TIANJIN, June 28 (Xinhua) -- New York's world-renowned Juilliard School is to set up its first overseas institution, with plans announced to open a pre-college school in north China's coastal city of Tianjin.

It will be established in Yujiapu Financial District in Tianjin and run by Juilliard, according to a framework agreement signed on Wednesday by the Juilliard School, the Tianjin Innovative Finance Investment Co. Ltd., the Tianjin Municipal Education Commission and the Tianjin Conservatory of Music.

The college-preparatory school will cater for students aged between eight and 18. It will also provide symphony and chamber music courses for music college graduates, according to Joseph W. Polisi, president of the Juilliard School.

Polisi said he envisaged the institution as a talent center of performing arts education for the whole of East Asia and a place all performing artists in the world to look forward to visiting.

The Juilliard School was founded in 1905, and had 846 students from 42 countries in 2010. Its alumni have collectively won more than 105 Grammy Awards, 62 Tony Awards and 47 Emmy Awards.