Campus comes alive with NextGen's sound of music

The campus of the Tianjin Juilliard School was throbbing with excitement as over 100 students from renowned music schools around the world gathered for a week of intensive rehearsals.

Under the guidance of David Robertson, the director of the conducting department at Juilliard School in New York and an acclaimed conductor, this vibrant ensemble — named the NextGen Symphony — performed in two culminating concerts: one in Tianjin on May 30 and the other at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing on May 31.

In just five days, the NextGen Symphony held six rehearsals, each lasting two and a half hours. From their first gathering to the final performance, the orchestra underwent an astonishing transformation, earning applause from the audiences.

With a diverse program featuring works from both Chinese and Western composers — including Zhou Long's The Rhyme of Taigu, three scenes from Romeo et Juliette, Op. 17 by Hector Berlioz, and Bela Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra, Sz. 116 — the young musicians, with their varied cultural backgrounds, created a dynamic platform for cultural exchange and artistic collaboration.