Why give $20 million to Juilliard?
NewsA pair of public-minded investors, John and Jody Arnhold, have given $15m to support Juilliard’s Creative Enterprise program and $5m more for jazz.
Their hope is that it will ‘bring further vibrancy to a school that has all of the tools to create the next generation of arts performers, arts educators, arts leaders.’
Er, is that Juilliard?
The Manhattan School is a byword for sky-high fees, innate bias, dubious teachers and indifferent student care. There must surely be a better investment somewhere for $20 million.
Gravy makes gravy, as my father used to say.
To top it all, the Juiliard is located next to the MET Opera. Can it get any worse than that by the standards of some blogs?
Apples and oranges.
Both great New York institutions are routinely bashed in this blog. Hence my sarcastic comment. There is a difference between bashing and informed criticism.
Having been officially associated with both, each deserves scrutiny, albeit not in the oftentimes nasty context offered in SD.
That said, it is still apples and oranges.
Oh, let them talk and bash. We have jazz and they sound tired.
They would have once been ‘great’ until they decided that woke causes should provide their philosophical superstructure.
Really? She moved on from the MET in 1976. That’s decades before woke causes, real or fictional, became an issue.
Let’s get real: there is some woke nonsense here in the US, but not the extent that far right media suggest.
It’s the same reason people give to wealthy arts institutions like the Met Museum or the NY Phil: they like to hobnob with other wealthy people at events and enjoy a brush with glamour. Giving to a conservatory rather than orchestra feels more civic-minded – even if it’s not exactly helping the disadvantaged in society get an education.
I had a close family friend who, when his wife died, donated generously to a ‘prize’ at a music institution. It wasn’t long before I realized he enjoyed mixing with people he thought were elite and, in the end, I refused to go with him to their occasional concerts or soirees.
Does that mean you were too “woke” to consort with the elite who typically enjoy such “soirees”? I’m confused, but I often am.
Ah, you must be one of them to have such inside information!
This would be transformational money for any mid-tier school or orchestra, so let’s give it instead to … checks notes… a school already well-endowed and with top-tier name recognition.
The other nastiness notwithstanding….
Yes, let’s support mediocrity and quantity over top tier quality that has been significantly faltering in recent years
I think top-quality teaching should also exist outside of New York City. What do I know?
I forgot the classical music motto – “if it’s not the very top of the heap, it’s worthless.” Sorry, my bad.
And, by the way…. what do you think might alleviate what you call “mediocrity”? You think maybe it might be…. more financial support, perhaps? Nah, too obvious a solution, better blame DEI…
Definfe “better”. For prestige alone, Julliard is unparalleled. It may be undeserved, but Julliard has the best name recognition and fame of any music school in the country.
Maybe you should learn how to spell it then…
Maybe you should comment on substance rather than spelling.
Are you disagreeing with his point or just being combative? Juilliard by any spelling is considered an exceptional school turning out world-class performers.
Maybe _they_ should spell it the way it sounds.
Better than Curtis?
No, but Juilliard has far wider name recognition outside the classical music industry.
Your closing is rather ambiguous. By capitalising “School” in “The Manhattan School” you conjure up the image of a rival school, which is presumably NOT the one you want to criticise.
This site clearly needs a sub-editor.
Either Norman is several moves ahead in the chess game or careless.
Oh, I do wonder. This after all is the home of the Featival.
Enough, Norman–$20 million to Juilliard isn’t just an investment in the arts (something that is almost extinct in the US), it’s a down payment on the future of creative leadership. Dismissing the institution as ‘indifferent’ is like calling a Strad a piece of firewood. Let’s not confuse a bold vision for arts education with a lack of imagination. Bravo to the Arnholds.
If you think investing in the future is a waste, maybe it’s time to get your head out of the bargain bin.
Better to use lower case “m” and “s” so as to confuse with the Manhattan School of Music.
An oversight perhaps akin to those who purposefully mispronounce “Kamala”??? Those slights, too, get tired.
Pronounced DEI
Everyone mispronounces kamala, especially those who think they don’t.
Sour grapes much??!!!
As a Juilliard alumni, I receive regular updates from the school. A few months back, the Juilliard Journal had a section dedicated to the students and alumni that had won orchestral positions in the last 2 years. The list of those musicians filled two full pages with just their names and the position that was won. The school may have some issues to work out, but they have produced and continue to produce players on all instruments that occupy positions in symphony orchestras worldwide.
I graduated from Juilliard over 40 years ago. Yes, even then it attracted very talented students. You had to be able to play well to get in. Juilliard didn’t magically turn mediocre players into great players.They were already playing at a high level. In fact, some students who didn’t handle the pressure of being at Juilliard (I didn’t say studied at Juilliard on purpose, since everybody practiced on their own and there was nothing to study as the classes were abysmal), went downhill. Some had to leave. I’m sure the Juilliard staff will be happy to get a 20 million dollar donation. They will give themselves a nice raise. I really have nothing good to say about the institution. I take that back. It is a good place to network, if you are skilled at it. I certainly would not recommend anybody attend the school.
You’re an alumnus, unless there are two of you. Alumni is plural.
Or unless his pronoun is “they”.
Thank you for your informed comments.
I wonder, are there any world class music schools that don’t have any issues to address?
I suppose “alumni” is supposed to be a gender-ambiguous woke plural?
My goodness that list of the bête noire is getting long.
Or is that bêtes noires?
Prestige of an institution based on past performance as a music institution is not a guarantee that current conditions match those of the past. Julliard is coasting on the past.
Other schools, such as Manhattan, Curtis and Eastman schools of music have better teachers and more accomplished graduates, musically speaking. The music world knows what the truth is.
Julliard simply benefits from the fact that it is located right across from Lincoln Center. Easy for music critic and writers to access for interviews. Glamorous past graduates live in the Lincoln Center area
and are accessible for interviews for lazy music critics. It’s the confluence of major news outlets, famous musicians, and a glamorous location. In other words, an easy target for lazy thinking critics.
Parents want the prestige of a big name institution. Instead of being lazy in their research, they should look at the list of notables who graduated from other places, such as Indiana, F.S.U., and the aforementioned. Oh, and Rutgers, too.
Formerly great educational institutions such as Harvard have suffered, as well, by mediocrity,judging by the performance some of their graduates:Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida, Ted Cruz, Senator from Texas, and some other crazies in the political world. Time marches on and things change. There is always more to meet the mind than slick advertising and what money can buy.
Coasting? I searched and found the list of orchestra jobs referenced above.
https://www.juilliard.edu/news/169311/recent-orchestral-appointments
Pretty impressive, not just for its length, but for the quality of the positions. And this is just orchestral positions since 2022, say nothing of the success of recent alumni in other areas of music, dance, and drama.
They also have a page of recent performance videos, if anyone wants to actually understand the quality of what happens there:
https://www.juilliard.live/browse
Your comment is a fair one, but perhaps the donors are leery of donating to a place that may not be around in a few years and are betting The Juilliard School
will be around 50-100 years from now.
V.Lind: By capitalising “School” in “The Manhattan School” you conjure up the image of a rival school…
—-
Due to that punctuation, I was momentarily confused. But I have read certain negative things about Juilliard.
In general, something about the overall scene of NYC breeds both success and a peculiar type of capitalist charmlessness.
The nouveau riche of America for over 150 years (helped by two world wars) have managed to equal or outdo what I consider the more civilized nature of Europe, including much older London—-at least pre-Khan or pre-Starmer.
Long after the Mayflower, places like Australia or, more recently, Dubai became (or become) go-to places for various people from the old world. It is what it is.
No good deed goes unpunished. At least here.
Cleveland Institute of Music!
Presumably the subject of comment here is Juilliard, and not the Manhattan School?
One good reason to donate to Juilliard is to fund scholarships. For instance, the Historical Performance program is tuition-free thanks to major donations.
I got the impression that this particular donation would pay for adjunct or visiting faculty who don’t teach there currently.
I think this is $20a more objective explanation of the $20m.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/11/arts/music/juilliard-20-million-gift.html
Lol what on earth are you on about now? Is this supposed to be sarcastic?