Juilliard Orchestra

Two debuts, several alumni conductors, and numerous interdepartmental collaborations are among the features of this year's orchestra season. Things start off on September 25 in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater with Nicholas McGegan—who's also collaborating with Historical Performance this season—returning to the Juilliard podium.

This year's two debut conductors are Pablo Heras-Casado and Gianandrea Noseda. On November 12, Heras-Casado leads Prokofiev's Cinderella Suite, Stravinsky's Violin Concerto, and Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances (Tully Hall). Noseda comes to the podium January 25, when he'll conduct the Sinfonia from Casella's Symphonic Fragments from La donna serpente as well as Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto and Schumann's Second Symphony (Tully Hall).

An array of guest and Juilliard conductors preside over the rest of the season. On October 26, Case Scaglione leads Haydn's "Surprise" Symphony, Penderecki's Violin Concerto, and Symphony No. 5 by Sibelius (Tully Hall). Itzhak Perlman, an alumnus and faculty member, will lead the Juilliard Orchestra in a pair of all-Tchaikovsky programs this winter. The first takes place at Geffen Hall (the former Avery Fisher Hall) on December 14, the second at Chicago's Harris Theater on January 6. The program includes the Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasie, Rococo Variations, and the "Pathétique" Symphony. The Metropolitan Opera's Fabio Luisi returns to Juilliard to conduct the Juilliard Orchestra in Brahms's Third Symphony, Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor, and Beethoven's "Leonore" Overture No. 3 (Tully Hall, March 24).

The orchestra's annual Carnegie Hall concert—led this year by alumnus Alan Gilbert, Juilliard's director of conducting studies—will feature the conductor's Ring cycle arrangement, A Ring Journey, as well as Schumann's Manfred Overture and Berg's Three Pieces for Orchestra (November 24).

In collaborations around Juilliard, the orchestra will accompany the March dance performances (see DANCE) and, under the baton of faculty member and alumnus Jeffrey Milarsky, the final concert of the Focus! festival, on January 29 (see NEW MUSIC). The orchestra pairs up with Vocal Arts for a Poulenc-Ullmann double bill in November, Bellini's La sonnambula in February, and Die Zauberflöte in April.

Other Juilliard Orchestra events include a performance of Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream for the biennial gala (Sharp Theater, April 25) and the annual composers concert (Tully Hall, April 28). Faculty member Matthias Pintscher will lead the commencement concert, which features Webern's Im Sommerwind and Mahler's First Symphony (Tully Hall, May 19).

The Juilliard Wind Orchestra's second season features concerts led by faculty members Patricia Rogers (Paul Hall, October 11); Mark Gould conducting works including Poulenc's Suite Française and Ibert's Cello Concerto plus Varèse's Octandre (Willson Theater in December 15); and Elaine Douvas conducting Mozart's Serenade No. 10 in B-flat Major ("Gran Partita") (Tully Hall, February 24). The conductorless Juilliard Chamber Orchestra, which is coached by alum and faculty member Eric Bartlett—a member of Orpheus—performs Stravinsky's Dumbarton Oaks, Theofanidis's Muse, and Haydn's Violin Concerto in C Major and "Philosopher" Symphony in two concerts (West Side Presbyterian Church, Ridgewood, N.J., February 21; Alice Tully Hall, February 26).

Jazz

Juilliard Jazz's new season includes a dozen performances on campus covering a broad range of the jazz continuum with a special focus on the art of arranging. It begins on September 29 with the first of two Paul Hall Artist Ensemble concerts. This one pays tribute to greats Chick Corea ('61, piano), Herbie Hancock, and Wayne Shorter and will be coached by Rodney Jones with a guest coaching by alumnus Christian McBride. The second Artist Diploma Ensemble concert, on March 29, honors early jazz masters Buddy Bolden, Sidney Bechet, and Louis Armstrong with guest coach Michael White.

The Jazz Orchestra gives five concerts this year, the first four in the Sharp Theater. On September 30, the title of the show is From the Pen of Challis, Durham, and Redman, with guest conductor Vince Giordano; on October 13, it's The New Testament Basie Band: Benny Carter, Ernie Wilkins, and Billy Byers, with guest conductor Scotty Barnhart. Second-semester concerts begin January 20 with The Bebop Arrangers: Tadd Dameron, Gil Fuller, and Chico O'Farrill, with guest conductor Jimmy Heath, followed by Big Band Sounds of Wayne Shorter, and Joe Henderson, and Lee Morgan (February 24) with guest conductor Igor Butman. The final Jazz Orchestra concert takes place in Tully Hall and is called The Music of Thelonious Monk (April 5) with Wynton Marsalis, an alum and the director of Juilliard Jazz, conducting and alum Jon Batiste playing piano.

There will be five Jazz Ensemble dates, all in Paul Hall. They are called the Music of Lee Morgan and Horace Silver (November 3) with guest coach Dave Douglas, Flamenco Music: Chano Dominguez (November 23) with guest coach Jimmy Heath, Extended Works of Wynton Marsalis (December 7) with guest coach Andy Farber, a faculty member. The last ensemble concert plays tribute to Miles Davis ('45, trumpet) and Gerry Mulligan (February 2); students will work with guest coach Lee Konitz. The annual student-composition concert takes place April 12.

The ensembles will also perform brunch shows throughout the year at the Blue Note (131 West Third Street) and at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola.

Drama

The fourth-year actors are featured in three plays this fall. August Wilson's Seven Guitars (October 14-18), which is part of the Pulitzer-winning playwright's 10-play Pittsburgh cycle, is directed by Timothy Douglas. Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage (November 4-8), which won the 2009 Tony for best play, is directed by Hal Brooks. And Tom Stoppard's Arcadia (December 16-20), which alternates between the 1800s and the present is directed by Lila Neugebauer. The annual fourth-year repertory cycle takes place from February 10 to 21. It includes Athol Fugard's apartheid-era drama A Lesson From Aloes, which won the Drama Critics Circle Award for best play in 1980 and which is directed here by Saheem Ali. The second play is Still, a dark comedy that won the Yale Prize in playwriting; it's by Jen Silverman (Playwrights '15). Also on the bill is John Guare's murder mystery Landscape of the Body, directed by Evan Cabnet.

This fall, Juilliard's third-year actors will perform in three plays, two of which were confirmed at press time: Melissa Ross's Thinner Than Water (October 20-25; directed by Janet Zarish) and Max Posner's (Playwrights '15) Snore (October 21-25; directed by Knud Adams). In the spring, the third-years will take the stage for the annual Shakespeare rep series.

The drama season opens with the annual Playwrights Festival (September 9-12) and also includes the annual third-year cabaret (February 10-14), directed by Deborah Lapidus.

Dance

At New Dances: Edition 2015 (December 11-15), each of the four classes gives world-premiere performances. Helen Simoneau will create a piece for the first-year dancers, Aszure Barton will be paired with the second-years, Zvi Gotheiner will choreograph for the third-years, and Kyle Abraham will work with the fourth-years. A preview of sorts will be on display as part of the Guggenheim Museum's Works & Process series, in which the New Dances choreographers will present excerpts and discuss their creative process with Lawrence Rhodes, artistic director of the division (1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th St., November 15).

Juilliard Dances Repertory (Sharp Theater, March 23-26) features three 20th-century classics, two of which will be accompanied by the Juilliard Orchestra under the baton of George Manahan. The first is Roses by Paul Taylor (BS '53, dance), which is danced to Baermann's Adagio for Clarinet and Strings and Wagner's Siegfried Idyll, and the second is Jirí Kylián's Symphony of Psalms, set to Stravinsky's masterwork. The third dance is Moves by Jerome Robbins.

Other highlights of the dance season include the annual collaboration of Juilliard choreographers and composers (six of each) known as ChoreoComp (Willson Theater, November 19-21), Senior Dance Production (Willson Theater, April 22-24), the Choreographic Honors concert (Sharp Theater, May 13-14), and the Senior Showcase (Sharp Theater, May 16).

Opera and Song

The Juilliard Opera season begins in the Sharp Theater with a double bill of Poulenc's Les mamelles de Tirésias and Ullmann's Der Kaiser von Atlantis (November 18, 20, and 22). Alumna Keri-Lynn Wilson will conduct Juilliard singers and the Juilliard Orchestra; it's directed by Ted Huffman. The season continues with Cavalli's La Calisto, in which singers and Historical Performance instrumentalists will be conducted by Stephen Stubbs; the production is directed by dance alumnus Zack Winokur (Willson Theater, February 17, 19, and 21). Juilliard Opera's final performance is Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, in which the singers and the Juilliard Orchestra will be conducted by alumnus David Stern and directed by faculty member Mary Birnbaum (Sharp Theater, April 19, 21, and 23).

The annual Metropolitan Opera-Juilliard co-production will be Bellini's La Sonnambula (Sharp Theater, February 9, 11, and 13). In this concert production, Juilliard and Lindemann Young Artist Program singers and the Juilliard Orchestra will be conducted by alumna Speranza Scappucci.

This year's undergraduate opera production features song repertoire and Ravel's one-act L'enfant et les sortilèges. Jorge Parodi will conduct the singers and members of the Juilliard Orchestra; faculty member Jeanne Slater will direct the invitation-only performances.

Another season highlight will be a second collaboration between Juilliard Vocal Arts and the Royal Irish Academy of Music. And there will be some Vocal Arts master classes that will be streamed live on Juilliard's website.

Juilliard Songfest, which is curated and performed by Vocal Arts artistic director Brian Zeger (MM '81, piano), is on December 3 in Tully Hall. This year's New York Festival of Song at Juilliard concert celebrates songwriters Harry Warren, Hoagy Carmichael, and Harold Arlen; it features Juilliard singers and Juilliard faculty member and NYFOS artistic director, pianist Steven Blier (Sharp Theater, January 13).

The annual honors recital, whose participants will be selected by a group of distinguished judges, will be held on March 21 in Tully Hall. The annual Alice Tully Vocal Arts Recital (Tully Hall, May 9) will spotlight soprano Brenda Rae (MM '06, voice; Artist Diploma '08, opera studies); she'll perform with In Sun Suh (MM '09, collaborative piano).

The Liederabend series of concerts with Juilliard vocalists and collaborative pianists takes place in, for the most part, Paul Hall and runs on the following dates: October 15, December 2, January 28, February 18, and April 7; the November 19 Liederabend takes place in Morse Hall. Wednesdays at One concerts in Tully Hall with Juilliard vocalists and collaborative pianists take place on December 9 and April 6.

Historical Performance

After a whirlwind series of European performances in May, June, and August, Historical Performance begins its seventh season on September 11 with Juilliard Baroque, the resident faculty ensemble, performing works by C.P.E. Bach in Paul Hall. Notably, the concert will include works for clavichord, performed by harpsichord faculty member Peter Sykes. It will reprise the program at Colgate University on September 13 with Jeff Grossman (MM '11, historical performance) as the harpsichord soloist. The ensemble presents an all-Telemann program on November 2 (Paul Hall).

In October, the Historical Performance collaboration with Yale continues with Masaaki Suzuki conducting the student period-instrument ensemble Juilliard415 in its season opener, with the Yale Schola Cantorum in an all-Bach program in New Haven (St. Mary's Church, October 17) and N.Y.C. (Sharp Theater, October 18). The Yale collaboration will be revisited the following month when David Hill will lead the combined groups in Handel's Dixit Domnius at Christ Church in New Haven (November 11) and at the National Collegiate Choral Organization conference (Portland, Ore., November 14).

In November, Juilliard415 makes its West Coast debut in a series of concerts conducted by Nicholas McGegan. He'll lead Juilliard415 and Juilliard alumni singers in Telemann's Die Tageszeiten as well as Haydn's Sixth Symphony. The program will debut at Tully Hall on November 16 and then be performed at Music in the Morning in Vancouver, which is run by alumnus Barry Shiffman (November 18-20). Juilliard415 then goes to California for its first collaboration with McGegan's Philharmonia Baroque ensemble—there will be performances in Palo Alto (November 21) and Berkeley (November 22).

William Christie returns to Juilliard to lead a program of Bach, Handel, and Rameau at Tully Hall on October 29. And Lars Ulrik Mortensen, the music director of Music Copenhagen, makes his Juilliard debut leading Juilliard415 in works by Biber, Muffat, and Corelli (Tully Hall; April 29).

Continuing its tradition of off-campus performances, Juilliard415 performs on December 13 as part of the Music Before 1800 series with artist in residence Richard Egarr conducting the ensemble in Bach's Magnificat and Corelli's "Christmas" Concerto, among other works (Corpus Christi Church, 529 West 121st Street). The Bohemians concert series presents chamber music at the Kosciuszko Foundation (15 East 65th Street) on April 4, and H.P. continues its Tuesday at Twelve series of lunchtime concerts at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (65th Street and Central Park West; October 20, December 8, March 29, April 26). The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents Juilliard415 in a program commemorating the 400th anniversary of the deaths of both Shakespeare and Cervantes, led by Jordi Savall (Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street, January 30). Faculty member Monica Huggett will conduct Mendelssohn's String Symphony No. 3 and Mozart's Symphony No. 40 (Tully Hall, February 8); she'll also lead a chamber concert in Paul Hall on March 31.

Historical Performance master classes will be given by Pablo Heras Casado (October 21) and Harry Bicket (March 14), both in Paul Hall.

Historical Performance will collaborate with other Juilliard artists on several occasions this season. In February, Juilliard415 will team up with Juilliard Opera for Cavalli's La Calisto (see OPERA AND SONG). And on April 12, Juilliard415 and Juilliard Dance will perform Handel's Terpsichore and Rameau's Suite from Pygmalion (Tully Hall; April 12) under the baton of program director Robert Mealy.

New Music

Juilliard's new-music season begins in the Sharp Theater on September 26 with the New Juilliard Ensemble conducted by its founder, faculty member Joel Sachs. On November 17 in Paul Hall, the ensemble will perform Kurtág's Brefs messages, Michael Zev Gordon's Sehnsucht, James Primosch's From a Book of Hours, and Laurie Altmann's Homage to Stravinsky. The N.J.E. season concludes at Tully Hall with premieres by the Juilliard composition student audition winners Saad Haddad and Joshua Cerdenia, plus premieres by Agustín Fernández, Roberto Sierra, and Rica Narimoto.

N.J.E. will also give the opening concert of the 32nd annual Focus! festival, which probes the music of late faculty member Milton Babbitt. That concert, in the Sharp Theater, includes Ursula Mamlok's Concertino for Oboe and Ensemble (soloist Hugo Lee), the world premiere of faculty member and alum Jonathan Dawe's Déploration sur la mort de Milton Babbitti, a song cycle by Alexander Goehr (one of the soloists will be mezzo-soprano Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek), and the world premiere of Babbitt's Concerti for violin, small orchestra, and tape (soloist Julia Glenn). The festival concludes with a Juilliard Orchestra performance conducted by faculty member and alumnus Jeffrey Milarsky. The works on the program were all favorites of Babbitt's—Chorale-Prelude "There Is a Rose in Flower" by Brahms (arranged by Erich Leinsdorf), Stravinsky's Variations (Aldous Huxley in Memoriam), Schoenberg's Five Pieces for Orchestra (1952), and Babbitt's Second Piano Concerto with alumnus Conor Hanick as soloist (Tully Hall, January 29).

AXIOM, the contemporary-music ensemble founded and conducted by Jeffrey Milarsky, begins the year in the Sharp Theater on October 10 with Gérard Grisey's Talea, Giacinto Scelsi's Anahit: Lyric Poem Dedicated to Venus (1965) and Okanagon (1968), and Kaija Saariaho's Lichtbogen (1986). The season continues with two works by Thomas Adès, The Origin of the Harp (1994) and Catch (1991), plus Oliver Knussen's Requiem—Songs for Sue (2006) and George Benjamin's Antara (1987) (Tully Hall, November 5). AXIOM's season concludes with two works by John Zorn—Cat O'Nine Tales (1988) and Missa Sine Voces (2012)—as well as Birtwistle's 1984 Secret Theatre for chamber ensemble (Tully Hall, April 11).

Faculty Recitals

The Daniel Saidenberg Faculty Recitals series of Paul Hall concerts launches on September 11 with Juilliard Baroque (see Historical Performance). It continues on October 19 with the 55-year-old American Brass Quintet performing Elizabethan Consort Music and Canons of the 16th Century, both edited by faculty member (and A.B.Q. member) Raymond Mase, as well as Little Suite of Miniatures by Steven Sacco, Shine by Robert Paterson, Clint Needham's Brass Quintet No. 1 ("Circus"), and Sebastian Currier's Cadence, Fugue, Fade.

The series continues with the Weilerstein Trio—faculty members Donald (BM '63, MS '66, violin) and Vivian Hornik Weilerstein and their daughter, Barnard-Juilliard-Columbia Exchange cello alumna Alisa—performing on December 8. And on March 17, Laurie Smukler (violin) and Robert McDonald (MM '79, piano) will perform.

The Juilliard String Quartet, which celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, takes the Tully Hall stage twice this year. On November 23, it will perform Schubert's Quartettsatz in C Minor, former faculty member Elliott Carter's String Quartet No. 1, and Debussy's Quartet in G Minor. On February 22, it will perform Mozart "Dissonance" Quartet, Richard Wernick's String Quartet No. 9 (2015), and Schubert's String Quintet in C Major, for which the quartet will be joined by its incoming cellist Astrid Schween (BM '84, MM '85). Joel Krosnick, who's been with the quartet for 42 years, will retire at the end of this season.

Other Events

Performances of note in 2015-16 include a tribute to composer Vincent Persichetti (faculty 1947-87), who would have turned 100 in June. The concert, on October 20, will be preceded by a panel discussion moderated by Peter Schickele (MS '60, composition). On November 6 at the Morgan Library (225 Madison Ave., at 36th Street), the PianoScope concert will feature Mozart Piano Concertos led by student conductors and hosted by Robert Levin.

Annual concerts include the Gina Bachauer Piano Competition winners' recital, by Tristan Teo and Yun Wei (Paul Hall, October 27); the Leo Ruiz Memorial Recital, by cello Artist Diploma candidate Jay Campbell (Carnegie Hall's Weill Hall, December 6); and the Lisa Arnhold Memorial Recital, which is given by the Verona, Juilliard's graduate resident string quartet (Tully Hall, May 7).

This year's eight-concert Sonatenabend series of collaborative piano and instrumentalist performances in Paul Hall will be held on October 8 and 29, November 12, December 10, January 21, February 25, March 24, and April 21. The 15th annual student ChamberFest is packed with concerts from January 11 to 16 in Paul Hall and the Sharp Theater. Wednesdays at One chamber music concerts take place in Tully Hall on November 4, January 13 (as part of ChamberFest), March 30, and April 20. Works by the winners of the second annual Gena Raps composition competition will be performed on April 20 in Tully Hall.

The Pre-College Orchestra begins its season on November 19 in Alice Tully Hall with faculty member Adam Glaser conducting works by Verdi, Elgar, and Sibelius. He'll also lead the ensemble in music by Gershwin, Vieuxtemps, and Schubert (Sharp Theater, February 20) and works by Mendelssohn, Mozart, and Prokofiev (Sharp Theater, May 21). Faculty member and alumnus George Stelluto will lead the group in three Sharp Theater concerts: music by Glinka, Prokofiev, and Rachmaninoff (December 19); Ives, Ravel, and Respighi (February 27); and Bach, Stravinsky, and Haydn (May 21).

The Pre-College String Ensemble—the youngest performing group at Juilliard—performs in the Sharp Theater under faculty member and alum Shih-Hung Young on December 19 and April 30; Pre-College chamber concerts are held on select Saturdays throughout the year. The Pre-College choruses will perform on January 23 and May 7 and with the orchestra on May 21. They'll present opera scenes on April 9. Members of the Pre-College faculty will give recitals on most Saturdays from September 19 to November 21.

For more information about these and other Juilliard events, go to events.juilliard.edu.