Juilliard's 2025 Fall Festival

 

Juilliard students performing in the Fall Festival’s Opening Night on September 12, 2024.  By Erin Baiano 

 

Juilliard’s music, dance, drama, preparatory, and extension divisions will launch New York’s performing arts season this September with the return of the Fall Festival. Building on the success of its inaugural edition, the now-annual event will present nine days of interdisciplinary performances, many developed in collaboration with leading artists including Arnhold Creative Associates Jeanine Tesori and Barbara Hannigan as well as Creative Associate at Large Jamar Roberts. Events will take place across New York, including Juilliard’s Lincoln Center campus, off-Broadway, and locations in Lower Manhattan, in partnership with institutions throughout the city to bring Juilliard artists to a wide range of stages.

 

“Every September, the New York City artistic world comes to life for a new season, and it’s so exciting for Juilliard‘s students to kick it all off with a festival that features both classic and new work,” said Juilliard President Damian Woetzel. “Our Juilliard Fall Festival brings the artists of the future into collaboration with leading voices of today, as we connect through art with the public in a range of programs.”

 

Festival highlights include:

 

Opening Night on Friday, September 12

Acclaimed dancer, choreographer, and Arnhold Creative Associate at Large Jamar Roberts directs a program that brings together students from Juilliard’s music, dance, drama, and preparatory divisions in an event to open the school’s 2025–26 performance season. This interdisciplinary performance, which will also include world premiere choreography by Roberts, will take place at Juilliard’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater.

 

Juilliard at Joe’s Pub: Songs From the Tesori Sessions on Wednesday, September 17

At Joe’s Pub in Lower Manhattan, Tony-winning theatrical composer and Arnhold Creative Associate Jeanine Tesori hosts a program in which students from Juilliard’s drama division perform original songs. The students crafted these songs under the mentorship of Tesori in a workshop held earlier this year; this event marks their public debut.

 

Orchestra Concert with Preconcert Talk on Thursday, September 18

At the first Juilliard Orchestra concert of the season in Alice Tully Hall, Stephanie Childress will make her New York debut conducting a program that includes the New York premiere of PALETTE by Grammy-nominated composer Anna Clyne alongside works by Britten and Rachmaninoff. PALETTE was co-commissioned by Juilliard and is composed for The Augmented Orchestra, whereby the sound of the acoustic orchestra is manipulated in real time by Grammy-winning audio engineer Jody Elff. Each movement correlates to a specific color that forms an acronym for the work’s title. As a part of her composition process, Clyne created seven paintings that explore each movement’s color through texture, tone, and form. This artwork will be available to view in Juilliard Station, next door to the concert hall on Broadway, during public hours from August to September. Ahead of the performance in Alice Tully Hall, Clyne will speak about the piece and her artistry at 6pm in the Station.

 

Juilliard Outdoors on Saturday, September 20

This year’s Juilliard Outdoors brings together performers from the school’s music and dance divisions at Lincoln Center. This outdoor activation will be directed by acclaimed choreographer, performer, dance faculty member, and Juilliard alum Bobbi Jene Smith in collaboration with award-winning dancer, choreographer, and Arnhold Creative Associate Michelle Dorrance.

 

Departing on Saturday, September 20

The festival closes with Departing, an evening curated and conducted by Arnhold Creative Associate Barbara Hannigan with choreography and staging by Bobbi Jene Smith in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater. This interdisciplinary program celebrates artists who were inspired by traditional folk music, including Ligeti, Bartók, and Ruth Crawford Seeger, many of whom journeyed elsewhere in search of new beginnings but held fast to their roots. This program highlights creative connections from old to new and features Juilliard students in music, dance, and drama who hail from all around the world.    

See below for the full list of events. Tickets will go on sale in August.

 

PERFORMANCE DETAILS

 

Friday, September 12 | 7:30pm, Peter Jay Sharp Theater

Opening Night

Directed by Arnhold Creative Associate at Large Jamar Roberts, Juilliard’s opening 2025–26 performance features students from the music, dance, drama, and preparatory divisions.  

 

Saturday, September 13 | 11am–6pm, Juilliard Station

A Place for Us: Opening Day at Juilliard Station

Opening Day dedicates Juilliard Station to our neighborhood. A full slate of multidisciplinary programming includes classes, happenings, and a tribute to local visionaries from Bernstein to Moondog, Jane Jacobs to James P. Johnson. Join us as we honor the legacy of San Juan Hill and imagine the future of creative community on both sides of the glass.

 

Saturday, September 13 | 7:30pm, Alice Tully Hall

Juilliard Jazz Orchestra | The American Orchestra: Early Swing in the 1920s and 1930s

Conducted by alum Jen Krupa, the first Juilliard Jazz Orchestra concert of the year celebrates the pioneering swing bands of the 1920s and 1930s, including Fletcher Henderson, Jimmie Lunceford, Jean Goldkette’s Victor Recording Orchestra, and Count Basie.

 

Monday, September 15 | 7:30pm, DR2 Theatre

Juilliard Drama Presents Scenes by Recent Playwriting Alums

Actors from Juilliard’s drama division perform works by alums from the school’s Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program. Use of The DR2 Theatre is made possible through the generous support of Daryl Roth.

 

Tuesday, September 16 | 7:30pm, Rosemary and Meredith Willson Theater

The New Series: The Story of the Piano

Dean of Music David Serkin Ludwig and Creative Enterprise Fellow and alum Derek Wang curate an evening that spans the evolution of keyboard compositions, from harpsichord to Spirio. World premiere micro-commissions for Spirio will be presented as part of the evening.  

 

Wednesday, September 17 | 1pm, Alice Tully Hall

Wednesday at One: Juilliard Chamber Music

The season’s first chamber music program will feature Beethoven’s String Quartet in F Major, Op. 135, and Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 8.

 

Wednesday, September 17 | 9:30pm, Joe’s Pub

Juilliard at Joe’s Pub: Songs From the Tesori Sessions

Students from Juilliard’s Drama Division perform original songs that were conceived under the mentorship of acclaimed composer and Arnhold Creative Associate Jeanine Tesori in a workshop earlier this year.

 

Thursday, September 18 | 6pm, Juilliard Station

Preconcert Talk and JuilliART Show with Anna Clyne

Ahead of the New York premiere of the Juilliard co-commissioned orchestral work PALETTE, composer Anna Clyne delivers a talk about her piece written for The Augmented Orchestra. Seven canvasses painted by Clyne as companions for each of the work’s movements will also be on view. 

 

Thursday, September 18 | 7:30pm, Alice Tully Hall

Juilliard Orchestra Conducted by Stephanie Childress

Principal guest conductor of the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra Stephanie Childress makes her New York debut with a program that includes works by Britten and Rachmaninoff alongside the New York premiere of Anna Clyne’s PALETTE, a concerto for The Augmented Orchestra that breaks new ground with technology in the concert hall and was co-commissioned by Juilliard.  

 

Friday, September 19 | 7:30pm, Alice Tully Hall

Juilliard 415: Crossing the Alps: From Venice to Vienna

Led by Alfredo Bernardini, Juilliard’s historical performance ensemble traces a vivid musical journey across the Alps, where the elegance of the German Baroque meets the fiery brilliance of the Italian style. The program includes works by Handel, Vivaldi, Fasch, dell’Abaco, and Graun that embody a spirit of cultural exchange and innovation.

 

Saturday, September 20 | 11am, Lincoln Center

Juilliard Outdoors

Directed by alum, choreographer, dancer, and faculty member Bobbi Jene Smith in collaboration with dancer, choreographer, and Arnhold Creative Associate Michelle Dorrance, this outdoor activation at Lincoln Center brings together performers from the school’s music and dance divisions.

 

Saturday, September 20 | 2pm, Francesca Beale Theater, Film at Lincoln Center

My Brain: After the Rupture Screening and Talk

Presented in partnership with Juilliard’s Extension Division, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and the Jameel Arts & Health Lab, this screening invites the public to engage with an urgent and deeply moving film that explores identity, recovery, and the transformative power of the arts in the aftermath of trauma. The film will be followed by a conversation with Clemency Burton-Hill, a prominent voice in the global arts in health community whose personal journey and advocacy have inspired audiences around the world. Burton-Hill, a broadcaster, author, and former BBC presenter, will join the Juilliard Extension Division faculty this fall. 

 

Saturday, September 20 | 7:30pm, Peter Jay Sharp Theater 

Departing 

Curated and conducted by Arnhold Creative Associate Barbara Hannigan with choreography and staging by Bobbi Jene Smith, this interdisciplinary program celebrates artists who were inspired by traditional folk music, including Ligeti, Bartók, and Ruth Crawford Seeger, many of whom journeyed elsewhere in search of new beginnings but held fast to their roots. This program highlights creative connections from old to new and features Juilliard students in music, dance, and drama who hail from all around the world.

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