2022 Commencement Remarks

THANK YOU CHAIRMAN KOVNER.

CLASS OF 2022, WE SALUTE YOU! I SALUTE YOU!

AS YOUR PRESIDENT I COULD NOT BE PROUDER OF YOU AT THIS MOMENT OF GRADUATION, AND THAT FEELING IS ONLY MATCHED BY MY EXPECTATION FOR YOU AS YOU GO FORWARD.

YOU HAVE WORKED FOR THIS DAY, AND IT IS WORK THAT WILL GUIDE YOU FOR ALL THE DAYS TO COME. THE PRACTICE, THE SENSE OF PURPOSE, THE ADAPTIVE QUALITIES THAT YOU HAVE PERFECTED MORE THAN ANY OTHER GENERATION IN MEMORY, YOUR RESOLUTE COMMITMENT THAT IS THE UNDERPINNING OF YOUR SUCCESS TODAY AND WILL BE IN YOUR FUTURES.

ON THIS STAGE AROUND YOU IN THE AUDIENCE ARE THE FACULTY AND STAFF THAT HAVE BEEN WITH YOU ON THIS JOURNEY. WE ARE YOUR TEAM, AND WILL REMAIN SO, AND I WANT TO THANK YOUR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS AND SUPPORT SYSTEMS WHO HAVE BEEN WITH YOU FROM THE BEGINNING, AT JUILLIARD. WE ARE GRATEFUL TO ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE BROUGHT YOUR LOVED ONES HERE AND ENTRUSTED THEIR EDUCATION TO US. GRADUATES, PLEASE RISE AND CHEER FOR THOSE WHO HAVE BROUGHT YOU TO THIS MOMENT!

ALSO IN THIS CONGREGATION TODAY, ASSEMBLED BEHIND ME ON THE STAGE ARE ESTEEMED ROLE MODELS WHO WILL RECEIVE HONORARY DOCTORATES. WE LOOK TO YOU WITH ADMIRATION AND RESPECT AND ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS AS THOSE WE DREAM OF FOR THIS NEXT GENERATION. WE THANK YOU FOR THE HONOR OF SALUTING YOU TODAY.

I WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE OUR TRUSTEES, AND TRIBUTE OUR RETIRING BOARD CHAIR BRUCE KOVNER,  WHO HAS GIVEN SO MUCH OF HIS TIME AND GENEROSITY AND COMMITMENT TO THIS INSTITUTION FOR MORE THAN 25 YEARS. THANK YOU BRUCE AND AS YOU TRANSITION TO CHAIRMAN EMERITUS, WE CELEBRATE YOUR GRADUATION TODAY AS WELL.

AND I WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE OUR INCOMING CHAIRMAN OF THE JUILLIARD BOARD OF TRUSTEES, VINCENT MAI WHO IS WITH US IN THE HOUSE TODAY, VINCENT WE LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR LEADERSHIP AND TO YOUR ENERGY AND VISION THAT WILL GUIDE US FORWARD.

JUILLIARD IS BUILT ON OVERLAPPING PRINCIPLES OF EXCELLENCE, OF CREATIVITY, AND OF INCLUSIVITY. AND THAT INFLUENCES WHAT GOES INTO EVERY HOUSE ON THIS PLAZA, AND INTO EVERY HOUSE OF ART AROUND THE WORLD.

THERE ARE COUNTLESS JUILLIARD ALUMNI WHO AFFECT THE WORLD EVERY DAY, SHARING THEIR GIFTS ON STAGES, IN CLASSROOMS, IN STUDIOS AND SIMPLY IN OUR DAILY LIVES.

THAT IS THE RESULT OF YOUR WORK, AND OUR WORK AS A SCHOOL, AND THOSE PRINCIPLES ARE THE DNA WE WORK TO PASS ON TO YOU TO SHARE WITH THE WORLD. THAT SHARING IS IS THE CENTRAL IDEA I WANT TO HONE IN ON TODAY. .THAT SHARING IS THE WHOLE POINT OF WHAT YOU HAVE WORKED FOR. THERE IS NO ONE WAY TO DO IT, AND IN A SENSE DISCOVERING EVER MORE WAYS TO CONNECT IS THE TASK OF A LIFETIME. AS YOU DO SO, MAKE IT RECIPROCAL BY BEING CURIOUS AND OPEN TO THE WORLD TO KEEP BUILDING YOUR IMAGINATION AND YOUR FULL RANGE OF POSSIBILITY.

 

THAT PROCESS, THAT PRACTICE, CAN NEVER END— WHAT YOU DO AS ARTISTS IS NEVER DONE, SO BEWARE OF FINAL ANSWERS… EMBRACE THE POSSIBILITY OF THE UNEXPECTED, HOPE FOR IT, EVEN BETTER ENGINEER THAT POSSIBILITY! EMBRACE THE CHANCE FOR REVELATION. AND EMBRACE THE RISK OF FAILURE THAT IS INHERENT IN REACHING FOR MORE. EVERY ATTEMPT WORTH MAKING HAS RISK, AND THERE IS ALWAYS WISDOM TO BE HAD. BUT WITHOUT THE ATTEMPT, AND THE REQUISITE BRAVERY TO RISK FAILURE, YOU WILL NOT FULFILL YOUR POTENTIAL TO THE EXTENT POSSIBLE.

PRACTICALLY, IT MEANS SAYING YES, A LOT, TO IDEAS AND PROJECTS AND DISCUSSIONS, ESPECIALLY DISCUSSIONS. WE ARE IN AN AGE WHERE WE SEE A LACK OF DISCUSSION, AND A LACK OF WILLINGNESS TO DISCUSS, TO LISTEN, TO FIND COMMON GROUND… BUT YOU ARE LISTENERS, AND YOU ARE SPEAKERS, AND YOU UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF WHAT WE CAN DO TOGETHER THAT WE CANNOT DO APART, WHETHER IN MUSIC IN DANCE OR DRAMA… KNOW THAT SUCH UNDERSTANDING IS A GATEWAY. IT CAN LEAD TO A PLACE OF COLLECTIVE RECOGNITION… THE MIRACULOUS POSSIBILITY OF A MOMENT OF OHHHH… AND AS THE POET SARAH KAY HAS WRITTEN, NOT JUST OH AS A GASP, BUT AS IN: OH, OF COURSE… I SEE NOW…WHAT A GIFT IT CAN BE TO ELICIT THAT, WHAT YOU DO CAN BE AN ILLUMINATION… SUCH A GOAL APPLIES IN ART AND IN LIFE. AND IT CAN BE A PART OF EVERYTHING YOU DO, DEFINING A SUCCESS THAT IS OPTIMISTIC, AND BRINGS SELF-FULFILLING HOPE IN THE ACT OF DOING… IT IS RADICALLY INCLUSIVE, AIMING TO UNITE AND INSPIRE, TO NURTURE, TO SHAKE COBWEBS FROM TIRED EYES…

YOU HAVE THE ROOM AND THE SKILLS FOR SUCH HIGHER GOALS, EVEN AS YOU HAVE THEM FOR A THOUSAND MORE TANGIBLE FULFILLMENTS OF YOUR ARTISTIC GIFTS… HOW YOU DIVIDE YOUR TIME WILL DETERMINE YOUR FUTURE. THERE IS NO RIGHT WAY, BUT MAKE SURE THAT YOUR CHOICES CULTIVATE EACH OTHER.  FROM PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITIES CAN COME PUBLIC SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES, AND FROM EDUCATIONAL WORK CAN COME NEW PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITIES, AND SO ON... YOU WANT IT ALL TO BE ABOUT GROWTH AND EXPANSION, AND ALL OF IT IS ABOUT SHARING WITH OTHERS IN A MYRIAD OF WAYS. GIVE AND BE GIVEN. AS ARTISTS AND AS CITIZENS IN THIS WORLD, THAT IS THE BIG OPPORTUNITY. TAKE IT. RUN WITH IT.

WE BELIEVE IN YOU CLASS OF 2022, AND WHETHER YOU ARE EMBARKING ON A CAREER FROM THIS MOMENT, OR CONTINUING YOUR STUDIES IN THE FALL, TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS LANDMARK, THIS MOMENT TO BREATHE DEEP IN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED, THE EXPERIENCES YOU HAVE COMPILED, AND TO TAKE STOCK OF THE SHEER BREADTH OF WHAT MIGHT DO, WHAT YOU MIGHT BE, WHAT YOU MIGHT SHARE. YOU HAVE ACHIEVED MUCH ALREADY, AND YOU ARE WELL ON YOUR WAY, BE BRAVE IN THIS KNOWLEDGE TODAY AND ALWAYS. YOU CAN’T KNOW HOW IT WILL ALL GO, NO ONE DOES, BUT TAKE HEART…

 

YOU ARE READY AND THE WORLD AWAITS YOU.

CONGRATULATIONS