Across the Pacific: Music creates cultural bridge

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TIANJIN, June 15 (Xinhua) -- Dominique Riley Valenzuela, a young Mexican-American violin player, has been obsessed with music since he was a child.

"Growing up in a Mexican household within the United States, I was exposed to so many different kinds (of music)," Valenzuela said.

The violin player recalled that the first time he saw an orchestra was in a cartoon. He thought "it was so cool" to work in a tuxedo and began to dream about being a part of the orchestra.

To reach his childhood musical dreams, Valenzuela started to learn to play violin and concentrated on improving, and the Juilliard School, a world leader in performing arts education, has long been the beacon of his life.

It is no wonder Valenzuela was beyond excited when he learned that China's Tianjin Juilliard School was enrolling students. He immediately applied for the school and came to north China's Tianjin Municipality in 2020.

With the joint efforts of China and the United States, the Tianjin Conservatory of Music and the Juilliard School have carried out high-level art cooperation in running the Tianjin Juilliard School which opened in 2019, creating a new platform for promoting cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

The Tianjin Juilliard School is the first overseas cooperative project of the Juilliard School since its establishment more than 100 years ago. In September 2020, the first graduate course was officially launched at the Tianjin school, with its graduates also receiving a master's degree from the Juilliard School in New York.

"When I learned that the new campus in China offered orchestral studies as a major, I focus all of my attention and energy on this school because I knew it would be so unique and truly it has been," Valenzuela said.

"Classes begin early and end late, but are so rewarding that you really can't wait to come back," he said. Recalling his experience there, Valenzuela said his favorite class was given by Chinese professor Angelo Yu Xiang. "He is so wise, and every lesson felt like an entire decade worth of knowledge packed into one hour," he said.

As a member of the Shanghai Quartet, Yu is a world-famous violinist. During his busiest times, in a matter of a week, he traveled to many places in North America, Europe and Oceania to give performances.

A brilliant performance lasting merely a minute on stage is due to years of practice off the stage, Yu said, adding that to help more students pursue their musical dreams, he chose to teach at Tianjin Juilliard School.

The dream of music is shared by many teachers and students alike at the school from China and abroad.

"Every outstanding student sitting here is the envoy of promoting world cultural exchanges and mutual learning, as well as spreading art and friendship," said Wang Hongwei, vice president of Tianjin Conservatory of Music, at the graduation ceremony of the first batch of graduate students in Tianjin Juilliard School in May.

In February, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of former U.S. President Richard Nixon's visit to China, Tianjin Juilliard School held a seminar about Sino-U.S. music exchange.

"The exchange and cooperation of music have played an irreplaceable role in the cultural exchanges between the two countries," said He Wei, artistic director and dean of Tianjin Juilliard School.

Graduate Bethany Alison Lawrence said that during her time in Tianjin she fell in love with China's long-standing traditional culture, and learned a lot about Chinese musical instruments. She still hopes to stay in the country after graduation. "There are lots of really great opportunities for musicians here," she said.

On May 20, 2022, the first 33 graduate students of the Tianjin Juilliard School, including three from the U.S. and 21 from China, attended their graduation ceremony and Valenzuela was one of them.

Arriving as a student and leaving as an artist, Valenzuela went back to the U.S. to continue his studies. "All of my work was worth it," he said with a smile. Enditem

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