In a season already packed with highlights鈥攊ncluding a performance of Mahler鈥檚 monumental Third Symphony at Carnegie Hall as well as collaborations with Juilliard鈥檚 Dance Division and Vocal Arts and Historical Performance programs featuring music by Bach, Beethoven, Britten, Poulenc, and Ravel鈥攖he Juilliard Orchestra will perform its final 2024鈥�25 concert on May 22 at Alice Tully Hall. Led by Juilliard alum Earl Lee, the program juxtaposes classics of French romantic music by Ravel and Saint-Sa毛ns with a world premiere by Juilliard composition alum Molly Joyce.
Joyce鈥攚ho earned her bachelor鈥檚 at Juilliard and her master鈥檚 at Yale and who is a doctoral student at the University of Virginia鈥攚as commissioned by Juilliard to write her new work last year, which was a momentous one: She got married and had her first child. The resulting piece, titled Two Lives One Body, was obviously influenced by the changes in her life at the time. 鈥淲hen I started it last summer, I was six months pregnant with my son,鈥� she says, 鈥渂ut I was not trying to make the piece a narrative of my pregnancy journey. Instead, it was more like literally being two lives in one body.鈥�
Two Lives One Body follows the blueprint for many of Joyce鈥檚 works. 鈥淎 lot of my music is kind of minimalist, for lack of a better term,鈥� she explains, 鈥渁nd a lot of the times I like to explore one core idea in the piece. (For Two Lives), I wanted to explore two competing harmonies, which are expanded upon throughout the orchestra.鈥�
Two Lives One Body is the latest of Joyce鈥檚 compositions to be commissioned by her undergraduate alma mater. In 2023, two of her songs鈥斺淢usibility鈥� and 鈥淚 Live in the Woods of My Words鈥濃攚ere premiered by soprano Mikaela Bennett (another Juilliard alum) as part of the 23rd Alice Tully Vocal Recital. And two years earlier, Joyce鈥檚 Hit or Miss had its first performance during the annual Juilliard Percussion Seminar.
Rounding out on the May 22 program are enduring works by Ravel and Saint-Sa毛ns, both of which are prime musical workouts for the bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 students who make up the Juilliard Orchestra. Ravel鈥檚 rhythmically exciting La Valse, a perfect concert opener, will be followed by Joyce鈥檚 Two Lives One Body. Finally, Saint-Sa毛ns鈥� colossal 鈥淥rgan鈥� Symphony will make formidable use of Alice Tully Hall鈥檚 gigantic 4,200-pipe organ.
Although several of the students performing in the ensemble鈥檚 May 22 concert will receive their degrees just a few days later, a new configuration of the Juilliard Orchestra will be part of the school鈥檚 second annual Fall Festival on September 18, when French-British conductor Stephanie Childress will make her New York debut leading the musicians at Tully in Rachmaninoff鈥檚 Symphony No. 2 and the New York premiere of Anna Clyne鈥檚 PALLETTE, a Juilliard co-commission with funding by Jody and John Arnhold and the Arnhold Foundation.
Clyne wrote PALETTE鈥攚hich she says 鈥渆xplores the symbiosis between music and art鈥濃攆or the Augmented Orchestra she developed with sound designer Jody Elff; it expands the orchestra鈥檚 sound world through computer-controlled processes. Clyne further explains on her website that PALETTE 鈥渋s set in seven five-minute movements鈥攅ach one exploring a different hue and whose first letters collectively spell the title of the work: Plum, Amber, Lava, Ebony, Teal, Tangerine, and Emerald. As part of the creative process, I have created a painting for each movement鈥攅xploring gesture, texture, light and dark, color and form鈥攅lements that also translate to music."
