New York's Juilliard School will launch its first overseas campus for music education in the northern Chinese municipality of Tianjin by 2018.

The Tianjin Juilliard School will be located at the Tianjin Conservatory of Music in Binhai New Area, where a 45-minute ride via high-speed rail can bring people from Beijing to the campus.

Founded in 1905, the Juilliard School is a world leader in performing arts education and has been enrolling students from China since the 1920s.

It has over 60 Chinese students now and more than 300 alumni from China.

Chinese First Lady Peng Liyuan accompanied Chinese President Xi Jinping on a state visit to the United States in September and visited the Juilliard School at its Lincoln Center campus, where she attended a performance class and the inauguration of the school's branch in Tianjin.

"It's unique that a person of her stature is involved in the arts," said Joseph W. Polisi, President of the Juilliard School. "It was a great honor to have the Chinese First Lady here."

Juilliard is defining new directions in global performing arts education for learners and enthusiasts through the Tianjin Juilliard School, President Polisi told Xinhua in an interview on Tuesday.

"China has a great atmosphere of Western classical music with millions of children studying piano and violin, and we find it very engaging," said President Polisi, explaining why Juilliard chose China as its only overseas campus.

Xu Changjun, President of Tianjin Conservatory of Music, believes that Tianjin Juilliard School will become a cultural hub, attracting students from around the world.

According to President Polisi, the Tianjin Juilliard School will include pre-college, postgraduate, instrumental training and adult education programs, and it plans to recruit 240 graduate students.

"My teachers brought me the beauty of music and humanities education, and we visit hospitals, nursing homes and schools to teach and perform on a weekly basis," said Wang Jian, a Juilliard graduate and now a violin professor at the School of Music at Soochow University in China.

Juilliard's world-class faculty will rotate to Tianjin on a regular basis, presenting master courses and workshops to students. Graduates from Juilliard School and artists from around the world will also be invited to teach at the Tianjin Juilliard School.

Meanwhile, Juilliard Imagination, an audience-engagement space, will be opened on the campus, offering a digital display area where people can virtually conduct an orchestra. It will also offer an annual season of performing arts and education activities.

"We hope that people can feel the great joy that comes from Western music through courses and interactive exhibits," President Polisi said.

His first visit to China was in 1987, when the Juilliard orchestra toured in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

"It was the first time for most of the audience to enjoy a live performance," said Polisi. "We are going to present a community of music this time."