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Chinese Cultural Delegates Visit Juilliard By HOWARD L. KESSLER
The shortest distance between two cultures is food—or so it seemed when 15 Chinese visitors and three Americans sat down for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, hosted by Juilliard Pre-College Director Andrew Thomas and me in our apartment. Everything was homemade. We toasted with sparkling cider—everything from friendship to world peace—and we drank tea … lots of tea. Did I mention that the dinner was on February 18, and not the last Thursday in November?
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| Some of the visiting Chinese delegates to the arts school management conference in February enjoying the view of the Manhattan skyline from the Staten Island Ferry. |
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This festive meal was part of a conference that Juilliard's Pre-College Division hosted on February 14-20 for delegates from the Ministry of Culture and from various music, dance, and middle schools in the People's Republic of China. The event, titled "Advanced Training Program for Arts School Management," developed out of conducting and teaching tours that Andy and I made in China. Henry Meng, from Avtech Information Technology and a Pre-College parent, made the travel arrangements, and I arranged the sightseeing activities. Our Chinese guests included Chief Commander Niu Genfu and Vice Commander Yan Xianji (both from the Ministry of Culture's Education and Science Department); Secretary-General Li Jiang, principal of the Attached School of the Guangxi Arts College; and directors and principals from the Chinese Secondary Art Education Association, the Central Conservatory of Music and the Chinese Conservatory of Music in Beijing, the Attached School of Beijing Dance Academy, and schools in Shanxi, Hunan, Hebei, Chongqing, Xiamen, and Shenyang.The purpose of this distinguished visit was to talk about the management of arts schools, with a particular focus on Juilliard and its perspective. We presented three seminars on various aspects of this central topic. The first talk was with faculty and administrators from Juilliard's College Division. Stephen Clapp, Katherine Hood, Brian Zeger, Edward Bilous, Carolyn Adams, and Bärli Nugent gave overviews of the astonishing range of disciplines offered on the undergraduate and graduate levels. Beyond the technical aspects of departmental work, the delegates sensed that The Juilliard School is profoundly committed to preparing its students both as outstanding performers and as contributors to the society. The delegates were extremely interested in the various outreach programs of the School.In the presentation about the Pre-College Division, the delegates were impressed by the distances traveled by many of the students. In Chinese middle schools, students live at their school, where they receive academic as well as artistic training. Furthermore, students there are specifically aiming for music careers, and if they do not get into college-level conservatories, they have no preparation for employment in other fields. The Chinese delegates were struck by the openness of the education in the Pre-College Division, and the fact that students here may go on to conservatories or to prestigious Ivy League colleges to become doctors and scientists as well as professional musicians. The delegates were also very interested in the strong presence and positive role of the Parents' Association.The third part of the conference presented administrators from other schools in New York City. Joanne Polk, director of the Manhattan School of Music's Preparatory Division, and Sue Ann Kahn, director of the Mannes College of Music's Preparatory Division, talked about their respective schools, which are similar in some ways to Juilliard's Pre-College. Each school, however, has its own personality; the Manhattan School has a strong jazz program as well as concert music training, while Mannes has a particularly strong background in theory. Jennifer Undercofler talked about the Special Music School, part of the New York City school system, providing music and academic training to selected youngsters from kindergarten through (eventually) 12th grade. Aaron Flagg spoke about Juilliard's Music Advancement Program (MAP) and its outreach to underserved populations in the five boroughs. Peter Libman, director of student life at the School of American Ballet, gave a succinct description of the rigorous instruction of the young dancers at this distinguished training ground for the New York City Ballet. S.A.B. was the most professionally channeled school that the delegates encountered.The delegates' reactions to their experience of New York and Juilliard were immediate and favorable. One particularly strong impression at Juilliard was created by the number of Steinway pianos in the building, and the fact that they are all grand pianos. This is a treasure that perhaps we take for granted; the conservatories in China do not have equipment resources such as ours.Our guests attended a Wednesdays at One concert in Alice Tully Hall that was devoted to organ music, as well as the Juilliard Opera Theater production of Puccini's Gianni Schicchi and Richard Wargo's The Music Shop. On their final day in New York, they heard the Pre-College Orchestra's performance of the Stravinsky Violin Concerto and Leonard Bernstein's Suite from West Side Story. They were greatly impressed by the high standards of all the performances.Not every moment was serious. I took the delegates on a walking tour of Lower Manhattan that included a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, photography from the Brooklyn Heights Esplanade, and a deli dinner at Junior's. Andy and I also hosted the delegates for the aforementioned Thanksgiving dinner that provided the opportunity to enjoy an American tradition.Small and large impressions emerged from our activities together: The delegates noted the absence of government funding for the arts in this country, the international makeup of Juilliard's student body, the huge variety of ethnic and national restaurants in America, the openness of American schools to their surrounding communities, and the potability of tap water.The delegates remarked on the approachability of American administrators, and were also struck by the fact that many also continue their performing as artists and teachers. They were impressed that their first encounter with President Polisi was in the cafeteria, where he was bussing his own tray. Later, at the official greeting in the boardroom, Dr. Polisi gave the delegates signed copies of his recently published book, The Artist as Citizen, underscoring a notion that they had encountered everywhere on their visit to Juilliard: that the arts do not exist in a vacuum, but rather that artists must have a leadership role in shaping the values of our society.Howard L. Kessler is a member of the Pre-College Parents' Association.
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