"AMERICAN MUSE: The Life and Times of William Schuman" - new biography by Juilliard President Joseph W. Polisi

“The urgency of Schuman’s music is matched only by the vitality of Schuman himself…his unflagging energy, boundless enthusiasm, keen eye and ear for the world’s foibles and strengths, penetrating wit, and, withal, his deep compassion.”
— Christopher Rouse

Few people have had a greater impact on the performing arts in America than William Schuman. President of The Juilliard School from 1945 to 1961 and of Lincoln Center from 1961 to 1968, Schuman was not only an “artistic catalyst,” instrumental in shaping how America perceived and supported the performing arts, but he was also a prolific composer known for the vitality, enthusiasm, and compassion of his music.

Filled with the confident optimism that characterized mid-twentieth century America, Bill Schuman always viewed himself as “a part of many different worlds.” Despite his many successes, Schuman’s uncompromising insistence on the highest artistic and pedagogic standards—coupled with his startling claim that the problem with “all of us in the performing arts...is not that our deficits are too large, but that they are too small”—brought him into frequent conflict with the businessmen who funded Lincoln Center. Finally, after 33 years, Schuman left arts administration, a move that freed him to spend more time composing. But his refusal to follow popular trends for which he felt little sympathy, meant his works were sometimes coolly received. Author Joseph W. Polisi, current president of Juilliard, offers a compelling biography of this extraordinary man. The sophistication of Schuman’s music, “full of American directness in its vibrant rhythms and brilliant orchestrations,” is explored in an extensive appendix, where the author analyzes ten of Schuman’s pieces. 

Joseph W. Polisi became the sixth president of The Juilliard School in September of 1984. He has written many scholarly and educational articles for professional journals and is a frequent speaker on arts and education issues. As a bassoonist, Polisi has performed throughout the United States. His first book, The Artist as Citizen, was published by Amadeus Press in 2005.

Available October 2008          $32.95          Hardcover          ISBN: 978-1-57467-173-5
616 pages, B&W photos throughout Amadeus Press, an imprint of Hal Leonard Performing Arts Publishing Group

Contact:  Diane Levinson
19 West 21st Street, Suite 201, New York, NY  10010
212-575-9265 ext. 208
dlevinson@halleonard.com