President Damian Woetzel Names Adam Meyer the Next Provost of The Juilliard School

NEW YORK –– Juilliard School President Damian Woetzel has named Adam Meyer as provost, beginning July 1, 2020. He succeeds Ara Guzelimian, who steps down in July following 13 years as Juilliard’s provost and dean. Meyer, an alumnus of Juilliard, joined the administration in 2011 and currently serves as director of the Music Division and deputy dean of the College.

“I am very pleased to announce Adam Meyer as our new provost after an extensive search process involving members of the Juilliard community and the performing arts and education worlds,” Woetzel said. “Adam brings with him a profound dedication to excellence and to supporting faculty and students with a caring expertise that inspire trust and underlies his demonstrated leadership. He has shown the ability to move forward important new initiatives emphasizing creativity and inclusivity while maintaining and reinforcing the core strengths that are the hallmarks of Juilliard.”

“I am immensely proud to accept the honor of serving as Juilliard's next provost,” Meyer said. “I feel very fortunate to be an alum of this school and to have been a part of its administration for the past nine years. I am continually inspired by the unparalleled excellence of our young artists, and motivated by the dedication and brilliance that defines our faculty and staff. As I take on this new role, I look forward to partnering even more closely with President Woetzel and the entire community of students, faculty, and staff to help Juilliard write its next great chapter.”

As part of this transition, Woetzel announced a new expanded structure for the Music Division, creating the position of dean of the Music Division distinct from the provost position in order to more fully support the faculty and students of the largest department and founding discipline of the school. A search to fill this new position will begin in the coming weeks. As previously announced, Guzelimian will remain at Juilliard in a special advisory role with the Office of the President, and he will also teach during the 2020-21 academic year.

“I’m absolutely delighted by Adam’s appointment as Juilliard’s provost,” Guzelimian said. “His depth of knowledge and experience, his integrity, and his empathy all combine to make him an ideal leader at Juilliard. It gives me great joy to work together with him as he takes on this role.”

As the school’s chief academic officer reporting directly to the president, the provost oversees the faculty, students, program and curriculum development, and planning for the school’s College, Preparatory, and Evening Divisions. Working in tandem with the president, the provost sets the overall academic and artistic priorities for the institution and oversees the allocation of resources and the implementation of processes and policies to carry these priorities forward. Throughout all of this work, the provost fosters an organizational culture that inspires excellence, values innovation, and demonstrates a commitment to the advancement of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

About Adam Meyer
Adam Meyer joined the Juilliard administration in 2011 as associate dean for administration. He is currently the director of the music division and deputy dean of the college. In this role, he works closely with the provost and dean to oversee a wide range of projects and planning that affect students, faculty, and staff across the music, dance, and drama divisions.

A committed advocate for students and faculty, Meyer has had a tremendous impact throughout the school. He has worked to improve the educational and artistic experience for students, particularly in the orchestra, chamber music, and composition departments. He has recruited and hired key studio faculty and helped establish faculty evaluation procedures to increase transparency and accountability within the teaching studio. In partnership with other senior leaders, Meyer has developed and implemented initiatives in classroom and entrepreneurship curricula, and has been involved in the school's accreditation process. He has had a leadership role in collaborations with National Sawdust, Sphinx Organization, the Royal Academy of Music, and the Sibelius Academy. Meyer has also contributed to the forthcoming launch of Juilliard’s new branch campus in Tianjin, China, supporting curriculum development and hiring the resident faculty.

Meyer is a deputy Title IX Coordinator at Juilliard and has held key leadership roles on the Equity, Diversity, Inclusivity, and Belonging (EDIB) Taskforce, the Scholastic Standing Committee, admissions and financial aid committees, and the Assessment and Care Team, among others.

In addition to his work at Juilliard, Meyer has served as the dean of students for the Perlman Music Program (PMP) since 2008. In consideration of this new appointment at Juilliard, Meyer will transition away from his formal role at PMP beginning this summer. He is also on the faculty of the New York Youth Symphony Chamber Music Program.

Meyer is a violist and holds a master’s degree from Juilliard, a bachelor’s degree from the Oberlin Conservatory and a Doctorate of Music Arts from Stony Brook University. His viola teachers have included Heidi Castleman, Kathy Murdock, Peter Slowik, Hsin-Yun Huang, and Sherida Josephson. Meyer was the founding violist of the award-winning Bryant Park String Quartet, and he has performed chamber music alongside artists including Itzhak Perlman, Roger Tapping, David Finckel, Ronald Leonard, Merry Peckham, and many others. Meyer is from Des Moines, Iowa.

About The Juilliard School
Founded in 1905, The Juilliard School is a world leader in performing arts education. Juilliard’s mission is to provide the highest caliber of artistic education for gifted musicians, dancers, and actors from around the world so that they may achieve their fullest potential as artists, leaders, and global citizens.

Located at Lincoln Center in New York City, Juilliard offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in dance, drama (acting and playwriting), and music (classical, jazz, historical performance, and vocal arts). Currently more than 800 artists from 40 states and 44 countries are enrolled at Juilliard, where they appear in more than 700 annual performances in the school’s five theaters; at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully and David Geffen halls and at Carnegie Hall; as well as other venues around New York City, the country, and the world.

Beyond its New York campus, Juilliard is defining new directions in global performing arts education for a range of learners and enthusiasts through The Tianjin Juilliard School and K-12 educational curricula.

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