"This first comprehensive history of The Juilliard School takes us behind the scenes and into the practice rooms, studios, and offices of one of the most famous music schools in the world.". "Drawing on dozens of unprecedented interviews, stacks of ephemeral materials, and previously neglected archival records, Olmstead traces the school's ups and downs and documents the accomplishments and foibles of its leaders: the German authoritarianism of Frank Damrosch, the arrogance and bigotry of Eugene Noble, the bull-in-a-china-shop leadership of William Schuman, and the aloofness of the enigmatic Peter Mennin. She also probes the controversies that have littered the school's history, from Augustus Juilliard's $12.5 million bequest in 1919 to the expensive move to Lincoln Center."--BOOK JACKET.