TIANJIN -- Construction of a Chinese campus for New York's renowned Juilliard School started in Tianjin Thursday.

As Juilliard School's first overseas campus, the Tianjin Juilliard School is scheduled to open in the autumn of 2019 in North China's Tianjin municipality. Construction should be completed by the end of 2018.

The Tianjin campus of the Juilliard School would be built by the Haihe River and offer college preparatory courses and non-academic music training, said Zheng Weiming, an official with the administrative committee of central business district, Tianjin's Binhai New Area.

Zheng said that the school was expected to stage more than 150 music concerts a year, which will be open to the public.

He said the Juilliard School would also cooperate with Tianjin Conservatory to set up Tianjin Conservatory-Juilliard Academy to provide master's degree courses.

The Juilliard School was founded in 1905 and specializes in performing arts education. Its alumni have won numerous world-class musical awards, including Grammy, Tony and Emmy Awards.

Approved by the Chinese Ministry of Education in 2015, the Juilliard School's programs in Tianjin are the first collaboration between Chinese and foreign conservatories.