Bach Marathon

There will be back-to-back Bach at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church (Lexington Avenue at 54th Street) this month. Juilliard organ department chair Paul Jacobs and 19 of his current and former students will present an 18-hour Bach organ marathon starting at 7 a.m. on Saturday, November 22, and ending at 1 a.m. on Sunday, November 23. “Bach composed some 200 organ works—some brief, others extensive—in every genre known to him,” Jacobs told The Journal. “In organizing such an historic event, I divided the cycle into 14 self-contained programs, most which are about 70-75 minutes. Each one is complete and satisfying and offers a sampling of the infinite variety and genius of Bach.” The concert is presented by WQXR, which will also broadcast it. Jacobs, who curated the marathon, will perform at 8 p.m. Also performing will be Juilliard organists David Crean, James Wetzel, Raymond Nagem, Alexander Pattavina, Janet Yieh, Yinying Luo, Chelsea Chen, Ryan Jackson, Benjamin Sheen, Daniel Ficarri, Griffin McMahon, Colin MacKnight, Isabelle Demers, David Enlow, Christopher Houlihan, Michael Hey, David Ball, Ryan Kennedy, and Gregory Zelek.

Does Your Instrument Need a Passport?

In June, a new program to help ease the travel of musicians with specialized instruments was enacted. This “musical instrument passport” was created to simplify international travel for musicians with regard to the materials used in their instruments. For the Juilliard community, the most common items to check for are pieces of ivory, tortoiseshell, or Brazilian rosewood. If these materials were acquired legally and were harvested before the dates of various bans—the website below lists those dates—a passport may be obtained. 

The passport will be valid for a period of three years for multiple instruments, but if the instrument is sold, lost, or destroyed, the passport must be returned. The passport will include the name and address of the owner, information about the species used in the instrument, and any methods of identifying the instrument (e.g. serial number). For more information on this process, go to fws.gov/international/permits/by-activity/musical-instruments.html.

Please note that instruments under the Juilliard Instrument Loan Program containing materials with endangered species components will not be permitted to leave the United States.
—Cory Owen, Director of International Advisement

Dancers Everywhere

It’s been a big fall for Juilliard dancers in New York City. In just two October weeks, some 54 current and former Juilliard dancers performed at three of the city’s top venues: the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Joyce Theater, and City Center. As part of BAM’s Next Wave Festival, the L.A. Dance Project, which includes six Juilliard alums, graced the stage during the up-and-coming company’s residency. And through November 2, Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, the company of late choreographer Pina Bausch (’61, dance), is at BAM—one of the company’s newest dancers, Breanna O’Mara, is an alum. Meanwhile, Lar Lubovitch (’64, dance) brought his company—in which six Juilliard grads were joined by 10 current students—to the Joyce Theater to give the world premiere of The Black Rose and a new production of his Artemis. The following week, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet—also including six alums—was in residency at the Joyce. At City Center, the occasion was the annual Fall for Dance festival, at which 18 Juilliard dancers and four alums performed Torrent, their Brian Brooks-choreographed New Dances program from a year ago. Also performing at Fall for Dance were alums in Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, whose artistic director is Robert Battle (B.F.A. ’94, dance).

All this activity has been keeping Lawrence Rhodes, the division’s artistic director, very busy—and very happy. “It’s been exciting and thrilling to see so many wonderful Juilliard students, current and alumni, dancing so very well at these important dance venues,” he told The Journal. “I’m definitely proud.”