39 students have enrolled in the Tianjin Juilliard School US-accredited Music Masters degree course despite travel difficulties caused by Covid-19.
About a dozen of the new students came to China from 10 other countries to Tianjin to major in Orchestral Studies, Chamber Music and Collaborative Piano. Some faced considerable challenges gaining visas, according to the Executive Director and CEO of the school, Alexander Brose. But he said it was vital to solve visa issues as the 39 students would form an orchestra that could learn, rehearse and perform together. It took local government intervention to get some of the students into the country.
The new degree course is the first US-accredited music Masters available in China. All applicants to the course need to go through the same process as students of Juilliard in New York, including a tough auditioning process and proof of passing the universally accepted Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).
The resident teaching staff have been drawn from China’s impressive community of musicians, as well as foreign artist-teachers who have joined the faculty. While the pandemic continues, some of the tuition and mentoring will also be given online by the school’s distinguished artist-teachers from New York. Once restrictions ease, it is expected that students will exchange between China and the US during their courses. The degrees will be presented by Juilliard.
Tianjin has been a centre for music higher education in China since 1950 when the original Central Conservatory for Music was founded there. Once the Central Conservatory moved to Beijing in 1959, the school became the Tianjin Conservatory of Music (TJCM), educating over ten thousand musicians, actors, composers and other arts professionals.
The partnership with Juilliard and the mission to build a state-of-the-art school in the North China municipality was launched in 2015. The school is managed by Juilliard in New York in conjunction with the Tianjin Conservatory of Music, the Tianjin Binhai New Area Administrative Commission and the Tianjin Innovative Finance Investment Company.
The facility was designed by architects Diller Scofidio and Renfro, who built the extension to the school’s New York base. The Chinese campus includes 22 teaching studios and over 80 practice rooms. Three performance halls provide public concert space, and the public is welcomed to see the creative process, attend concerts and visit exhibitions. Over 150 performances have already taken place over the autumn and music-lovers from around the world can register to view them online. The Masters students will also present up to 10 concerts each season, led by world-renowned conductors.
In addition to the Masters course, the school is already offering pre-college tuition to talented students between 8 and 18 years-of-age, continuing education programmes for professionals and adult learners and public education programmes for all ages.
More information: https://www.tianjinjuilliard.
