Juilliard’s 119th commencement ceremony, celebrating the class of 2024, took place on Friday, May 24 in David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center. The ceremony included remarks by school leadership, the conferral of degrees and honorary doctorates, and artistic interludes.

Juilliard conferred honorary doctorates upon critically acclaimed Paul Taylor principal dancer, educator, and community activist Carolyn Adams (Juilliard faculty 1984-2011); Academy Award-winning actor and producer Jessica Chastain (Group 32); nine-time Grammy Award-winning Emerson String Quartet (cellist Paul Watkins; Eugene Drucker, Diploma ’72, violin; Philip Setzer, BM ’73, violin; MM ’74, violin; Lawrence Dutton, Pre-College ’72, viola; BM ’77, viola; MM ’78, viola); and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Tania León. Read more about the honorary doctorate recipients here.