Tianjin Juilliard set to host key event

The inaugural Tianjin Juilliard Piano Festival will be held from July 30 to Aug 13.

The festival, to be staged at the Tianjin Juilliard School, will include two weeks of programs, featuring 12 internationally celebrated pianists as guest teachers and artists, such as Israeli pianist Arie Vardi, American pianist Robert Levin, and Russian pianist Sofya Gulyak. Pianist Chen Sa will appear at the festival as one of the guest performers.

Besides recitals, a series of private lessons and master classes will also be held during the festival. The Suzhou Symphony Orchestra and QingXin Ensemble, a Tianjin Juilliard affiliated group, will also participate. Chen Lin will conduct the final gala concert of the festival.

The festival is open to applicants of all nationalities above 7 years of age and they can apply to one of the following three categories: Young Artist, Junior, and Auditor, the latter of which receives a festival pass to all open events, but not private lessons or the final gala concert.

All 24 selected Young Artists will compete in the festival's concerto competition, and six winners will be selected to perform a full concerto with the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Lai Jiajing.

All 48 Junior participants will have one concerto rehearsal with the school's affiliated QingXin Ensemble, conducted by Lai, playing one movement of a concerto.

"The festival will be a great music celebration this summer and people will gather together at our beautiful campus for the performing arts in Binhai, Tianjin," says He Wei, CEO and artistic director of the Tianjin Juilliard School. The school is the first overseas campus of the New York-headquartered Juilliard School, which, opened in 2019, is the first such institution in China that confers a US-accredited music degree.

"We have assembled the highest level of pedagogues and performers from around the world to provide festival participants with an exciting and inspiring educational experience this summer," says Yoheved Kaplinsky, the Juilliard faculty member and chair of the piano department in New York.

"The variety of musical activities and the unique opportunities will make this an enriching and unforgettable festival for all."

Kaplinsky serves as the co-artistic director of the festival along with Wang Xiaohan, who is the Tianjin Juilliard faculty member and chair of pre-college piano studies in Tianjin.