As a Historical Performance student, you will have singular performance opportunities. You will play in Juilliard415—an ensemble the New York Times said plays with ”poise [and] hair-trigger responsiveness”—under the direction of prominent musicians at Juilliard, other venues at Lincoln Center and around New York City, and on national and international tours.
Juilliard415, the school’s primary period-instrument ensemble, provides students with the chance to work at the highest professional level in terms of excellence, breadth of experience, repertoire, and associations with guest artists. Juilliard415 musicians work with an unrivaled roster of resident and guest artists: Monica Huggett, Nicholas McGegan, Ton Koopman, William Christie, Masaaki Suzuki, Jordi Savall, Laurence Equilbey, Harry Bicket, and many others. The ensemble performs a dynamic programming of repertoire from the late 16th through the early 19th centuries on period instruments.
Historical Performance students participate in regular master classes with notable guest artists, some of which are open to the public and livestreamed around the world. Recent classes have included William Christie, Jordi Savall, Rachel Podger, Jean Rondeau, Fabio Biondi, and Harry Bicket.
A stage for you at Lincoln Center. From creating your recital program to planning your schedule and making arrangements with colleague-collaborators, your recital puts you in charge. It is the culmination of the work you have accomplished in the studio with your teacher and the chance for you to express your musical voice.
Our highly structured chamber music program encourages collaborative growth and musical exploration with your colleagues. Under the sure guidance of the HP faculty during twice-weekly coachings, students experience a broad survey of national styles and regular performance opportunities throughout the year. The chamber music program celebrates musical excellence and student collaboration.
Although HP only accepts instrumental majors, a rich survey of vocal music is an integral part of our program. In addition to elective classes in Early Music Vocal Literature, our students collaborate with singers on a regular basis: in recitals, chamber music, and, most notably, in the performances of fully staged Baroque operas and large-scale oratorios that are part of our concert offerings every year.
Les Arts Florissants
Each year since 2007, Juilliard Historical Performance has welcomed William Christie (described by the New Yorker as the “éminence grise of Juilliard’s ambitious Historical Performance program”) and musicians from the Paris-based period-instrument ensemble Les Arts Florissants for intensive, repertoire-focused residencies. Juilliard students benefit from individual lessons, master classes, and public concerts, while Les Arts Florissants continues to cultivate its international presence.
Dans les Jardins de William Christie
Every August, the festival Dans les Jardins de William Christie welcomes promising students and alumni from Juilliard Historical Performance to perform alongside musicians from Les Arts Florissants and its young artist training programs, Le Jardin des Voix and Les Arts Flo Juniors. Together, they perform outdoor concerts in and around the magnificent gardens of Christie’s home in the Vendée region of France.
Yale Institute of Sacred Music
Starting in 2011, the Yale Schola Cantorum and Juilliard415 and have performed major oratorios under the baton of Masaaki Suzuki and David Hill along the East Coast and on international tours in Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Singapore, and Burma. Repertoire has included Bach’s B-Minor Mass and St. Matthew and St. John Passions, Haydn’s Creation, and Zelenka’s Missa dei Patris.
Music Before 1800
Since 2009, Music Before 1800, the longest-running concert series devoted to early music in New York, has presented Historical Performance ensembles in New York City's acoustically exquisite Corpus Christi Church.
English Concert American Fellowship
Established in 2013, the English Concert American Fellowship provides valuable professional experience to deserving historical performance graduates. In addition to a monetary award, fellows benefit from coaching, lessons, and master classes with English Concert musicians, including its music director Harry Bicket, and from performances on their own and with the English Concert. The fellowship is made possible with the generous support of The English Concert in America.
The Mercury-Juilliard Fellowship
Each spring, Mercury Chamber Orchestra holds auditions at Juilliard, selecting up to four graduating students to participate in a one-year fellowship with the ensemble. Fellows perform with Mercury during the season, gaining valuable performance experience while introducing Houston to the next generation of great period performance musicians.
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