Juilliard is one of few in the sense that it keeps a full record of all its alumni, inviting them back to the school often for gatherings and events, and thus it does not have a listing of most important alumni, but rather a database of recent alumni news.
Alumni News
Dance
Photographer Jubal Battisti (BFA ’04) collaborated with choreographer Sidra Bell on her book Persona, which was published in late March. Among the dancers featured in the book was Jonathan Campbell (BFA ’10). New York City’s Duo Theater hosted a book release party for Persona on March 21.
Choreographers Darrell Grand Moultrie (BFA ’00), Robert Garland (BFA ’83), and Helen Pickett were commissioned to create new duets for Harlem Dance Works 2.0. This two-year initiative was created by Virginia Johnson, Dance Theater of Harlem’s artistic director, to develop new work and engage audiences both in person and online. The dances are shown in progress to the local community at the company’s New York City studios.
Music
In March, Isabel Leonard (BM ’04, MM ’06, voice) received this year’s Beverly Sills Artist Award. The $50,000 award, which honors the late singer, is given to a performer between the ages of 25 and 40 who has been featured in solo roles at the Metropolitan Opera.
In October, Christopher DeVage (Artist Diploma ’06, voice) was the baritone soloist in Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri at the University of Maryland’s Schumann Bicentennial Festival at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in College Park. In December, DeVage sang as a soloist with St. George’s Choral Society at New York City’s Church of the Incarnation in a performance of Saint-Saëns’s Oratorio de Noël, conducted by Matthew Lewis (MM ’90, DMA ’95, organ). DeVage also sang Barber’s Dover Beach and George Butterworth’s “Love Blows as the Wind Blows” in December at New Rochelle’s Church of the Holy Family with the Artemis Chamber Ensemble. In February, he performed Ein deutsches Requiem by Brahms as a soloist with the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra at New York City’s Peter Norton Symphony Space.
Drama
In this season’s Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Frankie Alvarez is playing Claudio in Measure for Measure, which is directed by Bill Rauch; and Lucius in Julius Caesar, directed by Amanda Dehnert. Both productions run through November 6.
In February, David Townsend, Jacob Fishel, and Craig Baldwin appeared in an In the Raw Developmental Lab Production of Margaret: A Tyger’s Heart. Adapted and directed by Michael Sexton, Margaret explores the character of Margaret of Anjou, who appeared in four of Shakespeare’s history plays. It was presented by Red Bull Theater in collaboration with the Shakespeare Society.
Alumni Events
Students at Juilliard have the unique experience of attending alumni reunions and events, seeing the masters and graduates of the school, act, sing, and dance. It is a valuable learning experience and opportunity for questions about artist life outside the school to be asked.
