Peng's efforts of promoting communication between the Juilliard School and China date back two years, when she visited the school on Sept 28, 2015 while accompanying President Xi on his state visit to the US.

"Peng worked with one of our students who sang a Chinese folk song in Chinese. She is a musician and a music educator. It was a magical and unique moment to have the first lady with us," Polisi said in an earlier interview with China Daily.

During Peng's visit, Polisi announced the school will launch its first overseas campus in China, the Tianjin Juilliard School, scheduled to open September 2019.

The Tianjin Juilliard School will offer US-accredited full-time master's degrees in orchestral performance, chamber music performance and collaborative piano. It will also offer part-time programs for pre-college students, adult education and public performances.

In June, Polisi was in Tianjin for the school’s groundbreaking ceremony in the Tianjin Binhai New Area.

The Juilliard School, founded in New York in 1905, has trained some of the world's most well-renowned performing artists, including Van Cliburn, Renee Fleming and Yo-Yo Ma.

The Juilliard School has enrolled students from China since the 1920s. Now, 30 percent of the students at the Juilliard School in New York are from outside the US and students from China form the largest single group of overseas students in the school. There are about 70 students from China at present, most in the music division.