On Friday, May 23, Joyce will receive an Honorary Doctor of Music degree at Juilliard’s 109th Commencement Ceremony, at 11am EST in Alice Tully Hall. The ceremony will be streamed live at live.juilliard.edu. In addition to this incredible honor, Ms. DiDonato will also give the commencement address to Juilliard’s graduating class of 289 students (130 undergraduate and 159 graduate), and joins an esteemed list of former speakers, including musician and composer Wynton Marsalis, actress Laura Linney, composer John Adams and playwright Terrence McNally.

The Juilliard School’s tradition of presenting honorary degrees dates back to 1987, and this year several other artists will be conferred with honorary degrees, including actress Viola Davis, architect Frank Owen Gehry, composer Philip Glass, choreographer Lar Lubovitch and musician and composer Marcus Roberts. Two philanthropists, Bruce and Suzanne F. Kovner, will also receive Honorary Doctorates to commemorate their support of arts education.

Joyce (a Kansas native) will also receive an Honorary Doctor of Arts degree from the University of Kansas this year, citing her notable contributions to the field of opera and opera education.