Juilliard: A History

by Andrea Olmstead

Book Overview

Richard Rodgers. Miles Davis. Van Cliburn. Itzhak Perlman. Robin Williams, Kevin Kline, Patti LuPone. Mandy Patinkin. For over a century, Juilliard has trained the artists who compose the elite of the performing arts in the United States. Andrea Olmstead's eye-opening history of the conservatory takes readers into the practice rooms, studios, and offices of the world-famous music school and its sister institutions teaching drama and dance.

Olmstead's...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0252024877
• ISBN13: 9780252024870
• Release Date: December 1999
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press
• Length: 392 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

A Major Contribution

Congratulations on a major contribution to American music. I read "Juilliard: A History" with admiration for its fine scholarship and courage in writing about contemporary events and still powerful people with such honesty.

An inside job...

The name Juilliard has been held synonymous with classical music training for so long that it is surprising that no-one has taken a potshot at it. This book is neither for or against Juilliard, but rather an appraisal of its strengths and weaknesses through a look at its history. The chapter on drama, containing so many references to now-household names, might be of particular interest to the casual reader. Dancers may be interested to find out why their department was forced to compete with another school in their own building. Musicians, whether they attended Juilliard or not, will find a lot of Olmstead's observations titillating. A good read, and a lot of insight from someone who worked there.