“One of the most influential offstage figures in New York’s arts world is stepping down,” writes Michael Cooper in Wednesday’s (10/5) New York Times. “Joseph W. Polisi, who transformed the Juilliard School during three decades as its president, announced on Wednesday that he plans to leave the post in June of 2018. Mr. Polisi, 68, has kept Juilliard at or near the top of any list of the world’s most important conservatories…. During his tenure as the school’s longest-serving president, … Mr. Polisi built Juilliard’s first dormitory to foster a sense of community … oversaw the school’s expansion during Lincoln Center’s recent renovation; and added new programs in jazz studies and historical performance. He proved himself a prodigious fund-raiser: The value of the school’s endowment fund had grown to approximately $930 million as of last June, from about $63 million soon after his arrival in 1984. And in recent years Mr. Polisi has started a series of new, sometimes controversial projects to create fresh revenue streams for the school, including building a new Juilliard in China” set to open in Tianjin in 2019. “Bruce Kovner, the chairman of Juilliard’s board of trustees … will lead the committee to find Mr. Polisi’s successor.”
Posted October 5, 2016
Joseph Polisi photo by Sam Hodgson / The New York Times
