée Fleming; jazz artists and faculty members Victor L. Goines, Wycliffe Gordon, and Wynton Marsalis; pianist Peng Peng; Itzhak Perlman; Leontyne Price; and Bradley Whitford, along with members of the Juilliard String Quartet: Ronald Copes, Joel Krosnick, Samuel Rhodes, and Joel Smirnoff. They will be joined by the Juilliard Dance Ensemble, students from the Juilliard Drama Division, and the Juilliard Orchestra led by both the composer and conductor John Williams and conductor Andrea Quinn. The repertory for the concert will reflect the diversity of styles and genres that have come to symbolize the accomplishments of Juilliard's alumni. Multimedia clips about Juilliard's history will be intertwined with the performances. After the performance, 900 guests will proceed to a festively decorated tent erected over the reflecting pool in Lincoln Center's north plaza for an evening of dinner and dancing.

Wynton Marsalis (Photo by Keith Major)

Gala chairmen Cynthia and Dan Lufkin, underwriting sponsors Lehman Brothers and the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, and extraordinary support from Juilliard's board of trustees, the Juilliard Council, and friends of Juilliard have helped make the evening a tremendous success already. Proceeds from the evening will support diverse aspects of Juilliard's educational programs.

In conjunction with this special celebration, Juilliard will be featured in a special advertising insert in the April 2006 issue of Town & Country magazine, which will be sent to all subscribers in the New York area and throughout Texas, Illinois, Florida, and California, reaching more than a million and a half readers. This colorful insert, showcasing Juilliard as well as supporting advertisers and friends, will also be distributed to attendees at the centennial gala.

Juilliard began a program of biennial fund-raising galas in 1999, when it launched The Campaign for Juilliard (now called the Juilliard Second Century Fund). The "My Favorite Things" benefit (2001) and the Richard Rodgers Centennial gala (2002) both supported The Campaign for Juilliard. But since then, Juilliard's celebrated gala evenings have focused on raising funds for annual programs.

Live From Lincoln Center Telecast The Juilliard Centennial Gala April 3, 8 p.m. Featuring Emanuel Ax, Christine Baranski, Renée Fleming, Victor Goines, Wycliffe Gordon, Adam Hougland, the Juilliard String Quartet, Wynton Marsalis, Itzhak Perlman, Leontyne Price, Bradley Whitford, and John Williams. Check the listings of your local PBS Affiliate.

While the gala is perhaps the biggest event of the centennial season, the remainder of the spring season offers other important performances, including the world premiere on April 28 of composer Lowell Liebermann's opera Miss Lonelyhearts with a libretto by J. D. McClatchy, based on the Nathaniel West novella; the Juilliard Choral Union's April 6 premiere of five choral works by film and Broadway composers; and a new brass quintet by Joan Tower, to be premiered on May 4 by the American Brass Quintet. For complete details about these performances, please visit the Juilliard Web site.

Carolina Alvarez is development officer for campaign and centennial programs.