The resignation has led the school to think about putting the chorus on hiatus next season, Juilliard School president Joseph W. Polisi told the Times. He added that the future of the chorus is precarious, since there are no upcoming engagements with Juilliard's student orchestras.

The news came on the eve of Juilliard's commencement concert yesterday, at which the chorus was scheduled to sing in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

The Juilliard Choral Union is an amateur group which includes singers from the New York area and the Juilliard School. It has performed with the New York City Ballet and as part of Lincoln Center's American Songbook series. Recent concerts of note include a performance at Carnegie Hall of Mozart's Requiem to mark the fifth anniversary of the September 11 disaster.

Clurman, who has bachelor's and master's degrees from Juilliard, has been on the school's faculty since 1989 and director of choral activities since 2001.