William Beecher

The Juilliard School

The mission of The Juilliard School is to provide the highest caliber of artistic education for gifted musicians, dancers, and actors from around the world, so that they may achieve their fullest potential as artists, leaders, and global citizens. Juilliard was founded in 1905 as the Institute of Musical Art. The School was named for Augustus Juilliard, a wealthy textile merchant whose bequest was used to establish the Juilliard Graduate School in 1924. In 1926, it merged with the Institute for Musical Art to become the Juilliard School of Music. With the additions of a Dance Division in 1951 and Drama Division in 1968, the name was shortened to The Juilliard School. Juilliard alumni have collectively won more than 105 Grammy Awards, 62 Tony Awards, 47 Emmy Awards, 26 Bessie Awards, 24 Academy Awards, 16 Pulitzer Prizes, and 12 National Medals for the Arts. Juilliard's unofficial mascot is the Penguin. Juilliard maintains an inventory of 253 Steinway pianos, the largest collection of any institution in the world.