On May 20, Michael Tilson Thomas delivered the commencement address and received an honorary doctorate from the Juilliard School. Other honorees included dancer, teacher, and stager Masazumi Chaya; operatic bass-baritone Dr. Simon Estes; playwright Suzan-Lori Parks; and ethnomusicologist Dr. Ahmad Sarmast.

During the celebration, MTT also conducted a brass ensemble in Dahl’s Music for Brass Instruments.

The commencement ceremony was live-streamed on May 20 at 10:30am at juilliard.edu.