Shanghai Conservatory of Music, China / 上海音樂學院

Shanghai Conservatory of Music, China / 上海音樂學院

The Shanghai Conservatory of Music (上海音樂學院) was founded on November 27, 1927, as the first music institution of higher education in China. Its teachers and students have won awards at home and abroad, thus earning the conservatory the name "the cradle of musicians." It is a Chinese state Double First Class University.

As of 2021, Shanghai Conservatory of Music ranked no.4 nationwide among universities specialized in Arts in the recognized Best Chinese Universities Ranking and ranked the best in China in the "Music and Dance" subject .

The Shanghai Conservatory of Music is a music institute famous at home and abroad. It grew out of the National Conservatory of Music, which was established by Cai Yuanpei 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 and France. 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.

The Shanghai Conservatory of Music consists of 13 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, Itzhak Perlman, Yuri Shishkin, Leon Fleisher, Pinchas Zukerman, Seiji Ozawa, Simon Rattle, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Yo-Yo Ma have served as honorary or guest professors.