Sir Derek Jacobi, Twyla Thwarp Receive Honorary Degrees from Juilliard

The Juilliard School holds its 106th Commencement Ceremony on Friday, May 20, 2011 at 11 AM in Alice Tully Hall (Broadway at 65th Street, NYC). Juilliard President Joseph W. Polisi presents honorary degrees to four outstanding artists. The recipients are:

• Composer and conductor John Adams
• Grammy Award-winning jazz pianist and producer Herbie Hancock
• Actor Derek Jacobi
• Choreographer Twyla Tharp

Mr. Adams delivers the commencement address and receives an honorary Doctor of Music degree. Mr. Hancock also receives an honorary Doctor of Music degree. Ms. Tharp and ?Mr. Jacobi receive honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degrees.

Juilliard awards 269 (108 undergraduate and 161 graduate) degrees to its actors, dancers, playwrights, and jazz, operatic, and classical instrumental musicians. The school graduates its first class from its Historical Performance program at the ceremony. Graduating musicians from the program, oboist ?Priscilla Smith, violinist Beth Wenstrom, cellist Ezra Seltzer, and harpsichordist Jeffrey Grossman, perform François Couperin's L'impériale (from Les Nations, 1726): Sonata at the ceremony.

Juilliard will stream its 106th Commencement Ceremony so that the families of Juilliard's international graduating actors, dancers, and musicians will be able to share the day with their families. The stream will be available at:  http://www.juilliard.edu/live.

Additionally, for one night only at Juilliard, on Monday, June 13 at 7 PM, actors Sir Derek Jacobi, Richard Clifford, and Juilliard alumna Monica Raymund perform selected readings from Shakespeare's The Tempest, complemented by 17th-century songs and instrumental highlights inspired by Shakespeare's play and compiled into an early operatic version. Countertenor David Daniels and baritone Bob McDonald are featured vocalists, performing with Juilliard415, the School's highly praised student historical performance group. Public radio station WQXR 105.9 will host a live stream of this special performance. An encore presentation on Classical 105.9 FM WQXR , featuring largely the musical portions of the performance, will air on Sunday, June 26 at 4 PM.

Juilliard's June 13 performance is a benefit for the Juilliard Drama Division. A limited number of benefit tickets remain for the performance and post-performance dinner, ranging from $1,000 - $50,000. Performance-only benefit tickets range in price from $75 - $125. FOR BENEFIT TICKET INFORMATION, CALL (212) 799-5000 EXT. 329.

Photo Credit: Amy Shaughnessy