Dance faculty member Janis Brenner participated in the Women in Dance Leadership Conference in Baton Rouge, La., this fall. In November, Brenner was a panelist at the 92nd Street Y’s celebration of dancer and choreographer Murray Louis. She was a longtime member of Louis’s company and has restaged his works.

Dance faculty member Ray Hesselink was featured in an article called “Music for Tap” in the November issue of Dance Teacher magazine.

In November, a documentary about guitar faculty member Sharon Isbin’s latest album, Sharon Isbin: Troubadour, won the ASCAP Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Television Broadcast Award.

Faculty member Behzad Ranjbaran’s (MM ’88, DMA ’92, composition) Concerto for English Horn and Strings was performed in October at the Curtis Institute with Jan Krzywicki (’68, composition) conducting. The work was commissioned by Network for New Music for the centennial of Vincent Persichetti (faculty 1947-87), one of Ranjbaran’s teachers. Also in October, Ranjbaran’s Elegy for Cello and Strings was performed at Carnegie Hall as part of a concert called A Prayer for Peace. In September, Eugenia Zukerman (BS ’67, flute) and Gary Levinson (BM ’88, MM ’91, violin) were among the performers of Ranjbaran’s Fountains of Fin on the opening night of the Copake, N.Y., Leaf Peeper concert series.

In November, there was a preview of New Dances: Edition 2015 at the Guggenheim Museum’s Works & Process Series. Lawrence Rhodes, artistic director of the Dance Division, discussed the creation process of the dances with the four choreographers. 

Students

Juilliard’s graduate string quartet in residence, the Verona—violinists Jonathan Ong and Dorothy Ro, violist Abigail Rojansky, and cellist Warren Hagerty—won the Concert Artists Guild’s Victor Elmaleh Competition. Paul Rosenblum (BM ’71, MM ’74, French horn), Ryan McAdams (MM ’06, orchestral conducting), clarinet faculty member Charles Neidich, and chamber music faculty member Nicholas Mann (Pre-College ’75; BM ’79, MM ’81, violin) served on the jury for the final auditions.

Soprano Hyesang Park (MM ’15), an Artist Diploma candidate, won second prize in the 2015 Montreal International Music Competition this summer.

Doctoral student Shen Yiwen’s (MM ’12, composition) first full-length ballet, Crane Whisperer, premiered in September at Tianqiao Theater in Beijing. It was commissioned by the National Ballet of China.

The Hudson Valley Dance Festival, which was produced by and benefited Dancers Responding to AIDS, took place in October and Juilliard had a strong presence. Brian Brooks Moving Company performed Torrent (pictured) which premiered at Juilliard’s New Dances 2013. Performers included fourth-years Dean Biosca, Daniel Ching, Victor Lozano, and Whitney Schmanski as well as Carlye Eckert (BFA ’09), and Ingrid Kapteyn (BFA ’13). Also at the festival, Jessica Lang’s (BFA ’97) company performed Lines Cubed, featuring Randy Castillo (’03), John Harnage (BFA ’14), Eve Jacobs (BFA ’14), and Laura Mead (BFA ’06). And the Chase Brock Experience presented Splendor We Only Partially Imagined; among the performers were Marcus Bellamy (’05) and Amber Pickens (BFA ’15). 

New York City Marathon, 2015

Since it began in 1970, the New York Marathon has become one of the more beloved annual city rites.

This year’s edition had a number of Juilliard connections, starting with soprano Susanna Phillips Huntington (BM ’03, MM ’04, voice) singing the national anthem—and then running. Stephanie Yu (BM ’11, MM ’13, violin), who’d never run before coming to Juilliard because she was so busy practicing, started running a little every day as a freshman “just for mental health.” This year, she completed her first marathon, running the 26.2 miles a few days after turning 26. Other runners included veterans Lori Padua, director of planned giving, who was competing for the 12th time, and second-timer Marie Daniels (BM ’13, MM ’15, viola).

Also participating were second-year violinist Fedor Ouspensky; Damian Primis (BM ’02, MM ’04, bassoon); Hiemke van den Boer, Juilliard Global Ventures arts marketing intern; and Emily Wells, associate director of Vocal Arts. In addition, marathon veteran Bärli Nugent (BM ’76, MM ’77, flute), the assistant dean and director of chamber music, worked at the finish line giving out medals and consultant Tricia Ross worked at a water table and at the expo. Congratulations to all!