In February, Liberal Arts faculty member Greta Berman co-chaired a panel at the College Art Association’s annual conference in Los Angeles titled “Is It Time to Stop ‘Privileging’ Visual Art?” In March, Berman gave a talk at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, titled “Introducing the Painter and Composer M.K. Ciurlionis.”

Guitar faculty member Sharon Isbin was featured on the public radio program A Prairie Home Companion when it taped at Town Hall on April 7.

On June 5, Evening Division faculty member Julie Jordan (MM ’83, piano) and conductor Paul Hostetter (MM ’89, percussion) will present a program of concertos by Rachmaninoff, Ravel, and Beethoven with the New York Concerti Sinfonietta at the Church of St. Joseph in New York.

Dance faculty member Linda Kent (BS ’68, dance) was honored by the Colorado Ballet for her contribution to dance in that state. The event, which took place in March, was a tribute to the co-founders of the Colorado Ballet, Freidann Parker and Lillian Covillo. Kent has been the director at the 99-year-old Perry Mansfield school and performing arts camp since 2001. Perry Mansfield is in Steamboat Springs.  

In May, graduate studies faculty member Mari Kimura (DMA ’93, violin) and four of her students will participate in the ImproTech Paris-New York 2012 Improvisation and Technology Workshop, which is co-sponsored by IRCAM, L’École des hautes études en sciences sociales, N.Y.U., and Columbia. On May 16, Kimura will perform at Brooklyn’s Roulette with jazz pianist Vijay Iyar and saxophonist Steve Lehman. On May 17 and 18, Kimura plus four master’s students from her Interactive Computer Music Performance class—Matt Weber and Mitch Montealegre (double bass), Chad Cannon (composition), and Brandon Labadie (Historical Performance)—along with graduate studies faculty member Milica Paranosic (MM ’96, composition) will present a workshop on the augmented violin at the Columbia Computer Music Center.

Clarinet faculty member Anthony McGill, Tai Murray (Artist Diploma ’06, violin), and Elena Uriost (Graduate Diploma ’09, violin) all won medals from the Sphinx Organization, which was created to increase the participation of blacks and Latinos in classical music. The awards ceremony was held in March at the U.S. Supreme Court, in Washington. 

Music history and graduate studies faculty member John Muller gave numerous lectures this year at the Metropolitan Opera, including two on Wagner’s “Ring” cycle in October, and one each on Handel’s Rodelinda (in November) and Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel (in December). In January, Muller spoke about Wagner’s Götterdämmerung in a session on opera at the American Psychoanalytic Association’s winter meeting, which was held in New York City.

On May 18, graduate studies faculty member Milica Paranosic (MM ’96, composition) will co-present a chamber concert at New York’s Bohemian National Hall. The program, called “Ladies First,” will celebrate women in diverse fields and feature works by Paranosic, Lady Gaga, Piazzolla, Dvorak, and Alma Mahler, among others. 

In January, Alexander Technique faculty member Lori Schiff ran New York’s Joe Kleinerman 10K in Central Park.

Starting in May, an essay by dance faculty member Rachel Straus will be part of a touring exhibition organized by the Dance Heritage Coalition. Called “America’s Irreplaceable Dance Treasures: The First 100,” the interactive, multimedia exhibition will appear at the San Francisco Performing Arts Library and Museum, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Columbus (Ohio) Cultural Arts Center, and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Straus’s next history columns for Dance Teacher magazine will focus on the Broadway choreographers Michael Kidd (May) and former dance faculty member Hanya Holm (June). In June, Straus will be conducting research on contemporary German dance in Berlin. And in July and August, Ballet in her capacity as scholar in residence at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, she will give lectures about (and write program notes for) about the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and about Jessica Lang (BFA ’97, dance).

Lyric Opera of Chicago has commissioned composer Jimmy Lopez to write an opera based on Ann Patchett’s novel Bel Canto, which will premiere during the 2015-2016 season. The opera will be directed by Stephen Wadsworth, director of opera studies.

On May 9, Vocal Arts faculty member Robert White will be the guest of honor at the Young Concert Artists’ annual gala benefit evening at New York’s Alice Tully Hall. The event will include an introduction by piano faculty member Emanuel Ax (Pre-College ’66; Diploma ’70, Postgraduate Diploma ’72) and a concert by Hahn-Bin (Pre-College ’06; Diploma ’09, violin), Ran Dank (MM ’07, Artist Diploma ’09, piano), cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s conducted by Ryan McAdams (MM ’06, orchestral conducting). In March, White performed with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra in its St. Patrick’s Day celebration concert.

STAFF NEWS

In April, finance office administrative assistant Katherine Howell made her New York City debut singing the role of Madame Goldentrill at New York Lyric Opera’s concert production of Mozart’s one-act opera The Impresario at Symphony Space. From May 10 to 13, Howell will be performing in Gustav Holst’s Savitri at 59E59 Theaters in New York.

Facilities staff member Manny Ortiz and his wife, Marilyn, will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary on May 23. Their son, Jonathan Ortiz, recently joined the facilities staff.

In May, President Joseph W. Polisi will be presented with an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Connecticut’s School of Fine Arts and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Brandeis University. Also in May, Polisi will receive the Sanford Medal, the highest honor given by Yale School of Music.

Percussion coordinator Deane Prouty is the percussionist for a new play called Peter and the Starcatcher, which opened at the Brooks Atkinson Theater in April. This comedy is about a miserable orphan who became the boy who would not grow up; Prouty’s sound effects include everything from sword fights to ships creaking on the ocean. 

In April, concert office assistant Veronica Rose Stacker, who received her yoga teaching certification last summer, gave a class at the Loom Yoga Studio in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

STUDENT NEWS

Juilliard had a strong showing in the Gerda Lissner awards, which were announced in April. One of the three first prizes ($10,000) went to second-year master’s tenor (and Juilliard Journal crossword puzzle maven) Noah Baetge; second-year Artist Diploma candidate Alex Hajek (baritone) was one of 11 singers to receive a second prize ($5,000); and first-year Graduate Diploma candidate Takaoki Onishi (baritone) was one of 12 singers to place third ($3,000). Encouragement awards of $2,000 each went to first year Artist Diploma candidate Jeongcheol Cha (baritone) as well as to Tobias Greenhalgh and Leo Radosavljevic, both first-year master’s baritones. And Paul Appleby (Artist Diploma ’08, MM ’10, voice) won the top prize ($15,000). 

In March, second-year jazz trombonist Andrew Clausen and his Wishbone Ensemble released their debut albumThe Wishbone Suite on the Table and Chairs label. They also performed an album release show at Seattle’s Chapel Performance Space.

The China National Symphony gave Zhonghua Chronicles: Piano Concerto No. 3 by second-year composition student Peng-Peng Gong (Pre-College ’10) its premiere in February with Gong as soloist and En Shao conducting. The orchestra will tour the work in the U.S. in 2013; Gong will also play Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto on the tour, which is scheduled to go to 42 cities.

Fourth-year composer David Hertzberg was named the Young Concert Artists composer-in-residence in March. He’ll hold the residency through 2014 and will write two new works for Y.C.A. musicians, the first of which will premiere at Washington’s Kennedy Center in December. Hertzberg and first-year master’s student Eugene Astapov have also been commissioned to write pieces for the New Juilliard Ensemble’s 2012-2013 season. 

Fourth-year violinist Siwoo David Kim received the 2012 King Award at the Young Artists National Music Competition, which is held annually by the Salina (Kan.) Symphony Kim will receive $5,000 when he solos with the orchestra its season-opening concert, on October 7.

First-year master’s cellist Ji Young Lee was the winner of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic String Competition in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and will solo with the orchestra next season. Sang Jun Yhee (Pre-College ’06), also a first-year master’s cellist, placed third in the competition.

Second-year master’s baritone Will Liverman was a finalist in this year’s Metropolitan Opera National Council and as such won $5,000.

Playwrighting Melissa Ross was selected for the Pacific Playwrights Festival at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, Calif. It took place in April and included the fully produced world premiere of her play You Are Here.

Violin master’s student Stephanie Yu ran the New York Road Runners Club women’s half marathon in April. 

COMMUNITY MILESTONES

Marriages

Steven Blier, Vocal Arts faculty member, and James Russell: April 28, 2012

Rebecca Saslow Braun (BM ’05, voice), Pre-College performance activities coordinator, and Joel Braun (BM ’05, MM ’07, double bass), Pre-College assistant faculty member: August 13, 2011

Lauren Brotz, Dance Division administrative assistant, and Matthew Brotz: June 18, 2011

Michael Maione, Liberal Arts faculty member, and Joel Grill: November 24, 2011

Catherine Miller (BM ’05, MM ’07, violin) and Gene Gerhiser: April 14, 2012

Ira Rosenblum (MM ’76, piano), director of publications, and Kenneth Karpel: March 11, 2012

Harold Slamovitz, Liberal Arts faculty member, and Randy Traster: August 4, 2011

 Births/Adoptions

Colby Carson, assistant director of admissions for recruitment, and Beth Carson: Wilton Graysen Carson, June 25, 2011

Loren Darzano, coordinator of student activities, and Matthew Darzano: Logan Eric Darzano, July 25, 2011

Francesca DeRenzi, Vocal Arts production activities administrator, and Peter MacBeth: Finley DeRenzi MacBeth, January 11, 2012

Alana Vegter Gartrell (MM ’07, French horn) and Ben Gartrell: Noa Ann Gartrell, April 16, 2012

Nick Mazzurco, director of student accounts/bursar, and Elizabeth Mazzurco: Alexander and Benjamin Mazzurco, August 1, 2011

Rob Ross, Pre-College administrative director of performance activities, and Victoria Lee: Chloe Erin Ross, May 6, 2011

Greg Sandow, Graduate Studies faculty member, and Anne Midgette: Rafael Aron Sandow, October 15, 2011

Donald Vega (Artist Diploma ’09, jazz studies) and Laura Vega: Donald Alexander Vega, September 27, 2011