Dr. Joseph W. Polisi was president of the Juilliard School for 34 years from 1984-2018 and is now president emeritus and chief China officer of the School. Through his experiences at Juilliard and Lincoln Center, Polisi creates in his book a complex tableau which traces the idealistic and determined efforts by John D. Rockefeller, 3rd and his colleagues to create a unique environment where the most prominent performing arts institutions in New York City would be brought together at a venue named Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
Through readings and historic photos, Polisi will guide members through the Center’s history from late 1955 to the present day, pointing out the involvement of such artists, architects and politicians as Leonard Bernstein, Beverly Sills, Robert, Moses, Philip Johnson, and many others and reflect on the current status of Lincoln Center as it shifts away from classical programming in favor of genres like pop, hip-hop, social dance, and comedy.
Upon stepping down from his role as president of Juilliard, Polish became Chief China Officer, supervising the overall development of The Tianjin Juilliard School in Tianjin, China. Opened in fall 2020, Tianjin Juilliard offers audition-based programs on pre-college and graduate levels. The graduate school program is taught in English and offers a USA-accredited master’s degree from The Juilliard School. There are also public programs for adult learning and instrumental training, as well as an innovative learning environment, Juilliard Imagination, featuring interactive exhibitions for adults and children.
Polisi is an accomplished bassoonist who has performed throughout the USA, produced several recordings, and released a solo album of twentieth-century bassoon music for Crystal Records. He has published many scholarly and educational articles and frequently speaks about arts and education. He has authored three books The Artist as Citizen (2005), a collection of articles and speeches concerning the role of performing artists as leaders and communicators of human values; and American Muse: The Life and Times of William Schuman (2008), the first full-length biography of Schuman. Both are published by Amadeus Press. Polisi’s third book, Beacon to the World: A History of Lincoln Center, was published by Yale University Press in June of 2022.
Before Juilliard, Polisi was dean of University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, dean of faculty at Manhattan School of Music, and executive officer of Yale University School of Music. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Yale and holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Connecticut and a Master of Arts degree in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He has been awarded ten honorary doctorates and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.