Richard Rodgers. Miles Davis. Van Cliburn. Itzhak Perlman. Robin Williams, Kevin Kline, Patti LuPone. Mandy Patinkin. For over a century, Juilliard has trained the artists who compose the elite of the performing arts in the United States. Andrea Olmstead's eye-opening history of the conservatory takes readers into the practice rooms, studios, and offices of the world-famous music school and its sister institutions teaching drama and dance.

Olmstead's in-depth interviews from across the Julliard community combine with unprecedented access to the school's archives to reveal the school's private side. As she tracks the institution through its various incarnations, Olmstead looks at the accomplishments and foibles of Julliard's leaders and the white-hot controversies surrounding events like Augustus Juilliard's multi- million-dollar bequest in 1919 and the school's expensive move to the Lincoln Center complex. Throughout, she provides vivid accounts of power-brokering, arrogance, intimidation, secrecy, and infighting balanced against the vision, dedication, talent, and determination of generations of gifted teachers, students, and administrators.