Tianjin Juilliard held its fifth commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 23 at the Tianjin Juilliard Concert Hall, honoring 42 graduate students from 14 countries and regions receiving Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School.
The ceremony was presided over by Wei He, CEO and Artistic Director of The Tianjin Juilliard School. Changjun Xu, Chancellor of The Tianjin Juilliard School and Huan Wang, Party Secretary of the Tianjin Conservatory, joined distinguished guests and school partners in celebrating this important milestone. Juilliard President Emeritus and Chief China Officer Joseph W. Polisi, Juilliard President Damian Woetzel, and Provost Adam Meyer addressed the class of 2026 and congratulated the graduates. The ceremony also featured an address by renowned conductor and chair of The Tianjin Juilliard School Council, Long Yu.
The years you have devoted to your studies at Juilliard are a testament to your perseverance. In the years ahead, when you encounter creative barriers, doubt, criticism, or long stretches without recognition, perseverance will matter even more. Those hours of quiet dedication will, one day in the future, bring you the most profound reward.
Long Yu
In addition to the conferral of degrees, Wei He presented the Tianjin Juilliard School Prize to Jia-wen Lin (MM ’26, Instrumental and Orchestral Studies, violin), recognizing her outstanding artistic achievements and academic excellence in all areas of endeavor, as well as The Joseph W. Polisi Award to Anna Zhukova (MM ’26, Collaborative Piano) for exemplifying the school's values of "artist as citizen."
Dean Katherine Chu presented the Dean’s List Award to six graduate students in recognition of achieving the highest grade point average at The Tianjin Juilliard School, they are Eddie He (MM ’26, Instrumental and Orchestral Studies, cello), Ryuto Hibino (MM ’26, Instrumental and Orchestral Studies, trombone), Jia-Wen Lin (MM ’26, Instrumental and Orchestral Studies, violin), Mary Eli Palencia Brito (MM ’26, Instrumental and Orchestral Studies, violin), Apollo Rayme Parish Mitchell (MM ’26, Instrumental and Orchestral Studies, oboe), Thananan Rochanakit (MM ’26, Instrumental and Orchestral Studies, percussion).
To underscore the musical accomplishments of the Class of 2026, the ceremony featured performances and interludes by the graduates and resident faculty. The first interlude featured Ruisheng Wang, violin, Xinyu Zhao, cello, and Xuan Zhang, piano, performing the opening movement of Paul Schoenfield’s Café Music, a piece drawing from eclectic folk and popular musical influences.
The first interlude featured Ruisheng Wang, violin, Xinyu Zhao, cello, and Xuan Zhang, piano, performing the opening movement of Paul Schoenfield’s Café Music, a piece drawing from eclectic folk and popular musical influences.
Next, Ryuto Hibino, trombone, Anna Zhukova, piano, and Thananan Rochanakit, percussion, performed Sebastian Quesada’s energetic composition, Symbios for Trombone, Piano and Percussion.
After the degrees were presented to the graduates, Ya-Ti Chang, cello, Ze Yun Guo, cello, Eddie He, cello, Xiaoxi He, cello, Brian Donguick Lee, cello, Qingenlu Tao, cello, and Xinyu Zhao, cello, were joined by their teacher, resident faculty Yeonjin Kim, as they presented David Popper’s Polonaise de Concert, a testament to their time working together as a studio.
This year, student representative speaker Zihua Liu (MM ’26, Collaborative Piano) delivered a speech on behalf of the graduates.
Did Tianjin Juilliard really change my life? Yes. I started to find my true artistic self and my own voice, I came to understand what "artist-citizen" means, and we all transformed into artist citizens. We were transformed by the mind opening opportunities that we’ve been exposed to—all the new musical languages and challenging repertoire. Now, we might ask: how will we continue to transform? Class of 2026, the world is waiting for us, go for it!
Zihua Liu (MM ’26, Collaborative Piano)
