Symphony hosts Julliard students this weekend
By Dolores E. Pike

On Sunday, June 4 the Mid-Atlantic Symphony will host the Julliard Pre-College Orchestra at the Community Church at Ocean Pines.  With a total of 60 young musicians, this one time only performance in the area will be conducted by Mid-Atlantic Symphony Music Director, Julien Benichou, who is on the board of the Julliard School of Music. 

The program will include music from American composer Charles Ives, Mozart, Bartok’s “Rumanian Dances” and Haydn’s “Symphony No. 102 in B-Flat Major.”

The Juilliard School was founded in 1905 (as the Institute of Musical Art), establishing a music academy in America that was intended to rival the European conservatories. Dr. Frank Damrosch, the godson of Franz Liszt (19th century Hungarian pianist/composer) and the head of music education for New York City's public schools, was convinced that American musicians should not have to go abroad for their training. Dr. Damrosch and his financial backer, James Loeb, planned for 100 students, but found they had greatly underestimated the demand for high-quality musical training. The school quickly outgrew its original home at Fifth Avenue and 12th Street in New York City and within five years moved to new quarters on Claremont Avenue.

When Augustus D.  Juilliard, a wealthy textile merchant, died in 1919, his will contained the largest single bequest for the advancement of music at that time. In 1924 the trustees of that bequest founded the Juilliard Graduate School to enable talented music students to complete their education. In 1926, the Julliard Graduate School and the Institute of Musical Art merged as the Juilliard School of Music.

The Dance Division was established in 1951 with Martha Hill as its first director. The Juilliard String Quartet was established in 1946 as the school's teaching and performance quartet-in-residence. In 1947 an innovative music theory curriculum, called Literature and Materials of Music (known as L&M), was introduced and it changed the manner in which music was taught throughout the United States.  In 1968 the Drama Division was created with actor John Houseman (the formidable law professor in “The Paper Chase”) as its first director. The school moved to Lincoln Center in 1969 and changed its name to the Julliard School to reflect its broader artistic scope. With the move also came the creation of the current Pre-College Division, offering intensive musical instruction to talented youngsters from 8 to 18. (Music lessons for young students had been provided through Juilliard's Preparatory Division since 1916.)

The most recent addition to Julliard was the Institute for Jazz Studies which began in September 2001.
The Julliard Pre-College Orchestra concert will be held at the Community Church at Ocean Pines, Route 589, Ocean Pines on Sunday, June 4, 2006 starting at 2:30 p.m.  Ticket cost is $27.50 each. For more information or to order tickets call 1-888-846-8600.

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