Juilliard Breaks Ground in China, Releases Designs for The Tianjin Juilliard School

The Juilliard School broke ground today on its first overseas campus, The Tianjin Juilliard School, marking a significant milestone in the school's ongoing expansion into Asia. As part of the ceremony, Joseph W. Polisi, president of Juilliard; Alexander Brose, executive director and C.E.O. of The Tianjin Juilliard School; and Charles Renfro, Partner and architect at Diller Scofidio + Renfro, unveiled preliminary designs for the new facility. Diller Scofidio + Renfro is the same firm that oversaw the 2009 renovations of Juilliard's New York City campus and the redevelopment of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Located in the Yujiapu Pilot Free Trade Zone, The Tianjin Juilliard School will be a center for performance, practice, and research, as well as interactive exhibitions and communal spaces that are designed to welcome the public into the creative process and the performance of music. Once completed, the campus will be an international hub for artists of all ages and abilities, as well as the only performing arts institution in China to offer a U.S.-accredited master's degree.

"For more than a century, Juilliard has provided the highest caliber of performing arts education to talented young musicians, actors, and dancers," said Polisi, president of Juilliard and chairman of The Tianjin Juilliard School's board of directors. "We look forward to continuing this tradition of excellence in Tianjin while deepening ties between China and the United States through artistic collaboration."

"After many months of careful planning and collaboration, we are thrilled to share our designs for The Tianjin Juilliard School," said Charles Renfro, Partner-in-charge at Diller Scofidio + Renfro. "In planning this new facility, we wanted to capture the spirit of Tianjin while creating an architectural connection to Juilliard's home campus in New York City."

Juilliard first announced its plan for a Tianjin campus in 2015. In March of this year, Alexander Brose, formerly the vice president for development at the Aspen Music Festival and School, was appointed executive director and C.E.O., while renowned violinist Wei He was selected as the school's first artistic director and dean.

Part of President Polisi's vision to bring performing arts education to a broader global audience, The Tianjin Julliard School will offer a diverse range of courses and grant master's degrees in orchestral performance, chamber music performance, and collaborative piano. It will also offer pre-college and instrumental training programs, adult education courses, and public performances and exhibits.

The school is scheduled to open in 2019.

About The Juilliard School

Founded in 1905, The Juilliard School is a world leader in performing arts education. Juilliard's mission is to provide the highest caliber of artistic education for gifted musicians, dancers, and actors from around the world so that they may achieve their fullest potential as artists, leaders, and global citizens. Located at Lincoln Center in New York City, Juilliard offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in dance, drama (acting and playwriting), and music (classical, jazz, historical performance, and vocal arts). Currently more than 800 artists from 44 states and 42 countries and regions are enrolled at Juilliard, where they appear in over 700 annual performances in the school's five theaters; at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully and David Geffen halls and at Carnegie Hall; as well as other venues around New York City, the country, and the world. Beyond its New York campus, Juilliard is defining new directions in global performing arts education for a range of learners and enthusiasts through The Tianjin Juilliard School, K-12 educational curricula, and digital education products.

About Diller Scofidio + Renfro

Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) is an interdisciplinary design studio that works at the intersection of architecture, the visual arts, and the performing arts. For their commitment to merging art and architecture with issues of contemporary culture, founding partners Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio were recognized by the MacArthur Foundation with the "genius" grant, the first given in the field of architecture. DS+R's completed works include the High Line, the Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center at Columbia University, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Redevelopment in New York City (inclusive of The Juilliard School); The Broad in Los Angeles; Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley; McMurtry Building for the Department of Art & Art History at Stanford University, Stanford; Granoff Center for the Creative Arts at Brown University, Providence; and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. In-progress works include The Shed, a new center for artistic invention, and The Museum of Modern Art Renovation and Expansion, both in New York City; the Museum of Image and Sound, Rio de Janeiro; and Zaryadye Park, Moscow.