The New Series Continues December 7 with a Portrait Concert of Trailblazing Composer and Juilliard Alum Ellen Taaffe Zwilich
Wednesday, Dec 06, 2023
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NEW YORK, December 6, 2023––Juilliard’s The New Series continues its second season December 7 with its annual composer portrait. The contemporary performance series explores music of our time by bringing students from across the school’s departments together with today’s leading artistic voices. This year’s composer portrait pays homage to iconic U.S. composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (DMA ’75, composition)—the first woman to earn a PhD in composition at Juilliard and also the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for composition.
The December 7 program, performed by Juilliard music students, includes a survey of five chamber pieces—a solo, duet, trio, quartet,and quintet—representing three decades of Zwilich’s pioneering work, from 1987 to 2014. David Serkin Ludwig (ADD CITE?), the dean and director of the Music Division, curated the program with Zwilich, and the performance features lively, energetic pieces with a range of influences, including blues and jazz elements: Fantasy for solo violin; Lament for cello and piano; Trio for piano, violin, and cello; Quartet for oboe and strings; and Quintet for violin, viola, cello, contrabass, and piano. Zwilich is coaching the performers for this concert and leading a master class for composition students while she’s at the school.
Each concert in The New Series includes a Q&A with Ludwig and collaborating guest artists. On December 7, Zwilich will join Ludwig for a preconcert Q&A at 6:30pm, which will be accessible to ticketholders and also, along with the performance, livestreamed at juilliard.edu/calendar. The stream takes place via Juilliard LIVE, the school’s new, free digital platform that provides access to both performance livestreams and a curated selection of programming from the music, dance, drama, and preparatory divisions. Juilliard LIVE is available on a web browser or on a TV, tablet, or smartphone through the Apple iOS, Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV apps.
The 2023-24 New Series continues in the spring with three more presentations: Alvin Singleton’s Argoru I-IX (February 3, 2024), The Mad King (March 25, 2024), and Juilliard Pride Songbook (May 9, 2024).
The multidisciplinary New Series was conceived by Ludwig, who also serves as its curator and artistic director, and it debuted in the 2022-23 season with four distinct programs that included performances with collaborations by music, dance, and drama students from the New York campus as well as music students from The Tianjin Juilliard School in China.
All performances in The New Series are free. Tickets are required and available at the Juilliard box office and at Juilliard.edu.
The New Series: Spotlight on Composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich
Thursday, December 7 | 7:30pm
Room 543—Harris/Woolfson Orchestral Studio at Juilliard
ZWILICH Fantasy for solo violin
Lament for cello and piano
Trio for piano, violin, and cello
Quartet for oboe and strings
Quintet for violin, viola, cello, contrabass, and piano
FREE; Tickets required
Bloomberg Philanthropies is Juilliard’s Lead Digital Sponsor.
Juilliard’s creative enterprise programming, including the Creative Associates program, is generously supported by Jody and John Arnhold.
About David Serkin Ludwig
Composer David Serkin Ludwig enjoys a career of collaboration with some of today’s leading musicians, filmmakers, and writers. This year, he was the recipient of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Music, and in 2022, he was awarded the Stoeger Prize from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the largest chamber music award of its kind. Ludwig also received the prestigious 2018 Pew Center for the Arts and Heritage Fellowship, and the A. I. duPont Award for significant contributions to classical music. In 2012, NPR named him among the Top 100 Composers Under 40 in the World. The following year, his choral work The New Colossus opened the private prayer service for President Obama’s second inauguration. He holds positions and residencies with nearly two dozen orchestras and music festivals in the U.S. and abroad and was named a Steinway Artist in 2021.
Ludwig, an alumnus of Juilliard (Graduate Diploma ’02, composition), was formerly at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he served as dean of artistic programs, chair of composition, director of Ensemble 20/21, and artistic director of Curtis Summerfest. He also holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, and Curtis as well as a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. Ludwig also studied at the University of Vienna, and he taught at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania while attending Juilliard.
He has received commissions from artists and ensembles including the Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, and National symphony orchestras as well as Jonathan Biss, Jeremy Denk, Jennifer Koh, Jaime Laredo, David Shifrin, Eighth Blackbird, Imani Winds, and the PRISM Saxophone Quartet. He has scored Hollywood feature films, written for historical performance ensembles, and created new works for nontraditional and electronic instruments.
In 2021, Ludwig was appointed dean and director of music at Juilliard, where he serves on the faculty and is the artistic director of the collaborative contemporary music project The New Series. He lives in New York City with his wife, violinist Bella Hristova, and their four beloved cats.
About The Juilliard School
Founded in 1905, The Juilliard School is a world leader in performing arts education. The school’s mission is to provide the highest caliber of artistic education for gifted musicians, dancers, and actors, composers, choreographers, and playwrights from around the world so that they may achieve their fullest potential as artists, leaders, and global citizens. Led by President Damian Woetzel since 2018, Juilliard is guided in all its work by the core values of excellence; creativity; and equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging (EDIB). Juilliard is committed to enrolling the most talented students regardless of their financial background.
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 43 states and 44 countries and regions are enrolled in Juilliard’s College Division, 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 at other venues around New York City, the country, and the world. The continuum of learning at Juilliard also includes nearly 400 students from elementary through high school enrolled in the Preparatory Division, including its Music Advancement Program (MAP), which serves students from diverse backgrounds often underrepresented in the classical music field. More than 800 students are enrolled in Juilliard Extension, the flagship continuing education program taught both in person and remotely by a dedicated faculty of performers, creators, and scholars. Beyond its New York campus, Juilliard is defining new directions in performing arts education for a range of learners and enthusiasts through a global K-12 educational curricula as well as pre-college and graduate studies at The Tianjin Juilliard School in China.
juilliard.edu @juilliardschool
2023-24 The New Series – Upcoming Programs
Alvin Singleton’s Argoru I-IX
Saturday, February 3 | 8pm
Chelsea Factory and livestreamed
Part of Juilliard’s residency at Chelsea Factory
For solo instruments with dancers
Directed by Arnhold Creative Associate Caili Quan
In collaboration with the Dance Division
The Mad King
Monday, March 25 | 7:30pm
Rosemary and Meredith Willson Theater and livestreamed
Part of Carnegie Hall’s Fall of the Weimar Republic: Dancing on the Precipice festival
SAARIAHO From the Grammar of Dreams for soprano and electronics
SCHOENBERG Ode to Napoleon
DAVIES Eight Songs for a Mad King
Directed by Mary Birnbaum
In collaboration with the Drama Division, the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts, and the Center of Innovation in the Arts
Juilliard Pride Songbook
Thursday, May 9 | 7:30pm
Paul Hall and livestreamed
In collaboration with the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts and collaborative piano
All performances in The New Series are free. Free tickets are required and available at the Juilliard box office and at Juilliard.edu.
CONTACTS:
Allegra Thoresen | [email protected]
[email protected]
Photo by Bill Keefrey
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