Some anniversaries merely mark the passage of time. Others, like The Juilliard School’s centennial this year, commemorate a period of growth, maturation and accomplishment.
The broad influence of the New York institution, internationally known as a top performing-arts school, includes long-standing collaborations with artistic organizations elsewhere. Among the most robust and prolific of these is Juilliard’s association with the Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) since its founding in 1949.
“It’s never been a formal relationship, but the institutions have consistently shared faculty and students,” said Joseph Polisi, Juilliard president. “When I did a convocation in Aspen a few years ago, I turned around and thought I was in New York. There were so many familiar faces.”
In September, Juilliard launches a series of centennial concerts and world premieres of commissioned works. Tuesday’s “Juilliard Centennial Salute” concert in Aspen is a nod to the occasion.
But an overwhelming homogeneity among faculty and students on the Manhattan and Aspen campuses is not intended or desired.
“It’s tempting to think of Aspen as ‘Juilliard West,”‘ said Edward Berkeley, director of the Aspen Opera Theater Center and Juilliard’s undergraduate opera studies. “But that’s not the goal.
“Juilliard is its own fortress, which is good and bad,” he said. “Aspen is important because it provides an honest representation of the real world. Students come to realize that Juilliard is a good school but that there are also many other good schools and good singers.”
Berkeley extends invitations to Aspen based on competitive auditions he attends around the country. (He makes a stop in Toronto too.) Among about 75 singers at the nine-week summer festival this season is Aaron Blake, a Juilliard voice student.
“I’m excited to perform my first major operatic role here,” said the 22-year-old tenor, who will appear as Arturo in the Aspen theater’s production of Gaetano Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor.” “During the summer, I don’t have to worry about theory and training and other classes. I can just focus on singing.
“Plus, the gorgeous scenery inspires you artistically.”
With only a couple weeks’ break between the Juilliard academic year and the AMFS season, Blake – who studies with W. Stephen Smith in both places – said he aims to “return to Juilliard at a higher level after the summer.”
Specifically, Blake is working on improving his acting abilities and preparing for his upcoming senior recital at Juilliard. He also participates in master classes by other faculty, and he’s getting some career advice from Gayletha Nichols, director of the Metropolitan Opera’s National Auditions.
“She talks to us about résumés and head shots,” he said. “She knows everybody, and she recommends certain things to do, like entering competitions to round out your experience.”
The AMFS offers students a range of scholarships to defray the cost of tuition and living expenses. Melanie Lavitan, oboist and English horn player, is a recent Juilliard graduate on a full scholarship.
“Some of the best things about Aspen are reading through an awful lot of repertoire, working with different conductors, and playing alongside your teacher,” said Lavitan, 23, who will perform on Tuesday’s program. “You can’t do that at Juilliard.”
Eugene Levinson, who along with his wife, Gina, is a faculty member at both schools, agrees.
“Juilliard is known worldwide, and so is the Aspen festival. So the relationship makes sense,” said Levinson, who is also principal bass player for the New York Philharmonic. “Aspen is like a factory for music. Students get a rich experience with input from different teachers, and many of them go on to international careers.”
A half-century friendship
Mack Harrell – the late, legendary baritone and father of acclaimed cellist Lynn Harrell – helped solidify the Juilliard-
AMFS connection when he recruited Norman Singer, a Juilliard psychology teacher, to manage the festival in the early ’50s. In 1962, Singer appointed Gordon Hardy, a Juilliard professor of literature and materials of music, as assistant dean of the Aspen school.
Since then, a star-studded roster of Juilliard faculty, students and alumni has made Aspen a habit. The late violin pedagogue Dorothy DeLay brought in her internationally renowned students Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Gil Shaham, Itzhak Perlman, Midori and Sarah Chang. The festival has played host to vocalists Beverley Johnson and Renée Fleming, pianist Rosina Lhevinne, conductor James Conlon and composer Christopher Rouse, among others.
But Juilliard’s ties to Colorado don’t end there.
“Serious students don’t have the option to put their artistic development on hold between school years,” said Linda Kent, Juilliard alumna and faculty member, and director of dance at the Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School & Camp in Steamboat Springs. “They’re expected to grow over the summer, which is why summer programs are such a great thing.”
Polisi concurs. “What’s going on in Colorado is the perfect counterexposure to what’s happening in New York.”
CLASSICAL MUSIC|Harris Concert Hall, Aspen, 8 p.m. Tuesday | Faculty, students and alumni of The Juilliard School will perform J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major; Francis Poulenc’s Sextet for Piano and Winds; Christopher Rouse’s Ku-Ka-Ilimoku; Robert Beaser’s Brass Quintet; and Felix Mendelssohn’s Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20 | FREE|970-925-9042 or aspenmusicfestival.com
