Juilliard will launch its second annual Fall Festival this September, marking the beginning of the 2025–26 performing arts season in New York City. The nine-day event will feature performances across several venues, including Lincoln Center, Joe’s Pub, and DR2 Theatre. Students from all divisions of Juilliard will participate, collaborating with guest artists in interdisciplinary programs.
The festival opens on September 12 with an all-school event directed by Jamar Roberts, who is a dancer, choreographer, Distinguished Visiting Faculty member, and Arnhold Creative Associate at Large. This opening performance will include students from the Music, Dance, Drama, and Preparatory divisions.
Music and dance students are also scheduled to perform in Juilliard Outdoors on September 20. This public event is choreographed by faculty member Bobbi Jene Smith in collaboration with Michelle Dorrance.
Vocal arts highlights include “Departing” on September 20. Curated and conducted by Barbara Hannigan, this program brings together singers with instrumentalists as well as dance and drama students to celebrate artists inspired by traditional folk music.
On September 19, Juilliard415 will present a baroque program led by Alfredo Bernardini. Other events include “Songs from the Tesori Sessions” at Joe’s Pub on September 17—where drama students perform original songs created with Jeanine Tesori—and a performance by the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra on September 13 led by Jennifer Krupa focusing on swing bands of the early twentieth century.
The Juilliard Orchestra will perform under Stephanie Childress on September 18 for the New York premiere of Anna Clyne’s “PALETTE,” a concerto for The Augmented Orchestra co-commissioned by Juilliard. As part of her process for this work, Clyne created seven paintings representing each movement; these artworks will be displayed at Juilliard Station through September.
Juilliard Station will be officially dedicated to its neighborhood with multidisciplinary programming that includes classes and tributes to figures such as Bernstein, Jane Jacobs, and James P. Johnson on September 13.
The festival covers a range of genres including folk music, film, dance, drama, chamber music, and collaborative projects between divisions. The full schedule can be found at juilliard.edu/calendar.
Joshua Simka is assistant editor at Juilliard.
Support for Juilliard’s creative enterprise programming comes from Jody and John Arnhold along with the Arnhold Foundation.
