A relationship of note

The Juilliard Orchestra performing at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing in May. YANG BO/GAO SHANG "Back then, I didn't realize how important his visit to China would be for me personally, as well as to the classical music scene in China. In 1987, Joseph W. Polisi, president of New York-based Juilliard School at the time, led the Juilliard Orchestra on its first tour of China, visiting six cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, Guangdong province. Audiences were quiet and polite, and later, I was told that they were totally engaged," recalls Polisi during the online symposium, who led the orchestra upon it return to China on a 2008 tour that included a concert collaborating with students and faculty members of the Central Conservatory of Music at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing. In October, Polisi, 74, returned to China once more to attend the dedication ceremony of Tianjin Juilliard School campus, which broke ground on June 15, 2017 and opened in fall 2020.