Joseph W. Polisi is president of The Juilliard School in New York City.

As spring arrives in Storrs, the activities that often garner the most attention focus on Huskies basketball. This all seems appropriate, since excellence in any pursuit is always an estimable element of the human experience. However, during my time at UConn in the late 1960s, I remember an excellence of a different type: the performance of classical music.

As an undergraduate political science major, I was also an active bassoonist, playing in the University orchestra and in various chamber groups. Under the direction of Maestro Jerome Laszloffy, the University’s orchestra had a full performance schedule, and even toured the state. I still have very fond memories of a special performance of the “Brahms German Requiem” that was supported, in part, through the Student Union Board of Governors.

For me, my musical activities were a happy complement to my studies in international politics, history, and economics. Many years later, I would bring these seemingly disparate worlds together. As the president of The Juilliard School for the past 27 years, I have seen the extraordinary talent and dedication that is so evident in many of today’s young artists. I have also seen how the arts are so disturbingly undervalued in American society – in our schools, in our media, and in our collective national psyche. That’s why I have spent a considerable amount of time and thought in helping to prepare the next generation of performing artists to have a role in shaping the fabric of American society.

In titling my 2005 book The Artist as Citizen, I wanted to emphasize my belief that artists of the 21st century, especially in America, must rededicate themselves to a broader professional agenda that reaches beyond what has been expected of them in an earlier time. Specifically, the 21st-century artist has to be an effective and active advocate for the arts in communities large and small around the nation. These artists must be not only communicative through their art, but also knowledgeable about the intricacies of our society – politically, economically, socially – so that they can effectively show the power of the arts to a nation and its people who are often uninformed about the arts and view these activities with suspicion, with occasional disdain and, frequently, as irrelevant.

This new agenda may not be as difficult to achieve as one might think. Many of the young people who study at Juilliard – and universities and colleges around the country – have a clear determination to change the world through their art. They exhibit a healthy mix of idealism, determination, expertise, and energy – a powerful combination in such matters. By performing superbly in traditional settings and making the effort to engage community members through their artistry, America’s best young artists can positively change the status of the arts in American society.

This agenda has been at the foundation of my time at Juilliard. I am gratified to report that I have seen more and more energized and talented students from each ensuing Juilliard class go out into society with hopes and dreams that go beyond the traditional professional endeavors that we have known in the previous century.

There should be no dividing line between artistic excellence and social consciousness. America’s artists of today must take on the challenge of synergistically applying these two elements, if the art forms we embrace are to continue to flourish and to communicate the human values that emanate from them.

As the winter lion of March turns into a spring lamb, may the University community be warmed by the extraordinary power of the arts – a vehicle through which we can all better understand the complexities and beauty of the human experience.

This article was published in the Spring 2011 edition of UCONN Magazine.