The Juilliard School, a performing arts conservatory in New York City, is set to launch its first overseas campus for music education in Tianjin by 2018.
The Tianjin Juilliard School will be at the Tianjin Conservatory of Music in Binhai New Area. It will be a 45-minute high-speed train ride from Beijing.
Established in 1905, the Juilliard School is the premier performing arts education institution in the world. It has enrolled students from China since the 1920s.
It currently has 60 Chinese students, with more than 300 of its alumni coming from China.
In September, First Lady Peng Liyuan, together with President Xi Jinping, visited the United States including the Juilliard School in New York, where she attended a performance class and the inauguration of the Tianjin branch.
"It's unique that a person of her stature is involved in the arts. It was a great honor to have the Chinese First Lady here," said Joseph W. Polisi, president of the Juilliard School.
Polisi also told Xinhua in a Tuesday interview that the Tianjin Juilliard School is defining new directions in performing arts education.
Regarding why Juilliard chose China for its first overseas branch, Polisi said, "China has a great atmosphere of Western classical music with millions of children studying piano and violin, and we find it very engaging."
Tianjin Conservatory of Music President Xu Changjun has expressed his belief that the Tianjin branch of the prestigious school will become a cultural hub, attracting students from all over the world.
The Tianjin Juilliard School will include pre-college, postgraduate, instrumental training and adult education programs, with plans to recruit 240 graduate students, according to Polisi.
"My teachers brought me the beauty of music and humanities education, and we visit hospitals, nursing homes and schools to teach and perform on a weekly basis," said Wang Jian, a violin professor at the School of Music at Soochow University who graduated from Juilliard.
The Tianjin branch will have a rotating faculty that will be teaching master courses and workshops. Juilliard graduates, as well as successful artists from around the world, will also be invited to teach at the Tianjin branch.
Tianjin Juilliard School will also launch Juilliard Imagination, an interactive space on campus wherein people can virtually conduct an orchestra. It will also have annual performing arts and education activities.
"We hope that people can feel the great joy that comes from Western music through courses and interactive exhibits," said Polisi.