Piano faculty member Emanuel Ax (Diploma ’70, Postgraduate Diploma ’72, piano) was elected as a new member of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia in April.

Jazz faculty member Kenny Baron was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master. He will receive a $25,000 grant and will be honored in a ceremony and concert in January at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Dance faculty member Terese Capucilli was interviewed about the legacy of Martha Graham in Dance Magazine’s July issue. 

Mari Kimura (DMA ’83, violin), who teaches music technology, performed on July 15 at the Issue Project Room in Brooklyn. Using the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique’s (IRCAM) augmented violin motion sensors fitted into a glove, Kimura’s performance included works by Takayuki Ray and Conlon Nancarrow.

Music technology faculty member Milica Paranosic’s (MM ’96, composition) I Am a Bird, a performance piece dedicated to Olivier Messiaen and commissioned by the International Festival of Contemporary Music in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, was given its New York premiere in May at Gallery MC. 

Piano faculty member Matti Raekallio was on the faculty for the inaugural Dino Ciani Academy master classes, which took place July 25 through August 8 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

This year’s Peridance summer workshops featured dance faculty member Risa Steinberg (BFA ’71), Andrea Miller (BFA ’04), Michelle Mola (BFA ’07), and Kate Skarpetowska (BFA ’99). Steinberg, who is the associate director of the Dance Division, gave a workshop in June on the elements of performance and modern dance technique. That same month, Miller, with her company, Gallim Dance, taught various repertory from the company and gave a special showing at the end of the last class, performed by the workshop participants. Mola gave a workshop in July on improvisation and also had a special showing at the end of the last class. Skarpetowska gave a workshop in July on contemporary dance. All workshops took place at Peridance Center in New York City.

Scenes from Armide, an opera by Jonathan Dawe (MM ’91, DMA ’95, composition) set in the year 2019 in postwar Iraq, were performed in May in the New York City Opera Vox festival. Ballet music from the same work was presented in April 2008 by the American Composers Orchestra. Recent premieres include Ciphers and Constellations in Love With a Woman (Third String Quartet), performed by the Miró Quartet, and Symphony of Imaginary Numbers, performed by the Manhattan Sinfonietta. (See "Juilliard Portrait: Jonathan Dawe".)

STUDENT NEWS

Pianist Jonathan Batiste, a master’s student in jazz, joined Imani Winds—which includes Monica Ellis (MM ’97, bassoon) as a member—for a program at Merkin Hall titled “Rags’ Riches.” The performance featured the New York premiere of Jason Moran’s Cane, as well as works by Wayne Shorter and Lalo Schifrin.

Kelly Markgraf, a baritone in the Juilliard Opera Center, was selected in April by the School’s Vocal Arts Performance Activities Panel and the Shoshana Foundation to receive the foundation’s Richard F. Gold career grant.

Several Pre-College violin students of Shirley Givens distinguished themselves this year.Abigail Fayette won first place in the Bachanalia Young Artists Competition and performed the Bach Concerto in E Major in Merkin Hall, in May. Emerson Millar was featured on the McGraw-Hill Young Artists Showcase, hosted by faculty member Robert Sherman on WQXR, playing the Barber Concerto. She recently won first place in the Cayuga County (N.Y.) Chamber Orchestra Competition, and will appear with the group in March 2010. Alex Jangperformed a concerto by Wieniawski with the Orchestra of Donetsk State Music Academy in Ukraine, in March. Zeynep Alpan gave a violin recital in Albert Long Hall in Istanbul, in May.

Marco Ramirez was one of eight playwrights selected from 57 applicants to participate in the fourth annual M.F.A. Playwrights’ Workshop, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, from July 25 to August 2.