Juilliard Debuts as Exhibitor at IAJE

Joseph W. Polisi Photo by Christian Steiner

The Juilliard School is attending its first IAJE annual conference to highlight the completion of the application period for admission to the School’s new Institute for Jazz Studies starting in the fall of 2001. The new Institute is a collaborative program of Juilliard and Jazz at Lincoln Center, whose booth is adjacent to Juilliard’s on the exhibition floor. Several new Juilliard Jazz faculty members will be appeared at the conference. On Friday, January 12, Juilliard’s new Director of Jazz Studies, Victor Goines (saxophone and clarinet) appeared with the Wycliffe Gordon Quartet. Mr. Gordon is joining Juilliard’s jazz trombone faculty. That same afternoon, trumpeter Terell Stafford, who also will teach at Juilliard beginning next season, appeared with his quintet, and returned on Saturday, January 13 as performance clinician on breathing techniques to ask Why Don’t We Use More Air?

Juilliard’s President, Dr. Joseph W. Polisi, was introduced to jazz educators at the January 12, 2001 panel moderated by IAJE President, Ron McCurdy, entitled Leadership in the 21^st Century in Higher Education. Other panelists included Karen Wolff (University of Michigan), Dan Sher (University of Colorado), Doug Lowry (Cincinnati Conservatory), Larry Livingston (USC), and Heinz Czadek (Graz University).

Eighteen young jazz instrumentalists between the ages of 18 and 25 will be selected via auditions to become the first members of the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra, beginning classes at Juilliard in September 2001. Tuition is free, and up to $5,000 will be available to students in performance stipends. Pre-professional skill is necessary to become one of the five saxophones, four trumpets, three trombones, and two each piano, bass and drums, that will comprise the orchestra that will perform at Lincoln Center and tour. The two-year, full-time commitment to the program yields an Artist Diploma from Juilliard upon completion.

The jazz initiative at Juilliard grew out of discussions between Dr. Polisi and Wynton Marsalis. Polisi has brought to the program his belief in a well-rounded education, a belief that has marked his tenure at Juilliard, which began in 1984. Along with their performing activities in small and large ensembles, Jazz Institute members will take classes in history, composition and arranging, and improvisation. In addition, a four-year program that yields a Bachelor of Music will be added in 2004.

Polisi has also made the integration of the new jazz program a priority at Juilliard. “I didn’t want the program to be set off in a corner,” he explained in an interview. The presence of the Institute will benefit the classical students at Juilliard, as well. Undergraduate and graduate students will have the opportunity to participate in jazz ensemble practicums and an improvisation seminar.

Four members of the current Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra will be joining the Juilliard faculty. They are: Victor Goines (tenor sax, clarinet), Wess Anderson (alto and sopranino sax), Joe Temperley (baritone sax, bass clarinet, clarinet), and Rodney Whitaker (bass). These men will be joined by Warren Vaché and Terell Stafford (trumpet), Kenny Barron (piano), and Lewis Nash (drums).