Tianjin Juilliard’s 2022-23 season opened in September with a performance led by Ken Lam, director of orchestral studies and resident conductor. Lam conducted the Tianjin Juilliard Orchestra in a program featuring Schubert’s Symphony in B minor, D.759 “Unfinished” and Beethoven’s Symphony No.2 in D major, Op.36.on  September 25 in the Tianjin Juilliard Concert Hall.

The Tianjin Juilliard Orchestra is the school’s largest student performing ensemble comprised of students from the Graduate Studies program majoring in instrumental and orchestral studies, and instrumental and chamber music studies. Two student soloists will be selected by an annual competition this November for concerto performances with the Tianjin Juilliard Orchestra in the spring. In February, Juilliard students from New York and Tianjin campuses will come together in a live collaboration to perform Terry Riley’s landmark work, In C.

“In this new season, we hope to inspire audiences through our exciting programming opening the season with orchestral performances led by Maestro Lam, presenting new chamber music masterpieces, curating ensemble concerts showcasing our faculty’s versatility, the return of Festival Connect, and co-presented community engagement projects with our alumni,” said Wei He, CEO and artistic director.

Steeped in The Juilliard School’s tradition of excellence in music education, Tianjin Juilliard continues to innovate and evolve, striving to provide diverse performing opportunities to all of our students as they showcase their artistry and perform side-by-side with our distinguished faculty and visiting artists. These performances along with the concerto competition prepare our students to flourish professionally. The School has created a wealth of opportunities both on and off campus for current students and alumni.

Wei He, CEO and artistic director

“This fall, we will co-present a series of public concerts with a newly formed ensemble comprised of our outstanding alums, to bring Juilliard’s renowned programming of the highest artistic level to communities and audiences in Tianjin and beyond. We invite audiences to experience the future of the performing arts through this season’s performances showcasing our students from Graduate Studies, Pre-College, and Public Education.”

Among many highlights, the Tianjin Juilliard Orchestra will perform the world premiere of A Jiangnan Overture,  composed by faculty member Niccolo Athens, on Sunday, October 30, at 3:00pm in the Tianjin Juilliard Concert Hall and Fanfare for Sam, composed by David Serkin Ludwig, dean and director of the Music Division at Juilliard in New York, on Sunday, March 26 2023, at 3:00pm in the Tianjin Juilliard Concert Hall. The Tianjin Juilliard Orchestra season concludes with a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 conducted by Ken Lam on Friday, April 28 2023, at 3:00pm in the Tianjin Juilliard Concert Hall.

The Tianjin Juilliard Ensemble, the School’s resident faculty ensemble, returns with an all-French program on October 21, featuring works such as Louise Farrenc’s Sextet in C Minor and César Franck’s Piano Quintet in F Minor. The six concerts showcase the diversity of the faculty ensemble’s programming, including an exciting evening of vocal chamber music, featuring Respighi’s Il tramonto, Ravel’s Chansons  madécasses, and Vaughn Williams’ On Wenlock Edge  on Friday, November 11. Other performances include the premiere of a new commission by Yiwen Shen, on a concert with a “Bagatelles and Tangos” theme on Friday, March 31 2023, and a concert featuring Baroque concerti on Friday, April 14 2023, among others.

The school’s flagship music festival, Festival Connect, will take place in January 2023 and culminate in a performance by the Tianjin Juilliard Orchestra on January 15. This year’s festival will celebrate Igor Stravinsky (1882 – 1971) and two living composers, Joan Tower from the United States and Guo Wenjing from China. The program will feature Joan Tower’s Grammy-winning Made in America, Guo Wenjing’s Zhudi Concerto No. 2, “Ye Huo”, with Chinese bamboo flute master Tang Junqiao as soloist, and Stravinsky’s The Firebird: Suite on Sunday, January 15, at 3:00pm in the Tianjin Juilliard Concert Hall.

A Distinguished Artists series will be launched in November. This new series features performances by the Chang Jing Xian Ensemble, the Shanghai Quartet, as well as classical guitarist Xuefei Yang and additional renowned artists will be announced.

Tianjin Juilliard will also co-present a series of public concerts with a newly formed ensemble comprised of outstanding alumni from The Juilliard School and The Tianjin Juilliard School. As a partner of Tianjin Juilliard’s community outreach arm, this enterprising ensemble will collaborate with faculty on performances, lectures, and residences this fall. The latest information on concerts will be available through the performance calendar.

2022–23 Calendar of Events

Sunday, October 30, 2022 | 3:00pm, Tianjin Juilliard Concert Hall

Tianjin Juilliard Orchestra

Ken Lam, conductor

NICCOLO ATHENS A Jiangnan Overture  (2019; orch. 2021, World Premiere)

CARL MARIA VON WEBER Overture from Der Freischütz

RICHARD WAGNER Overture from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg

JOHANNES BRAHMS Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73

Friday, November 11, 2022 | 7:30pm, Tianjin Juilliard Concert Hall

Tianjin Juilliard Ensemble

OTTORINO RESPIGHI Il tramonto

MAURICE RAVEL Chansons madécasses 

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS On Wenlock Edge

Sunday, November 20, 2022 | 3:00pm, Tianjin Juilliard Concert Hall

Tianjin Juilliard Orchestra

Ken Lam, conductor

Jiyoung Kim, marimba

CLAUDE DEBUSSY Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune

EMMANUEL SÉJOURNÉ Concerto for Marimba and Strings (2005)

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Symphony No. 2, “London”

Tuesday, January 10, 2023 | 7:30pm, Tianjin Juilliard Concert Hall

Festival Connect Opening Concert

Tianjin Juilliard Ensemble

IGOR STRAVINSKY Le sacre du printemps  for Piano Four Hands

IGOR STRAVINSKY Suite from L’Histoire du soldat

Wednesday, January 11, 2023 | 7:30pm, Tianjin Juilliard Recital Hall

Festival Connect Chamber Music Concert I

IGOR STRAVINSKY 

Fanfare for a New Theatre  for 2 Trumpets

Elegy  for Solo Viola

Three Pieces for Clarinet

Three Pieces for String Quartet

Sonata for Two Pianos

Suite Italienne  from Pulcinella  for Cello and Piano

Friday, January 13, 2023 | 7:30pm, Tianjin Juilliard Recital Hall

Festival Connect Chamber Music Concert II

JOAN TOWER (b. 1938)

Copperwave  for Brass Quintet (2006)

Island Prelude  for Oboe and Wind Quartet (1989)

Dumbarton Quintet  for Piano Quintet (2008)

GUO WENJING (b. 1956)

Ba  for Cello and Piano (1982)

Bamboo Branch Song  (2010) (arr. Gergely Ittzés for Three Flutes)                                          

Parade  for Six Beijing Opera Gongs (2003)

Sunday, January 15, 2023 | 3:00pm, Tianjin Juilliard Concert Hall

Festival Connect Closing Concert

Tianjin Juilliard Orchestra

Conductor to be announced

Tang Junqiao, bamboo flute

JOAN TOWER Made in America  (2004)

GUO WENJING Zhudi Concerto No. 2, “Ye Huo” (2010)

IGOR STRAVINSKY The Firebird: Suite  (1919 version)

Sunday, February 19, 2023 | 3:00pm, Tianjin Juilliard Concert Hall

Tianjin Juilliard Orchestra

Conductor to be announced

HECTOR BERLIOZ Roman Carnival Overture, Op. 9

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 9 in E-flat Major, Op. 70

Friday, February 24, 2023 | 7:30pm, Tianjin Juilliard Concert Hall

Tianjin Juilliard Ensemble

LUIGI BOCCHERINI Quintet in C Major for Flute, Oboe, and Strings

CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS Septet, Op. 65

JOHANNES BRAHMS Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34

Sunday, March 26, 2023 | 3:00pm, Tianjin Juilliard Concert Hall

Tianjin Juilliard Orchestra

Ken Lam, conductor

Concerto Competition Winner (TBA)

DAVID SERKIN LUDWIG Fanfare for Sam  (2011)

SAMUEL BARBER Adagio for Strings

SAMUEL BARBER First Symphony, in One Movement, Op.9

Friday, March 31, 2023 | 7:30pm, Tianjin Juilliard Concert Hall

Tianjin Juilliard Ensemble

A selection of Bagatelles from BEETHOVEN, BARTÓK, and BOLCOM for Solo Piano

JÚLIO MEDAGLIA Belle Epoch en Sud America

ASTOR PIAZZOLLA L’Histoire du Tango

YIWEN SHEN New Commission

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK Bagatelles, Op. 47

OSVALDO GOLIJOV Last Round  (1996)

Friday, April 14, 2023 | 7:30pm, Tianjin Juilliard Concert Hall

Tianjin Juilliard Ensemble

GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL Concerto Grosso in D Major, Op. 6 No. 5, HWV 323

JOHANN WILHELM HERTEL Double Concerto in E-flat Major for Oboe, Trumpet and Strings

Mingjia Liu, Oboe

Sergey Tyuteykin, Trumpet

ANTONIO VIVALDI Bassoon Concerto in D Minor, RV 481

Akio Koyama, Bassoon

GIUSEPPE TARTINI Violin Concerto in D Minor, D. 44

Weigang Li, Violin

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048 

Friday, April 28, 2023 | 7:30pm, Tianjin Juilliard Concert Hall

Tianjin Juilliard Orchestra

Ken Lam, conductor

Concerto Competition Winner (TBA)

GIUSEPPE VERDI Overture from La forza del destino

PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36