1926

October 28, the Juilliard School of Music, created through a merger of the Institute of Musical Art and the Juilliard Graduate School, received its charter from New York State. The two schools shared a common board of directors and president but retained their distinct identities until their complete merger as a single institution in 1946. William Schuman became president of the combined schools in 1945 and completed the amalgamation into one institution, the Juilliard School of Music.

1957

October 25, alumnus and former faculty member William Masselos premiered Aaron Copland’s Piano Fantasy. Commissioned by Juilliard in 1955, on the occasion of the School's 50th anniversary, the work was dedicated to the memory of alumnus William Kapell.  

1963

October 21, the Juilliard Orchestra appeared at the third annual benefit concert for the United States Committee for the United Nations at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. Under the direction of Jean Morel, the orchestra performed the finale of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and operatic arias with Eleanor Steber and Richard Tucker. The concert celebrated the 18th anniversary of the United Nations, and participants in the State Department’s Cultural Exchange Program were selected as featured artists. President John Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy headed the list of patrons; hosts for the event were Secretary of State Dean Rusk and Robert S. Benjamin, the national chairman of the United States Committee. 

1979

October 20, alumna Rina Schenfeld, one of the founders of the Batsheva Dance Company, returned to Juilliard to give a demonstration of dance as related to constructivism in 20th-century art. Schenfeld performed Threads, a solo set to Igor Wakhevitch’s Chambers, with scenography by Ziva Lieblich and lighting by John Davis. In 1978 Schenfeld received the Israel Harp of David Award for Threads. 

1999

October 11, the American Brass Quintet gave a faculty recital with guest artists the Extension Ensemble, a brass quintet of graduate students Louis Hanzlik, Brian McWhorter, Jeffrey Fair, Scott Parkinson, and Andrew Bove. The program included the New York premiere of David Sampson’s Quintet 99 and compositions by William Brade, Osvaldo Lacerda, J.S. Bach, Josquin des Près, and Giovanni Gabrieli.