Practice makes perfect on Tianjin Juilliard tour

Five years on, the music school, a collaboration between China and the United States, is reaching out to broaden its base, Chen Nan reports.

The Tianjin Juilliard Orchestra is embarking on its first ever China tour, presenting concerts at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing on Wednesday as part of the NCPA's Spring and Autumn Achievements showcase of performing arts from art institutions, and at the Hong Kong City Hall as part of the Hong Kong Generation Next Arts music festival on Nov 24. On Tuesday, it will present a pre-tour concert at the Tianjin Juilliard concert hall.

The Tianjin Juilliard Orchestra was established in September 2020, and soon after, plans for a tour began. The 2024-25 season marks the school's fifth anniversary. It is the first overseas campus of the New York-headquartered Juilliard School. The tour is part of the celebrations.

"We have been planning the tour for quite a while. We are eager to have our students go out and demonstrate their artistic talent, while presenting a successful teaching model to our peers. To me, the Tianjin Juilliard Orchestra is the best representation of our school's educational philosophy of 'focusing on collaborative musicianship'," says He Wei, the CEO and artistic director of the school.