Juilliard Historical Recordings Now Digitized and Available Through Online Media Archive

Juilliard historical recordings made during the tenure of composer William Schuman, who served as Juilliard’s legendary third president from 1945 to 1961, have recently been preserved and digitized and are now available through Juilliard’s Lila Acheson Wallace Library and Archives at Juilliard’s online media archive. 

Among the notable performances that have been preserved are William Schuman’s Violin Concerto with Isaac Stern as soloist and the premiere of Juilliard’s 50th anniversary commission of Aaron Copland’s Piano Fantasy by William Masselos. Other performances that were digitized include the Juilliard String Quartet in performances from its first decade; performances by distinguished faculty members including Rosina Lhévinne, cellist Leonard Rose, and singer Jennie Tourel; student performances by Van Cliburn, singers Leontyne Price (in a performance of Verdi’s Falstaff) and Shirley Verrett; and a chamber music concert with faculty members, Julius Baker, Walter Trampler, harpist and Marcel Grandjany performing Debussy’s Sonata for flute, viola, and harp.

“We are delighted to be able to offer these invaluable recordings from Juilliard’s history to the general public and the scholarly community,” said Jane Gottlieb, vice president for Library and Information Resources and director of Juilliard’s C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellows Program. “Study of Juilliard’s performance history through preservation of media from its earliest decade of recording provides valuable primary source material to scholars of American music history, 20th-century cultural studies, dance history, musicology, and performance studies.”

Photo by Rizzolla.