Shanghai Conservatory of Music is the founder and incubator of modern professional music education in China, and one of the first “Double First Class” universities in the country. As an outstanding representative of Chinese music education, it enjoys a high reputation both at home and abroad and is known as the “cradle of musicians”.
The Shanghai Conservatory of Music, formerly known as the National Conservatory of Music, was founded by Mr. Cai Yuanpei and Mr. Xiao Youmei on November 27, 1927 in Shanghai. Its first president, Mr. Cai Yuanpei, was the first independent national higher music institution in China. With the educational philosophy of “supporting the West and establishing the Middle School, integrating application into practice”, it established the professional system and disciplinary framework for professional music education in China. Since 1956, it has been renamed as a key university directly under the Ministry of Culture and is now a jointly established university by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Shanghai Municipality. In 2017, it was listed as one of the first batch of “Double First Class” universities in China and selected as a high-level local university construction school in Shanghai.
Current Party Secretary Pei Xiaoqian and Dean Liao Changyong. There are currently departments including Composition and Conducting, Musicology, Orchestra, Vocal Opera, Piano, Ethnic Music, Music Education, Music Engineering, Art Management, Modern Instrumental and Percussion, Music Drama, Digital Media, Marxism, and Public Foundation. There are currently 2841 full-time students, 517 faculty members, 317 full-time teachers, 75 international students, and 720 students from affiliated high schools and primary schools.
Over the past 97 years of operation, Shanghai Conservatory of Music has adhered to the mission of “cultivating specialized talents in music, importing world music on one hand, and organizing national music on the other, aiming to move towards unity and cultivate the consciousness and art of national beauty and harmony”. Adhering to the school motto and regulations of “Harmony, Perseverance, and Sincerity”, it has always been closely related to the fate of the country and the nation, always standing at the forefront of the development of music and art. It has established and continuously improved the education system and mode of Chinese professional music and art, taken on the responsibility of leading the development direction of Chinese professional music, accumulated a vast and profound historical heritage, formed a distinctive cultural tradition, produced many famous teachers, produced numerous masterpieces, and cultivated several generations of outstanding Chinese music leaders, contributing to the cause of Chinese music education. Made significant contributions to cultural development.
Our college has a complete disciplinary system and is the earliest professional music college in China to have three first level doctoral programs in music and dance, art theory, and drama and film studies. It has formed a comprehensive music discipline system driven by four wheels: music creation, music performance, music theory, and music application. In the fourth round of subject evaluation by the Ministry of Education in 2017, our college’s “Music and Dance Studies” received an A+rating and tied for first place in the country; Art Theory “received a B+rating and ranked in the top 20% nationwide; Drama and Film Studies received a B rating and ranked in the top 30% of the country. In the first national professional degree level evaluation in 2018, our college was awarded an A+in the art (music) category. Continuously achieving excellence in the fifth round of disciplinary evaluation in 2023. The school covers undergraduate education and graduate education (master’s and doctoral), with two postdoctoral research stations and affiliated middle and primary schools. It has established a “large, medium, small” integrated art talent training system with Chinese characteristics.
Our college adheres to the strategy of high-quality education and the teaching tradition of “valuing foundation, strict teaching, being proficient in practice, and being good at summarizing”. We have produced several generations of outstanding Chinese composers, music theorists, performing artists, and teaching masters, such as Xiao Youmei, Huang Zi, He Luting, Tan Shuzhen, Wei Zhongle, Ding Shande, Qian Renkang, Ma Geshun, Zhou Xiaoyan, Hu Dengtiao, Gao Zhilan, Sang Tong, Cai Danzhuoma, Yu Lina, Liao Changyong, etc., and have produced a number of influential classic works and nationally recognized professional textbooks. Many graduates have become leaders and backbone talents in major orchestras and music institutions around the world. Since the reform and opening up, students from Shanghai Conservatory of Music, represented by Liao Changyong, Xu Shuya, Li Jian, Song Siheng, Huang Mengla, Yang Guang, Shen Yang, Sun Yingdi, Wang Zhizhu, Wang Jue, Yu Guanqun, Chen Musheng, Shen Ziyu, etc., have repeatedly won awards in world-class events such as the Toulouse International Vocal Competition, Domingo Vocal Competition, Besang รง on International Composition Competition, Margaret Long International Piano Competition, BBC Cardiff International Vocal Competition, Paganini International Violin Competition, Liszt International Piano Competition, Menuhin International Violin Competition, Tchaikovsky International Youth Cello Competition, Totis International Violin Competition, etc., contributing to the country’s success in composition, vocal, piano, and string music. Winning glory. At the same time, the teachers and students of Shanghai Conservatory of Music have repeatedly won the highest level music awards in China, such as the Golden Bell Award, Wenhua Award, CCTV TV Competition, and the “Five One Project”.
Our institution adheres to a people-centered creative orientation, and our teachers and students have created a large number of music masterpieces that represent China and influence the world. In recent years, a large number of original works such as symphonies “Chasing Dreams on the Silk Road”, “Ode to the Yellow Emperor”, “Bright Red Sun”, “Shikumen Rhapsody”, operas “He Luting” and “Kangding Love Song”, musicals “Sea Sound”, “Dreams in Tang Xianzu”, “Spring Shanghai 1949” and “Loyalty” have received funding from the National Arts Fund or been selected for symphony works exhibitions by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Musicians Association. A number of major research projects have been approved by the National Social Science Fund, the National Social Science Fund for Arts, and the National Cultural Innovation Project, and have received dozens of provincial and ministerial level projects and awards. On average, more than 400 art practices and concerts are held every year, and the “Shanghai Spring” International Music Festival is hosted. Various concerts are held on world-class platforms in more than 20 countries, singing the “voice of China”.
Our institute has a number of platforms that integrate teaching, performance, and artistic innovation, including creation centers, art centers, research centers, and performance groups. We have a national core academic journal “Music Art”, a highland of Chinese music discipline “He Luting Chinese Music Higher Research Institute”, a music library with rich historical literature and archive collections, a flexible music and art research institute, a Shanghai Conservatory of Music Press that continuously releases high-level academic achievements, a national ethnic unity and progress education base “Oriental Musical Instrument Museum”, a cultural achievement incubation and social service platform “Shanghai Music and Art Development Collaborative Innovation Center”, and a professional opera house with international first-class acoustic conditions “Shangyin Opera House”.
Our institution is currently a member of the European Music Schools Alliance and the Pacific Rim Music Schools Alliance, and has signed strategic cooperation agreements with 33 world-class or top tier music schools from over 20 countries and regions, including the Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of Music, Berklee College of Music, Yale University School of Music, Royal Academy of Music, Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts in Austria, Hamburg University of Music and Drama in Germany, Paris National Higher School of Music and Dance in France, and Tchaikovsky Institute in Russia. We have also established in-depth intercollegiate cooperation with 11 of these schools, including the Shanghai Conservatory of Music Royal Academy, Shanghai Conservatory of Music Berkeley Modern Music Academy, Shanghai Conservatory of Music Hamburg Advanced Performance Talent Training Mechanism, and Shanghai Conservatory International Chamber Music Center. Successfully held international music events such as the 42nd World Congress of the International Society of Traditional Music (ICTM) and the 43rd International Computer Music Conference (ICMC).
Renowned composers Sheng Zongliang, Tristan Mikhail, Tan Dun, Chen Qigang, Chen Xiaoyong, conductors Simon Rattle and Seiji Ozawa, violinists Piencus Zuckerman, Yitzhak Perlman, Wattin Repin, Midori, and Ning Feng, pianists Leon Fleischer and Fu Cong, cellists Ma Youyou, Misha Maski, Qin Liwei, and vocal singer Renee Fleming have been appointed as honorary and guest professors at our institute.
On November 27, 2017, our institute, together with 15 world-class music and art schools from 13 countries and regions including the United States and the United Kingdom, and 10 music schools in China, jointly released the “International Discipline Evaluation Indicators for Music and Dance” and signed the “Shanghai Consensus on Excellent Music Education”, providing the “Chinese solution” for global music discipline evaluation standards.
Efforts will be made to cultivate top-notch innovative artistic talents who are both virtuous and artistic, possess both red and professional skills, have an international perspective, and have comprehensive development, in order to continuously strive for the early establishment of a world-class higher professional music institution with Chinese characteristics!