Peabody Graduation

Date: Wednesday, May 22, 2024
Time:
Undergraduate Student Ceremony (BM, BFA): 10:00 am
Graduate Student Ceremony  (MM, MA, DMA, AD, GPD): 2:00 pm
Location: Miriam A. Friedberg Concert Hall (Peabody Campus Map)
Livestream: peabody.jhu.edu/live
Tickets: Request tickets on the Peabody Nest (JHED ID needed to access the link)
Undergraduates may request up to four tickets. Graduates may request up to two tickets.

Graduation Speakers

Misty Copeland (Undergraduate Ceremony)

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, and raised in San Pedro, California, Misty Copeland began her ballet studies at the late age of 13. After studying at the San Francisco Ballet School and American Ballet Theatre’s Summer Intensive, she joined American Ballet Theatre as a member of the corps de ballet in 2001, and in 2007 became the company’s second African American female soloist and the first in two decades. In 2015, Copeland was the first African American woman to ever be promoted to principal dancer with the company. Performing a variety of classical and contemporary roles, one of her most important was the title role in Firebird, created on her in 2012 with new choreography by sought-after choreographer Alexei Ratmansky. She also made history as the first Black woman to perform the lead role of Odette/Odile in ABT’s Swan Lake during the company’s inaugural tour to Australia. In 2022, she launched The Misty Copeland Foundation, a nonprofit focused on advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in ballet and pursuing social justice through arts activism, with an after-school program called BE BOLD that aims to make introductory ballet accessible and affordable. She is the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir, Life in Motion, and a picture book titled Firebird. She has been honored with the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship in the Arts, Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People, Glamour’s Women of the Year, Black Girls Rock! Awards, and honorary doctorates from the University of Hartford and New York University, among other awards.

Stevie Wonder (Graduate Ceremony)

A child prodigy who reached No. 1 on the charts when he was 13 years old, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer Stevie Wonder has won 25 Grammy Awards and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Kennedy Center Honors, and countless other honors. His long list of hit singles includes more than 30 U.S. top-ten hits and stretches from “Superstition” to “For Once in My Life” to “I Just Called to Say I Love You;” his star-powered collaborations from “Ebony and Ivory” (with Paul McCartney) to the AIDS charity single “That’s What Friends are For” (with Dionne Warwick, Elton John, and Gladys Knight). Released in 1976, his Songs in the Key of Life was the first album by an American artist to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard charts. Synthesizing elements of pop, R&B, soul, jazz, funk, and gospel into his own signature and ever-evolving style, he was a pioneer in the use of electronic instruments and technologies that changed the sound of popular music. Wonder accepted his 1985 Academy Award for best original song in the name of Nelson Mandela, and his lyrics, appearances, and activism helped to advance civil rights in America and racial justice around the world; the song “Happy Birthday” propelled his successful campaigning to establish Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday as a national holiday. He has also been a longtime advocate for improving services for the blind and those with disabilities and was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace in 2009.

Graduation Events

Graduation Rehearsal | Tuesday, May 21, 2024

Undergraduate student rehearsal: 9:00 am
Graduate student rehearsal: 10:00 am

Graduation Concert | Tuesday, May 21, 2024 | 7:30 pm

Location: Miriam A. Friedberg Concert Hall
Livestream: video.ibm.com/channel/Friedberg-Hall
Tickets: This event is free; Tickets are not required.

Disability Accommodations

The Peabody Conservatory values the inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of the campus experience. If you are a person with a disability and anticipate barriers to your full participation in this event, please contact Deb Gould at (667) 208-6703 or [email protected] no later than May 3.

Parking

Parking for a fee is available for the Peabody Graduation ceremonies at:

• Peabody Garage
  606 Saint Paul Street
• Baltimore Sun Garage
  601 N. Calvert Street (enter from East Monument Street)
• Central Parking
  600 Cathedral Street
• Franklin Street Garage
  15 West Franklin Street

Map of all garages

Accessibility

For guests needing accessible access to the building, we recommend dropping off and using the entrance on Washington Place South (the Peabody Mews entrance).

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Johns Hopkins Commencement Ceremony

Thursday, May 23
9:00 am
Homewood Field