Festival Features 12 Internationally Renowned Pianists as Teaching Guest Artists and Three Performing Guest Artists

Applications Now Open for Young Artist, Junior, and Auditor categories

April 19, 2023, TIANJIN, CHINA—The Tianjin Juilliard School announces the inaugural Tianjin Juilliard Piano Festival from July 30 to August 13, 2023. The festival offers two weeks of rich and vibrant programs featuring a stellar line-up of artists and provides participants with invaluable experience working alongside internationally renowned pianists and teachers through master classes, lectures, private lessons, and performances, including the exclusive opportunity of performing concertos with orchestras and prominent conductors. Juilliard faculty member and chair of the piano department in New York, Yoheved Kaplinsky and Xiaohan Wang, Tianjin Juilliard faculty member and chair of Pre-College piano studies in Tianjin, are co-artistic directors of the festival. 

“Hosted at our iconic home for the performing arts in Binhai, all participants will have full access to state of the art practice facilities, performance venues as well as over 100 Steinway pianos on campus. The Tianjin Juilliard Piano Festival will become one of the most exciting destinations for talented pianists from around the world,” said Wei He.

The festival features 12 internationally renowned pianists as teaching guest artists. In addition to the co-artistic directors Yoheved Kaplinsky and Xiaohan Wang, teaching guest artists will include Sofya Gulyak, Gabriel Kwok, Jinsang Lee, Yong Hi Moon, Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń, Dan Shao, Wojciech Świtała, Albert Tiu, Arie Vardi, and Yunlin Yang. During the festival, they will hold a series of private lessons and master classes. Performing guest artists at the piano festival are Sa Chen, Sofya Gulyak, and Xiaohan Wang. Festival partners include the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra and Tianjin Juilliard affiliated ensemble, QingXin Ensemble. Chen Lin will conduct the final gala concert of the festival.

“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. The variety of musical activities and the unique opportunities will make this an enriching and unforgettable festival for all,” said Yoheved Kaplinsky, chair of the piano department at Juilliard and Xiaohan Wang, chair of Pre-College piano studies at Tianjin Juilliard in a joint statement.  

The Tianjin Juilliard Piano Festival is open to applicants of all nationalities who can now apply to one of the following three categories: Young Artist, Junior, and Auditor. The application deadline for Young Artist and Junior participants is May 20. Auditors can apply by July 20.  Participants will gather in Tianjin for master classes, lectures, and recitals, take private lessons by renowned guest artists, perform in recitals, rehearse and perform at concerto concerts with the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jiajing Lai. The festival offers a combination of performance and pedagogic opportunities that go beyond and complement the participants’ school experiences. 

For application requirements and festival information, please visit the Tianjin Juilliard Piano Festival webpage here.

Performing participants have the opportunity to collaborate with a conductor and an orchestra. 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 Jiajing Lai. All 48 Junior participants will have one concerto rehearsal with the school's affiliated ensemble, QingXin Ensemble, conducted by Jiajing Lai, playing one movement of a concerto.
 
In addition, each Young Artist receives six one-hour private lessons, one opportunity to play in a master class, and two opportunities to play in a recital. Each Junior participant receives three one-hour private lessons and one opportunity to perform in a recital. Up to 24 selected Juniors will have an opportunity to play in a master class.

Applicants for auditors must be 7 years and older. They can attend all public events during the festival, including guest artist recitals, master classes, participants recitals, lectures, the concerto competition and concerts.
 

TEACHING GUEST ARTISTS 
Sofya Gulyak, Royal College of Music, UK 
Yoheved Kaplinsky, The Juilliard School, USA 
Gabriel Kwok, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Hong Kong, China 
Jinsang Lee, Korea National University of Arts, Korea
Yong Hi Moon, The Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, USA
Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń, Academy of Music Gdańsk, Poland, Academy of Music Bydgoszcz, Poland 
Dan Shao, Central Conservatory of Music, China 
Wojciech Świtała, Academy of Music Katowice, Poland
Albert Tiu, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory, Singapore 
Arie Vardi, Hochschule für Music, Theater und Medien Hannover, Germany; Bachmann-Mehta School of Music, Israel
Xiaohan Wang, The Tianjin Juilliard School, China
Yunlin Yang, Shanghai Conservatory of Music, China

PERFORMING GUEST ARTISTS
The festival is honored to present the following distinguished artists as our guest performers: 
Sa Chen - Laureate, 2000 International Chopin Piano Competition 
Sofya Gulyak - Laureate, 2009 Leeds International Piano Competition
Andrew Tyson, The Tianjin Juilliard School, China
Alvin Zhu, The Tianjin Juilliard School, China
 
This festival is co-founded by The Tianjin Juilliard School and the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area Administrative Commission.
 

About Yoheved Kaplinsky

Yoheved Kaplinsky is currently the chair of the piano department of The Juilliard School, as well as the Artistic Director of its Pre-College Division. One of the most sought-after pedagogues in the music world today, she is active as a guest lecturer and a performer in various festivals and universities. Formerly a member of the Peabody Conservatory and the Manhattan School, she also serves as guest faculty at Texas Christian University, is a member of the Aspen Music Festival and School faculty, and an honorary professor at the Shanghai Conservatory and the China Conservatory. A prize winner in the J.S. Bach competition in Washington DC, she has performed with orchestras, in recitals and in chamber music. She is noted for her insight into piano technique and is in demand for master classes and lectures all over the world. She is also a frequent guest teacher of festivals including Orford in Canada, PianoTexas in Texas, Philomusica in Oxford University, the Mozarteum in Salzburg among others. Kaplinsky is also a frequent adjudicator in international competitions, including the Cliburn, Rubinstein, Cleveland, Dublin, Tchaikovsky, and Montreal among others. She is a two-time recipient of the Presidential Scholars Teacher Recognition Award.

About Xiaohan Wang

Xiaohan Wang is prizewinner of ARD International Music Competition in Munich, Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and the Beethoven International Piano Competition in Bonn. Wang has performed all over Asia, Europe, and North America, in prestigious concert halls such as the Herkulessaal in Munich, the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow and the Mann Auditorium (current Charles Bronfman Auditorium) in Tel Aviv. He also appeared with leading festivals and orchestras including Ravinia Festival, Beethoven Festival, Rubinstein Festival, the Hundred Pianists in the 20th Century Concert Series in Tokyo, Concert for the 22nd Anniversary of Sino-ROK Diplomatic Relation in Seoul, and concerts with Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and more. As a chamber musician, Wang has collaborated with violinist Hilary Hahn, Ning Feng, cellist Misha Maisky, Liwei QIN, the Jerusalem Quartet, the Takács Quartet, the Tokyo Quartet, and the Juilliard Quartet. He is also a composer and conductor, having conducted the Israel Symphony Orchestra and others. His composition, The Lost Diary, was awarded a silver medal at the Chinese Piano Composition Competition in 2007, The Inspiration of Painting was chosen as the compulsory piece for the 2007 Beethoven International Piano Competition in Bonn. In 2008, his violin composition, Scene of the Chinese Village, was awarded third prize at the Chinese Violin Composition Competition, and was performed and recorded by Chinese violinist, Ning Feng.

As a Steinway Artist, Wang has been dedicated to training outstanding young musicians. He is frequently invited to give masterclasses and lectures at notable institutions at home and abroad, including The Juilliard School, New England Conservatory, Hannover Hochschule für Musik und Theater and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He also serves on the jury of the Sydney International Piano Competition, the Isangyun Competition in Korea, the Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, and the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition. He's also the artistic director of Arthur Rubinstein International Youth Piano Competition. Wang is the head of the piano department and tutor of master students at The Tianjin Juilliard School's Pre-College Division. He has been appointed as a Distinguished Professor of Piano at the China Conservatory of Music. In 2007, Wang’s live performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Cologne Chamber Orchestra conducted by Helmut Müller-Brühl was released by Naxos Records and reissued in 2021. In 2015, Austria's BravoArtists Records published a live recording of his performance of Bach's Goldberg Variations. Wang’s early teachers included Jin Aiping, Li Qifang and Zhou Guangren. He later studied with Arie Vardi and Matti Raekallio in Hannover where he received his PhD degree.

About The Tianjin Juilliard School

For more than a century, The Juilliard School has been committed to providing the highest caliber of artistic education to gifted musicians from around the world, so that they may achieve their fullest potential as artists, leaders, and global citizens. As the branch campus of The Juilliard School, The Tianjin Juilliard School (TJS) is a new cultural institution that brings Juilliard’s artistic and educational mission to a wider global audience. Tianjin Juilliard is the first performing arts institution in China to confer a U.S.-accredited Master of Music (MM) degree from the Juilliard School. The school also comprises a Saturday Pre-College for students ages 8-18; public education programs for music learners of all ages; continuing education programs for professionals and emerging musicians and music teachers; and public performances.

Image: Shengyi Visual