Weeklong event to feature chamber music performances across the city of Tianjin and the debut of the global conservatory ensemble, NextGen Symphony in Tianjin and Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts

 

TJS_Orchestral Symposium_2025_Keyvisual

 

TIANJIN, CHINA, May 7, 2025— The Tianjin Juilliard School is pleased to announce the programming for the 2025 Tianjin Juilliard Orchestral Symposium and Leadership Forum, taking place from May 26–31, 2025, in Tianjin and Beijing, China. This landmark international event brings together student artists, academic leaders, and cultural partners from 30 institutions around the world for a week of chamber and orchestral performances, cross-cultural exchange, and forward-looking dialogue on global music education.

At the heart of this initiative is the NextGen Symphony, a specially convened international ensemble showcasing exceptional young musicians from leading conservatories and music schools across Asia, Europe, and North America. The Orchestral Symposium underscores the school’s mission to foster artistry and global collaboration, providing these young musicians a platform to perform, grow, and connect through music. The orchestra will perform two culminating concerts conducted by David Robertson—one in Tianjin and the other in Beijing—featuring works by Zhou Long, Hector Berlioz, and Béla Bartók. These performances offer audiences in both cities the opportunity to experience a vibrant and emotionally resonant musical journey. The May 30 concert at the Tianjin Juilliard Concert Hall will be livestreamed, and the May 31 closing concert will be presented in partnership with the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA).

“The formation of this joint orchestra, bringing together extraordinary young artists from around the world, embodies our shared vision of discovering common ground through musical collaboration,” said Wei He, Tianjin Juilliard’s CEO and artistic director. “These talented musicians will serve as cultural ambassadors, engaging with communities through chamber music performances that spark meaningful conversations and celebrate our shared humanity.”

 

Chamber Music Across Central Tianjin

Chamber music will play a central role throughout the Symposium, with student ensembles performing in major venues across the city, including the Tianjin Juilliard Recital Hall, Tianjin Conservatory of Music Concert Hall, Tianjin Concert Hall, and Tianjin Yao Hua High School Auditorium. On May 26, the Symposium launches with a powerful performance by the internationally acclaimed Shanghai Quartet, joined by resident faculty Hanna Lee (viola) and guest artist Kangho Lee (cello). On May 27 and May 29, chamber ensembles composed of students from institutions across the globe will perform in a series of concerts that reflect the richness and diversity of the classical music community. Details of the programs appear below. 

Students from the following participating institutions will perform in the Orchestral Symposium Chamber Music Concert Series: Central Conservatory of Music; China Conservatory of Music; Colburn School; Curtis Institute of Music; The Glenn Gould School at The Royal Conservatory of Music; The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts; Indiana University Jacobs School of Music; The Juilliard School; Korea National University of Arts; Melbourne Conservatorium of Music; New England Conservatory; Oberlin Conservatory of Music; Shepherd School of Music, Rice University; Royal Academy of Music (London); Shanghai Conservatory of Music; The Tianjin Juilliard School; Yale School of Music; and Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music.   

 

Leadership Forum: Global Voices in Music Education

Running concurrently with the performance programming, the Leadership Forum will convene thought leaders in the arts to examine the state of music education through the lenses of cultural exchange, innovation, and professional development. Keynote speakers and topics include:

  • Clive Gillinson | Executive and Artistic Director, Carnegie Hall
    Keynote: “Music and the Search for Meaning”
  • Andrea Kalyn | President, New England Conservatory of Music
    Keynote: “Educating the 21st Century Musician”
  • Robert Blocker | William Edward Gilbert Professor of Piano and former Dean, Yale School of Music
    Keynote: “The Imperative for Cultural Leadership”

Moderators include:

  • Mattie Bekink, Regional Director and Chief Representative, China, Ford Foundation
  • Benjamin Sosland, Vice President for Music Programs, The Kovner Foundation

Fourteen Chinese conservatories and music organizations will contribute their perspectives through a dedicated panel discussion focused on the evolving landscape of music education in China. There will also be break-out sessions, responders’ conversations, and a lecture titled “The Future of Tradition: The Promise (and Peril) of AI in Classical Music,” by David Ludwig, dean and director of Juilliard’s Music Division and responder Yu Feng, president, Central Conservatory of Music. The complete agenda and list of Forum participants can be found on the website

The Forum proceedings will be published in Chinese and English by the People’s Music Publishing House, with international distribution. Observers including scholars and administrators interested are welcome to attend the Forum and performances free of charge. To register as an observer, please contact symposium@tianjinjuilliard.edu.cn.

 

Acknowledgements

The Tianjin Juilliard Orchestral Symposium and Leadership Forum is generously supported by the Ford Foundation.

The Tianjin Juilliard School gratefully acknowledges the support of the National Centre for the Performing Arts as a co-presenter and the chamber music presenting venues: the Tianjin Conservatory of Music, Tianjin Concert Hall, and Tianjin Yao Hua High School; our thanks also go to Tianjin Municipality; and Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area Administrative Commission (TEDA).

 

Tianjin Juilliard Orchestral Symposium 

Program Details 

Opening Concert  

Monday, May 26 | 7:30pm                
Tianjin Juilliard Concert Hall 

 

FRANZ SCHUBERT               String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor, “Death and the Maiden”  

    Shanghai Quartet
                        Weigang Li, Violin
                        Angelo Xiang Yu, Violin
                        Honggang Li, Viola
                        Sihao He, Cello

 JOHANNES BRAHMS           String Sextet No. 1 in B-flat Major, Op. 18  

               Shanghai Quartet  
                          Hanna Lee, Viola  
                          Kangho Lee, Cello  

 

Tianjin Juilliard Orchestral Symposium Chamber Music Concert Series  

Tuesday, May 27 | 7:30pm   

            

Tianjin Conservatory of Music Concert Hall  

 

VALERIE COLEMAN             Afro-Cuban Concerto for Wind Quintet  
Students of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music

 

WALTER KAUFFMAN            String Quartet No. 7  
Students of The Glenn Gould School at The Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto)  

  

PAUL SCHOENFELD             Café Music  

Students of The Tianjin Juilliard School  

   

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK               String Quintet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 77  

Students of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music  

   

Tianjin Concert Hall  

 

INGOLF DAHL                        Music for Brass Instruments  

Students of the Yale School of Music  

   

BÉLA BARTÓK                       String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor  
Students of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music  

 

ERWIN SCHULHOFF             Five Pieces for String Quartet  
Students of the Central Conservatory of Music  

 

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK               String Quintet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 77  

Students of the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music  

   

Tianjin Yao Hua High School Auditorium  

   

JOAQUÍN TURINA                 La oración del torero, Op. 34   

Students of The Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts  

 

FRANZ SCHUBERT               String Quartet No. 13 in A Minor, D. 803, "Rosamunde"  
Students of the Royal Academy of Music (London)  

   

VALERIE COLEMAN             Afro-Cuban Concerto for Wind Quintet  

Students of the Shepherd School of Music, Rice University  

   

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK               String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96, "American"  

Students of the China Conservatory of Music  

   

   

Tianjin Juilliard Orchestral Symposium Chamber Music Concert Series  

Thursday, May 29 | 7:30pm             

Tianjin Juilliard Recital Hall   

   

ALEJANDRO VIÑAO              Stress and Flow  

Students of the Korea National University of Arts  

   

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK               String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96, "American"  

Students of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music  

   

CLAUDE DEBUSSY               Danse sacrée et danse profane  

Students of The Juilliard School and The Tianjin Juilliard School

   

JOHN HARBISON                  Quintet for Winds  
Students of the Colburn School  

   

FELIX MENDELSSOHN        String Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20  

Students of the New England Conservatory, Curtis Institute of Music, and The Tianjin Juilliard School  

   

Tianjin Juilliard Orchestral Symposium: NextGen Symphony

Conducted by David Robertson

Friday, May 30 | 7:30pm
Tianjin Juilliard Concert Hall  

The performance will be livestreamed.

ZHOU LONG                          The Rhyme of Taigu (2003)   

BERLIOZ                                Three Scenes from Roméo et Juliette

I. Introduction: Combats – Tumulte – Intervention du Prince
II. La reine Mab Scherzo
III. Roméo seul – TristesseBruits lointains de concert et de bal – Grande fête chez Capulet

BARTÓK                                 Concerto for Orchestra

                                                      I. Introduzione. Andante non troppo – Allegro vivace
                                                      II. Presentando le coppie. Allegro scherzando
                                                      III. Elegia. Andante non troppo
                                                      IV. Intermezzo interrotto. Allegretto
                                                      V. Finale. Presto

Tianjin Juilliard Orchestral Symposium Closing Concert: NextGen Symphony Saturday, May 31 | 2:30pm 

The National Centre for the Performing Arts Concert Hall, Beijing 

The closing concert in Beijing on May 31 will feature a reprise of the full program performed in Tianjin on May 30.

 

For more information and ticketing details, visit our Performance Calendar.