The Shanghai Conservatory of Music (SHCMusic) is a municipal public college in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, China. It is affiliated with the City of Shanghai and is part of the

Double First-Class Construction The World First-Class Universities and First-Class Academic Disciplines Construction (), together known as Double First-Class Construction (), is a higher education development and sponsorship scheme of the Chinese central government, initiated ...

. The college was founded on November 27, 1927. The Shanghai Conservatory of Music ranked 10th in

Music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

and 30th in

Performing Arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

in the world by the 2024

QS World University Rankings The ''QS World University Rankings'' is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with '' Times ...

by subject.

History

The Shanghai Conservatory of Music is a music institute famous at home and abroad. It grew out of the National Conservatory of Music （''Guoli yinyueyuan'' 国立音乐院）, which was established by

Cai Yuanpei Cai Yuanpei (; 1868–1940) was a Chinese philosopher and politician who was an influential figure in the history of Chinese modern education. He made contributions to education reform with his own education ideology. He was the president of Peki ...

on November 27, 1927. Dr. Xiao Youmei (Shio Yiu-mei) was the director of the new school and curriculum. His teachings were based on the Leipzig Conservatory of Music, where he graduated. It was one of the first institutions of higher learning of modern music in China. It was considered the premiere institution for Western music learning. Professors came from as far as

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Several of the original professors were recruited from Russian emigres who had fled the Russian civil war (1918-1922) to China. It was renamed several times: National Training School of Music (1929), Branch of National Conservatory of Music (1943), Shanghai National Training School of Music (1945), Shanghai and Huadong Branches of Chinese Conservatory of Music (early 1950s). It received its current name in 1956.

Programs

The Shanghai Conservatory of Music consists of 4 departments. It involves six disciplines and 23 sub-disciplines, some traditional, the others newly developed. The conservatory supports a high-level music research institute, a specialized music library with a large collection, a first-class museum of Asian instruments, and a unique music publishing house. A six-year secondary school and a three-year elementary section were established in 1953 and 1956 to prepare better candidates for tertiary education, thus forming a self-contained system with a complete curriculum of music and academic education. Three art centers integrate teaching, performing and scientific research: Zhou Xiaoyan International Opera Center, International String Academy, and International Piano Art Center. The conservatory has established six performing groups: Symphony Orchestra of Shanghai Conservatory of Music, New Ensemble, String Quartet, Percussion Ensemble, National Music Orchestra and Choir. Shanghai Conservatory of Music maintains close relationships with many first-class conservatories and famous musicians, including collaborations with schools in the US, France, UK, Russia, Netherlands, Australia, Austria, Germany and Japan. Many internationally well-known musicians such as

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Ukraine, Stern moved to the United States when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union a ...

Itzhak Perlman Itzhak Perlman (; born August 31, 1945) is an Israeli-American violinist. He has performed worldwide and throughout the United States, in venues that have included a state dinner for Elizabeth II at the White House in 2007, and at the First ina ...

, Yuri Shishkin,

Leon Fleisher Leon Fleisher (July 23, 1928 – August 2, 2020) was an American classical pianist, conductor and pedagogue. He was one of the most renowned pianists and pedagogues in the world. Music correspondent Elijah Ho called him "one of the most re ...

Pinchas Zukerman Pinchas Zukerman (; born 16 July 1948) is an Israeli-American violinist, violist and conductor. Life and career Zukerman was born in Tel Aviv, to Jewish parents and Holocaust survivors Yehuda and Miriam Lieberman Zukerman. He began his musica ...

Seiji Ozawa was a Japanese conductor known internationally for his work as music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and especially the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), where he served from 1973 for 29 years. After cond ...

Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle (born 19 January 1955) is a British conductor with German citizenship. He rose to international prominence during the 1980s and 1990s, while music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1980–1998). Rat ...

Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian Cello, cellist and conducting, conductor. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was well known for both inspiring and commissioning new works, which enl ...

, and

Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma (born October 7, 1955) is a French-born American Cello, cellist. Born to Chinese people, Chinese parents in Paris, he was regarded as a child prodigy there and began to study the cello with his father at age four. At the age of seven, ...

have served as honorary or guest professors.

Rankings and reputation

As of 2021, Shanghai Conservatory of Music ranked no.4 nationwide among universities specialized in Arts in the recognized

Best Chinese Universities Ranking The Best Chinese Universities Ranking (BCUR) is a domestic ranking table of Chinese institutions of higher education. It is compiled by Shanghai Ruanke, the same agency that is behind the Academic Ranking of World Universities The ''Acad ...

and ranked the best in China in the "Music and Dance" subject. Shanghai Conservatory of Music is regarded as the most prestigious music and arts school in China. It ranked 2nd in China after (the

Central Academy of Drama The Central Academy of Drama () is a national public drama school in Beijing, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education (China), Ministry of Education. The academy is part of the Double First-Class Construction. Information The sch ...

in Beijing) and 43rd in the world by the 2022

. It ranked 10th in

and 30th in

in the world by the 2024

by subject.

Departments

Degree awarding departments

Other departments

* General Education * School of Marxism * Secondary Professional Music School Affiliated to Shanghai Conservatory of Music

Directors of the Conservatory

蔡元培 (1927-1928) * Xiao Youmei 萧友梅 (1928-1940) * Li Weining 李惟宁 (1940-1945) * Dai Cuilun 戴粹伦 (1945-1949) * He Luting 贺绿汀 (1949-1984) * Sang Tong 桑桐 (acting, 1984-1986) * Sang Tong 桑桐 (1986-1991) * Jiang Mingdun 江明惇 (1991-2000) * Yang Liqing 杨立青 (2000-2009) * Xu Shuya 许舒亚 (2009-2014) * Lin Zaiyong 林在勇 (2015-2018) *

Liao Changyong Prof. Liao Changyong (; born October 25, 1968), sometimes referred in English media as C. Y. Liao or Changyong Liao, is a Chinese operatic baritone and academic. He won first prize in three different international competitions in 1996 and 1997: ...

廖昌永 (2019-)

Faculty and student body

The conservatory has 50 professors and 120 associate professors. There are approximately 1,200 students.

Notable faculty and alumni

Faculty

Huang Tzu Huang Tzu (; 23 March 1904 - 9 May 1938), courtesy name Jinwu (), was a Chinese composer of the early 20th century. Life Huang was born in Chuansha, Shanghai, during the final years of the Qing Dynasty. His father Huang Hongpei was a factory man ...

(1904-1938), composer * He Luting (1903-1999), composer, alumnus and former president of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. The main music hall on campus was later named after him. *

Ding Shande Ding Shande (; November 12, 1911 – December 8, 1995) was a Chinese composer, pianist, and music teacher. Biography Ding was born in Kunshan, Jiangsu. He studied music with teachers including Huang Tzu at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. D ...

(1911-1995), composer, alumnus and former vice president of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music * Zhou Xiaoyan (1917-2016), operatic soprano, former vice president of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music * Wen Kezheng (1929-2007), operatic bass, former Director of the Department of Vocal Music and Opera * Zhu Jian'er (1922-2017), Chinese symphonic composer and songwriter * Vladimir Shushlin (1896-1978), Russian vocal teacher *

, operatic baritone, alumnus and the president of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music * Ying Huang, operatic soprano, alumnus and professor at the Department of Vocal Music and Opera * Yingdi Sun, pianist, alumnus and the deputy director of the Department of Piano *

He Xuntian He Xuntian ( zh, s= 何训田, t= 何訓田, p=Hé Xùntián; born in 1952 in Suining, Sichuan) is a composer and professor of music composition at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Biography In 1982, he graduated from the Compositio ...

, composer, alumnus and professor at the Department of Composition and Conducting

Alumni

* Lü Ji - composer of revolutionary music * Yi-Kwei Sze - bass-baritone * Wang Jianzhong - composer and pianist *

Min Huifen Min Huifen (; 1945 – 12 May 2014) was a performer of the erhu, a traditional Chinese bowed string instrument, and a composer. She was considered the undisputed master of the instrument, nicknamed the "Queen of Erhu". She composed some of her o ...

- erhu musician *

Muhai Tang Muhai Tang (; born 1949 in Shanghai) is a Chinese conductor. He is the youngest son of celebrated Chinese film director Tang Xiaodan and brother of painter and poet Tang Muli. Tang initially learned music with his parents, and later studied ...

- conductor *

Jianyi Zhang Jianyi Zhang (张建一 in Chinese) is an American operatic tenor of Chinese birth. A graduate of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the Juilliard School, he has had an active international career in concerts and operas since the mid-1980s. In ...

- operatic tenor * Wei Song - operatic tenor * Rui Shi Zhuo - composer * Jampa Tsering - singer and dancer * Yang Erche Namu - writer and singer * Jian Wang - cellist *

Yu Long Yu Long (; born July 1, 1964) is a Chinese conductor. He is currently artistic director and chief conductor of the China Philharmonic and of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, and principal gu ...

- conductor *

Liu Fang Liu Fang 1974) is a Chinese Canadians, Chinese–Canadian musician who is one of the most prominent ''pipa'' players in the world. Described in the media as the "empress of pipa" (''L'actualité''), "divine mediator" (World), "the greates ...

- pipa musician * Jiaxin Cheng - cellist * Du Yun - composer, performer, performance artist *

Shenyang Shenyang,; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly known as Fengtian formerly known by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a sub-provincial city in China and the list of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Liaonin ...

- bass-baritone * Yu Di - singer * Chang Shilei - singer, music producer and songwriter * Yu Guanqun - operatic soprano * Chen Zhiyi - composer and music producer * Ying Fang - operatic soprano * Mei Gui Zhang - operatic soprano * Cai Chengyu - operatic tenor * Zhou Yi - pipa musician

References

* Shen, Sinyan. ''Chinese Music in the 20th Century (Chinese Music Monograph Series)''. 2001. Chinese Music Society of North America Press. .

External links

Shanghai Conservatory of Music website
(in Chinese)
Shanghai Conservatory of Music website
(in English)

English)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shanghai Conservatory of Music Universities and colleges in Shanghai Music schools in China Culture in Shanghai 1927 establishments in Shanghai