The "International Symposium on Chinese Music research in China and Overseas—Rethinking of Chinese Music Research as a Global Discipline " organized by School of Music at Nanjing Normal University was held on the Suiyuan Campus on November 4th and 5th, 2023.

      Guests and speakers included experts from internationally prestigious universities such as University of Michigan, National Cook University of Ireland, University of British Columbia, McLeister College, University of Pittsburgh, Central University of Korea. Scholars from the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and National Taiwan University, as well as Mainland top music schools such as the Central Conservatory of Music, China Conservatory of Music, Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Wuhan Conservatory of Music, and Nanjing Normal University, Sichuan Normal University, Yunnan Normal University also attended the Symposium.

      In the conference, all the experts were active in reviewing the history of Chinese music studies, analyzing the current research status and making a prospect for further development. The conference also held a global premiere ceremony for the book Oxford Handbook: Chinese and Overseas Chinese Music, a newly published monograph by Oxford University Press, which collects the latest achievements of 23 world-famous leading scholars focusing on Chinese music.

 

 

       Yue Song, Vice President of Nanjing Normal University, attended the opening ceremony of the conference and delivered a welcoming speech. He expressed his sincerest welcome to the attendance of experts and scholars domestically and internationally, and warmly congratulated on the successful opening of the conference. Yue also expressed that NNU School of Music is holding such extensive international academic exchange and collaborative research in hopes of improving the level of the research on Chinese music so that it can be further protected, inherited and promoted. He hopes to explore new experience in the process of building modern Chinese civilization and make new glorious achievements of Chinese culture. 

        The opening ceremony was hosted by Professor Zhao Yanhui, Dean of the School of Music，Nanjing Normal University, and the following symposium was hosted by Yuhui, an academician of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts as well as the winner of a national major talent project.

       During the five sessions of seminars within two days, dozens of experts and scholars from both China and overseas were engaged in the heated academic discussions on the topics anchored in the aim of "promoting international exchange and cooperation in Chinese music research", "promoting innovation and development of Chinese music", and "enhancing the construction level of Chinese music discipline".

       Jonathan Stock, world-famous Chinese music researcher, professor at University College Cork in Ireland, Joseph Lam, professor at the University of Michigan in the United States and Frederick Lau, professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong delivered keynote speeches titled "New Directions In Chinese Music Research:Multi-Disiplinarity ‘IN-BETWEENNESS And Engagement’ , "Ideal and Practical Difficulties in Writing a History of Poetry and Music: My Personal Experience", and "Thinking Beyond Chinese Music". They proposed new academic insights from different dimensions : the past, the present, and the future of Chinese music research，sharing their most advanced academic concepts.

       Dr. Mercedes Dujunco from the University of Science and Technology of Hong Kong, Dr. Huib Schippers, Chairman of the International Society for Traditional Music and Applied Ethnomusic Music, Professor Chuen-Fung Wong from Macalester College in the USA, Dr. German Gil Curiel from National Cook University in Ireland, Professor Chun In Pyong from Central University of Korea, Dr. Carrie Lau from the University of British Columbia in Canada, Dr. Wu Ben from the University of Pittsburgh in the United States, Professor Zhang Boyu from the Central Conservatory of Music, Professor Du Yaxiong from the China Conservatory of Music and Dr. Gisa Jähnichen from Shanghai Conservatory of Music conducted insightful and inspiring discussions on various themes such as the longitudinal development of Chinese music research at home and abroad, the disciplinary connotation of Chinese music, as well as new research on Chinese music.

       According to the symposium agenda, the participating experts and scholars including Yu Hui, Frederick Lau, Mercedes Dujunc and Wang Min also held a round table to focus on the topic of "Rethinking of Chinese Music Research as a Global Discipline", which became the highlight of the symposium. The four scholars shared the similar academic experience of studying in the United States at the end of last century and they are all awarded doctoral degrees in ethnomusicology in the United States. They now are faculties in ethnomusicology at four different universities in Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong respectively. As contemporaries, they shared their views on how to take the challenges of globalization as well as how to further Chinese music research respectively based on their personal experiences of education，teaching and research.

       This symposium provides new ideas and methods for future development of Chinese music, which is of great significance for preserving and inheriting excellent traditional Chinese culture as well as flourishing the undertakings of Chinese music development. NNU School of Music will continue to conduct more studies and researches on Chinese music in the future, and mange to realize the normalization of international communications and discussions, making important contributions to the construction of a "first-class university with distinctive characteristics and international influence".