CHIME Newsletter No.20, 22 December 2015
Newslettter of CHIME, European Foundation for Chinese Music Research
[www.chimemusic.nl]
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CHIME NEWS
Lively 19th Chime in Geneva – looking back at a wonderful event
Unexpected encounters, cheerful memories, remarkable new insights-many of us had something to cherish after this
autumns Chime meeting in Geneva on The New Face of Chinese Music. Roughly one hundred scholars, musicians
and afficionados of Chinese music gathered in the prestigious concert hall of the Haute Ecole de Musique on
Wednesday 21 October 2015 for a fourday conference on new developments in Chinese music. They joined panels,
discussions, paper sessions or concerts devoted to the topic of where is Chinese music going. They argued about the
fine dividing lines between Kunst and Kitsch, between genuine tradition and commercial entertainment, between yesterday
and tomorrow. Naturally no absolute answers emerged from this meeting, but the paper sessions, debates and films
offered plenty of food for thought. Fifteen brief film clips with statements by prominent composers, musicians and music
scholars from China which served as interesting eye-openers during the meeting can now be watched on the Chime
website (check here).
For a generous selection of photos of the conference (mostly taken by Liu Qian), check here.
[READ MORE]
In their opening speeches on Wednesday, Conservatory Director Philippe Dinkel and Vice Rector of the University of
Geneva Micheline Louis Courvoisier stressed the international prestige of Geneva, a city that serves as a major platform
for the United Nations and numerous other international political bodies. It seemed a good environment for a discussion
on Chinese music in international perspective.
As Frank Kouwenhoven, Director of CHIME, argued in his speech, China is, for most westerners, no longer a mere exotic,
remote and isolated realm in far away Asia; it has become a major player in world politics, an economic power to be reckoned
with, and the question is why, culturally speaking, a country of such dimensions has not been able to assert itself in equal measure
on the international stage. Pianists like Lang Lang and Wang Yuja may have put China musically on the map, but they did so in
the realm of western classical music, not with repertoires that sprouted from Chinese soil. So why is it that westerners are hardly
familiar with any pop or jazz or world artists from China? Why can a country that so generously promotes its own major opera
troupes abroad not boast of any Chinese opera artists who have risen to international fame?
Paradoxically, the only musical realm where China does manage to assert itself internationally is that of avant-garde compositions,
with composers like Tan Dun, Guo Wenjing, Chen Qigang, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Xu Shuya, Jia Guoping and others attracting
worldwide attention among aficionados of new music. However, these artists operate in a musical realm once again rooted
primarily in idioms of western art music. New compositions from China may borrow amply from Chinese tradition, but they
cannot claim to take a central place within Chinas own cultural life. There is a sizeable pop music scene in China, but its
mainstream performers seem to have little or no impact abroad, not even within wider Asia. By contrast, the pop music of some
of the countrys smaller East Asian neighbours, notably South Korea, is having a considerable impact on Chinese listeners. So
what is it that accounts for this remarkable imbalance?
Certainly not any lack of talent, or inability on the Chinese side to innovate or to engage in interesting fusions with other cultures.
In her presentation on Chinese music overseas, Helen Rees (UCLA) pointed at the remarkable cultural flexibility and cross-cultural enterpreneurship of diasporic communities from China in the USA and Europe in recent decades, with the Chinese
making their presence felt far more clearly than in the past.
The ins and outs of such contrasts, between ow and hen, or between inside and outside China, were debated at length in
this years edition of the annual Chime conference. Naturally there was room to explore the ongoing exchange between East
and West (as in fine presentations by Barbara Mittler, Hon-Lun Yang and Robert Zollitsch), and there were in-depth
explorations of numerous urban and rural, modern and ancient, rurals and ritual traditions, not least a wonderful film portrait
by Stephen Jones of Folk Daoist Li Manshan. The film shows how folk Daoist rituals in a village in north Shanxi have changed
meaning and shape over a period of more than two decades. At times hillarious, at times shocking, the film documents the
daily concerns of a man committed to serving his community in magnificent local funeral rituals. Quite regardless of the major
social and cultural shifts which utterly transform the village world around him, Li Mansha plods on and sticks to the traditions
of his ancestors, in so far as the villagers are willing to continue their support for these time-honoured rituals. The camera
registers Lis actions objectively, yet compassionate, and entirely sympathetic to the man.
A similarly powerful analytical film shown at Chime Geneva was Frank Scheffers The Inner Landscape, a portrait of composer
Guo Wenjing, a native of Sichuan Province. Guo is teaching contemporary music in Beijing. In the film we see him revisiting his
native province, and cooperating with local Sichuan opera artists, trying to find a new format for his favourite traditional opera
style, so that he can present and convey the qualities of hardcore chuanju to audiences of new music in China and abroad.
The film gives ample room to traditional Sichuan opera actors to tell about the difficulties they face in keeping their old art alive.
Rural troupes barely manage to find enough funds and public interest to sustain their repertoire and art, and their efforts to make
both ends meet are endearing and, at times, heartbreaking.
It would hardly be possible to list in a short report on the Geneva meeting all the panels and presentations of interest. With nearly
seventy (!) speakers, ten discussion panels, twenty short and long films, and seven concert recitals and workshops, there was
simply too much to chew on, and this was probably one of the finest and richest editions of Chime so far. The topical scope
ranged from village music to music of the ancient court, from conservatory style classical compositions to jazz and rock.
Nimrod Baranovovitch (University of Haifa) presented an intriguing portrait of ethnic pop musicians who earn success with
critical songs about environmental problems. This issue was neatly echoed in a presentation by Cheng Zhiyi (Shanghai
Conservatory) on concerts in Shanghai by Mongolian artists touching on the same theme. Environmental issues are a major cause
for concern in China, and artistically a new window of opportunity, perhaps, since the territory is still open to public criticism,
and also a possible way for artists to assert their individuality in strong and appealing ways.
Remarkably, the number of papers touching on Chinese opera –except one fine panel on Chinese and Vietnamese theatre,
led by Catherine Capdeville-Zeng – was surprisingly small. Is this cornerstone of Chinese music no longer en vogue? By contrast,
pop music and avant-garde were amply represented, with many analytical papers, and several prominent Chinese composers
introducing their own works or joining a discussion panel. Kansas City-based composer Zhou Long delivered a keynote on his
artistic path to the Pulitzer-prize winning opera Madame White Snake (2011), of which excerpts were shown.
Wen Deqing, Wang Ying (both from Shanghai) and Lam Bun-ching (New York/Paris) discussed the many different paths
open to contemporary composers with a native Chinese background. Ulrich Mosch asked pertinent questions about the need
(or absence of a need) to create Chinese sounds. A revealing comment came from Lam Bun-ching, who stated her readiness
to follow different impulses at different times, as she felt no urge be rigid on the topic of Chinese identity: I am a woman, so
should my music sound like a woman?
Participants in the Chime meeting had ample opportunity to test the composers viewpoints. There were fine performances
of music for string quartet by Zhou Long, by the young and vigorous Geneva Conservatory String Quartet, who managed
to get to the very heart of this music. Further excellent contributions were offered by pipa player Yu Lingling (equally at
home in traditional pieces and in modern works by Zhou Long, Lam Bunching and Johannes Gross), and pianist François
Xavier Poizat (who delivered a truly unforgettable interpretation of Chen Peixuns over-familiar Autumn moon on a calm
lake). There was more new music during relaxed qin recitals by Tse Chun-yan (Hong Kong), Dai Xiaolian and two of her
best students, Lu Xiaozi and Simon Debierre, from Shanghai. A lovely film by Mariam Goormagthigh of qin players in
Hong Kong added an extra dimension to this. Cai Yayi and her colleagues from Quanzhou played delicate nanyin, and,
on the other (very loud) end of the spectrum, the members of the rural band Yi Jia Ren played rowdy shawm tunes
which must have shaken the very foundations of the Conservatorys old concert hall, once a venue for the likes of
Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt... Roaring music, entertaining and amusing to some, but perhaps too close to mainstream
conservatory-style polished folk music in the ears of others. Maybe the point to make is that these musicians were not
raised in any conservatory system. They arrived at this style entirely on their own account, and polished their local traditions
in their own, inimitable ways, also adding – but unfortunately this was not available in their Geneva concert – instruments like
synthesizer, trombone and saxophone.
There was peace of mind during a lovely gala dinner at Geneva Universitys Confucius Institute, wonderfully positioned
on the edge of Lac Leman, facing Mont Blanc in the distance. The stars and moon in the sky were reflected in the lake,
and there was yet more music – sweet Italian early baroque songs this time, from Rhaissa Cerquiera and her partner.
Rhaissa had been supervising the administration of the conference, but this was an unexpected surprise from what turned
out to be a wonderful vocalist. Very inspiring, all these chance encounters between lofty southern Chinese balladry,
rowdy peasant shawms, Italian baroque, and more! We really wish to thank organizers Xavier Bouvier, Rhaissa
Cerquiera, Lee Huaqi and their excellent team for the smooth organization, the inspiring ambiance and what has turned
out to be a strong and genuinely heartwarming conference. Plans for further cooperation with Geneva in the realm of
Chinese music continue, and the Institute also continues its own echanges with performers and institutes of higher music
education. We will keep everyone posted!
Call for (written) papers from the CHIME conference in Geneva
Participants in the Geneva meeting interested in offering their presentations for possible publication in the CHIME journal
are kindly requested to submit an edited version of their paper in electronic form to Frank Kouwenhoven at chime＠wxs.nl.
All papers will be judged by the Editorial Board and by two peer referees within three months after submission. Please
provide tables, illustrations and glossaries in separate files, not as part of your main text document. For the style and length
of Chime contributions, you can consult back issues of the journal, e.g. http://www.youblisher.com/p/1080868-Chime-Journal-18-19-2013/. The deadline for submissions to next years journal is 1 July 2016.
CHIME Workshop on Music Education in China, Hamburg (Germany), 17-20 November 2016
From 17 to 20 November 2016, the Confucius Institute at the University of Hamburg and other educational institutes
in that city will join forces with CHIME to launch a workshop on Music Education in China. The idea is a three-day workshop in which a limited number of invited presenters will contribute papers and performances. Most participants
will be self-paid or will need to apply for grants from their own institutions, as with the annual bigger CHIME conferences.
However, since we are at the initial stage of preparing this meeting, we explicitly wish to encourage scholars or musicians
who are interested in joing this meeting (and in presenting a contribution) to contact us and to tell us informally about their
own projects and ideas. (You can get in touch with Frank Kouwenhoven at chime＠wxs.nl, or with Carsten Krause at
carsten.krause＠konfuzius-institut-hamburg.de).
Hamburg seems an eminent location for tackling this topic, due to the concentration of Chinese music students, and the
presence of several academic institutions with close links with China.
[READ MORE]
The workshop will coincide with CHINA TIME 2016, a biennial festival initiated by the City Government of Hamburg.
This festival is going to take place from 7 to 25 November 2016 in Hamburg and will focus specifically on Chinese music.
Further partners in the CHIME workshop initiative include the Hamburg Academy for Music and Theatre (Hochschule
für Musik und Theater and the Hamburg Conservatory (Hamburger Konservatorium). These institutions harbour
substantial numbers of Chinese students and have established long-terms links with institutions in China.
Our idea is a workshop of limited proportions – about 40 participants, with some presenting papers on research, and others giving practical musical demonstrations,
discussing Chinese music teaching methods, concepts and problems. We will look into modern conservatory-style music training (Western as well as Chinese instruments and voice training), but also at musical training in more
traditional frameworks such as opera troupes, traditional master-pupil relationships, and music training in history.
The focus will range from high-level professional training to music teaching in elementary or middle schools, or in private
musical enterprise and amateur circles.
Music education is a rapidly growing territory, certainly in the Peoples Republic. Music departments in universities are
increasingly productive, new conservatories are being founded, and many harbour staggering numbers of students.
Tens of thousands of young musicians receive professional training, graduation exams have been upgraded to match
international standards, new concert venues and music festivals are popping up by the dozens, which provide potential
future public platforms for young talents. But not all is well. Future professional prospects for most young musicians
in China are hardly enticing. The quality and long-term stability of the educational system is endangered by commercial
incentives, the teaching itself can be overtly technical and void of artistic substance, and there are still other problems,
not least the question of how to deal with the countrys vast traditional musical heritage. This remains a hotly debated
issue and, quite often, a minefield of misconceptions and conflicting ideological viewpoints. We look forward to a meeting
where Western and Chinese scholars and musicians join forces and will exchange expertise in this realm, and will
attempt to put all the issues more clearly on the map.
Call for papers: 20th CHIME on Festivals, Los Angeles, 29 March-2 April 2017
The word is out: for the 20th anniversary of the annual international CHIME Conference we have chosen a festive theme
and a festive season – Spring 2017 – and been offered a wonderful venue to match the occasion: the University of California,
Los Angeles. The 20th CHIME meeting will take place there from Wednesday 29 March to Sunday 2 April 2017, under
the auspices of the Department of Ethnomusicology. We invite (and we will give preference to) papers, panels and posters
on the main theme of the meeting, Chinese and East Asian music in Festivals. Additionally, we will invite presentations
about on-going research on other aspects of Chinese and East Asian music.
[READ MORE]
Coastal California, with its local Chinese communities, Mediterranean climate and abundance of regional art festivals,
seems a fitting environment for a celebratory CHIME conference on the topic of Chinese and East Asian music in
Festivals. Festivals are a major framework for a good deal of ceremonial, ritual and calendrical music making in rural
traditional China, and also in Chinas neighbouring countries. But that is not all. Music festivals – of a different, more
modern signature – have become an important part of present-day urban culture in East Asia; and the success of a lot of
Chinese and East Asian music on international stages largely depends on performances in the framework of foreign
art festivals. All these facts have incited us to take up the topic and to examine in more detail the role of Chinese and
East Asian music in festival contexts. We invite papers on any aspect of this theme, and would also like to invite other
suitable proposals and suggestions which could turn this special edition of the annual international CHIME meeting into
a festive and worthy occasion! We look forward to a good cooperation with UCLAs Confucius Institute, and we
have a fine team on the ground to prepare this meeting.
Abstracts of around 300 words are invited for twenty-minute presentations on the conference theme. Proposers may also submit panel sessions of a maximum of 120
minutes (including discussion). In this case, an abstract of around 300 words should detail the focus of the panel
as a whole, with abstracts of 100-200 words for each contribution.
We also explicitly invite proposals for presentations in poster format. We view these as a full-fledged alternative
to panels and individual speeches, and a very effective format to introduce research topics in more depth. The
poster session works a bit like an exhibition or a market, with a crowd moving around freely and individually,
and presenters introducing their research on posters (with photos, graphs, music notations etc), and with the help
of music and film samples on laptops, and with individual explanations at greater length than one could manage within
the standard 20-minute spoken paper format. We expect to reserve a generous timeslot for the poster session
(several hours or one entire afternoon), with no parallel activities taking place. With the number of presenters that
may be coming to this special edition of Chime for Los Angeles, it may also be the only way to ensure that everyone
with interesting data and viewpoints can be accommodated!
The deadline for submission of abstracts is 1 October, 2016. An early acceptance policy will be implemented for
those in need of conference confirmation for grant or visa applications. Papers and (especially) panels addressing
the theme of the conference (while referring to sufficiently specific research) are explicitly encouraged. All abstracts
should be forwarded to the Programme Committee of the 20th Chime meeting, c/o Professor Helen Rees, Department
of Ethnomusicology at UCLA, Email: <hrees＠ucla.edu>
Last call for special Chime volume on Storysinging / storytelling in China
The planned volume of the CHIME journal on Chinese storytelling and storysinging is coming along nicely, with a
growing pile of well-written and substantial papers now lying ready for editing. Not everyone who joined last years
CHIME workshop in Venice on this topic has responded, though, so we would like to make a last concerned
effort to get the remaining excellent speakers on board of the ship! Scholars who did not make it to the event,
but who are interested to contribute, are encouraged to contact us and to submit additional papers. Articles should
not exceed 8,000 words in length. For the style of Chime contributions, please consult back issues of the journal on
the Chime website. We have shifted the deadline to 1 March 2016, since for practical reasons we can only start the
editing process by that date, but that will definitely be the final date for submitting! You can send contributions or
queries to the Editor of CHIME, Frank Kouwenhoven, at chime＠wxs.nl
Two-day joint CCCM/CHIME forum on Chinese music, 23-24 May 2016, Lisbon
The Macau Scientific and Cultural Centre (CCCM) in Lisbon, Portugal plans to host a two-day forum on Chinese music and musical instruments on 23 and 24 May 2016 in Lisbon. The event will be organized
in cooperation with the Chime Foundation, with possible support from Fundação Jorge Álvares. The primary idea is
to invite a small number of Chinese music specialists to bring this field to the attention of music scholars, students and
musicians in Portugese universities, music conservatories and academies. A similar event can hopefully be hosted in 2017,
as the upbeat to a full-fledged CHIME conference, to take place at CCM in Lisbon in the summer of 2018.
[READ MORE]
Over the past five centuries, Portugal has maintained strong diplomatic, cultural and trade relations with China, but so
far Portugals universities with music departments (there are three of such institutions) have not paid much attention to
Chinese music or musical instruments, nor has this field been tackled in any of the Portugese music conservatories and
academies. Enio de Souza and his colleagues of CCCM wish to make a case for Chinese music by setting up some
small introductory forums on this topic, and by investigating possibilities for one or more long-term academic lecture series.
The forums of 2016 and 2017 will be open to college and conservatory students and teachers as well as to the general
public. CHIME has pledged its support for this fine initiative. Well keep everyone posted on the Lisbon meetings, and
hope to be able to welcome the CHIME community to the sun and the light of Lisbon during a major CHIME conference
in 2018.
MORE ON CONFERENCES
Call for papers Chinoperl 31 March, 2016
The 2016 CHINOPERL International Conference will be held on Thursday, March 31, 2016 in Seattle, USA. The
conference committee welcomes submissions of papers on topics relating to Chinese oral and performing literature.
Presentations at the annual meeting may be delivered in English or Chinese. Individual paper abstracts or panel proposals
to be considered for presentation should be sent to Professor Wenwei Du (wedu＠vassar.edu). Abstract/proposal
submission deadline: December 20， 2015. CHINOPERL (Chinese Oral and Performing Literature)’s website is
located at: http://chinoperl.osu.edu/home
Meeting on Chinese folk music theory in honour of Yuan Jinfang, Beijing, May 2016
From 6 to 8 May 2016, the Music Department of the Central Conservatory of Music will organize a three-day
symposium in honour of the well-known musicologist, educator, senior professor of the Music Department, and former
Dean of the Conservatory, Professor Yuan Jingfang (袁静芳), who will celebrate her 80th birthday in 2016.
Professor Yuan carried out extensive research on traditional Chinese music and produced a substantial body of
writings in the realm of Chinese traditional music theory. She has also trained and guided an entire generation of
youngers scholars in this field in China. Not surprisingly, the realm of Chinese folk music theory research will be the
focus of the symposium.
[READ MORE]
The three-day meeting will be sponsored and jointly hosted by the Central Conservatory of Music and various Departments within
the Conservatory, including the Buddhist Music Culture Research Centre. Conference topics will be the current heritage of
traditional Chinese music theory, new developments in this realm, and Professor Yuan Jingfangs own contributions in this realm ,
as captured in her major publications such as National Instrumental Music (1987), Chinese instruments (for which she acted as
chief editor, 1991), The Chinese Buddhist Music of Beijing (1997), The Daoist ritual music of Julu (Hebei) (1998), and other
writings. Scholars interested in joining this event can contact Professor Zhang Boyu, who coordinates the organizing team, via
email: boyuzhang＠hotmail.com
MUSIC RESEARCH & PUBLICATIONS
Major archeological musical finds near Nanchang
Archaeologists in Jiangxi Province in China have unearthed a 2,000-year old burial site in a village near Jiangxis capital city Nanchang, and reported the retrieval of some 10,000 pieces of relics.
Objects discovered at Guanxi village (观西村) include five painted chariots, scattered remains of the skeletons of twenty
horses, hundreds of thousands of strips of bamboo and wood with ancient writings, lacquerware, a huge amount of coins,
two fine sets of bronze chime bells, a set of iron chimes – unique since all other chime-stone sets unearthed in China so far
were of clay or stone – as well as flutes, pipes, a qin zither, a harp, numerous sculpted figurines of musicians –which evoke
a lively image of musical rituals during the Western Han Dynasty – and numerous other objects.
Some experts claim that the site is a more spectacular evocation of aristocatic life during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 9 CE) than the famous Mawangdui tombs of Changsha in Hunan Province which date from the same period and which
were excavated in 1972-1974.
READ MORE
Excavations at Guanxi village started five years ago, in 2011. They brought to the light a trapezoid-shaped burial field of 40,000 square meters, with graves of both noblemen and commoners. It is by far Chinas best
preserved, most comprehensive and most clearly structured grave site from the Western Han, and also the biggest
in size, surrounded by a wall that is still relatively intact (with 868 meters of the wall still standing). The Institute of
Cultural Relics and Archaeology of Jiangxi Province issued a preliminary report on their research last month.
They are expected to follow this up with a press conference by 25 December to report on the latest discoveries.
Team leaders Yang Jun, Zhang Zhongli (of the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology) and their colleagues
hope to present cultural relics from the main tomb on that occasion.
The burial site, known as the Hai Hun Hou (海昏侯) tombs, lies at the heart of a wider area of 3.6 square kilometers,
which once harboured an ancient city of which remains have also survived. Some excavation work has been carried
out in this wider area, but the most spectacular finds stem from the cemetery itself, notably its ancestor worship site
and chariot pit, which is 18 m long, 4 m wide and 2.5 m deep.
Main tomb excavation work is currently being undertaken and will hopefully help to determine the identity of the owner.
The bronze bells found at the cemetery were originally suspended in a three-tier structure, which may indicate that the
main tomb once belonged to a king or other ruler of high stature. Thieves will have made repeated attempts to open the
huge and extremely heavy main coffin, but the tomb was filled for centuries up to its vaults with water, making it very
difficult for intruders to get to it. The water probably also protected the cultural relics inside from corrosion, as it did
in other ancient graves such as that of the famous Zeng Hou Yi in Hubei. This is not to say that the main tomb of
Hai Hun Hou must have survived entirely intact. Several large earthquakes were reported in the history of Jiangxi,
and due to the impact of the water, wall parts of the central chamber have collapsed.
There is considerable excitement over the find of thousands of bamboo strips, which may open up new chapters in
Western Han history. But the strips were found as one package, in rotting condition, attached to the soil and amidst
layers of debris, including numerous scraps of jade (some of which also contain graphs and writing). Deciphering all
this material and making sense of it will be a formidable challenge and a time-consuming task.
For more on the excavations, you can check (site in Chinese):
http://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1395463
Recording and video project brings music cultures of the Loess Plateau alive
Four eminent Chinese scholars and music lovers have joined forces in a recording project which they baptized Chinese
National Music Geography. Regretting the lack of (commercially available) high quality audio and video recordings of
rural traditional music in China, and the deficiency of such materials in music education – even in the most prominent
music institutes and academies in the country – the four have initiated a series of book, cd and dvd publications in order
to change this. During the last few years, musicologist Qiao Jianzhong (乔建中), composer Liu Xing (刘星), music
producer Xiao Cao (小草) and young scholar Huang Hu (黄虎) have issued the first products in this series. This includes
a 195-page paperback called中国音乐地理晋陕黄土高原区 (Chinese National Music Geography of the Jin Shaan
Region on the Loess Plateau), issued in 2014 by the Jiangsu Literature and Art Publishing House. The book was
preceded by an earlier paperback on the same region in 2012, plus three CDs (totalling 205 minutes of recordings)
and two DVDs (with 213 minutes of footage), which we have not been able to inspect yet. Planned by-products are
various travelling (photo) exhibitions. The recordings and field data were collected by three teams of scholars and
technicians in the period of July to August 2011. They travelled more than 6,000 kilometers across cities and counties
in Shanxi Province, Shaanxi Province and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The abovementioned book is
illustrated with numerous photographs in colour and in black and white, and provides glimpses of a great many different
genres and musical traditions in the region.
ISBN 978-7-5399-6985-5.
Book on Christian ritual music among minorities in Yunnan
杨民康(Yang Minkang)– 本土化与现代性：云南少数民族基督教仪式音乐研究 (Localization and Modernity: Yunnan Minority Christian Ritual Music Research). Issued by: Zongjiao wenhua
chubanshe (Religious Culture Publishing House), Beijing, 2013, 271 pp. ISBN 9787801239884.
This book reviews the history and socio-cultural backgrounds of Christianity and Christian music in Yunnan Province,
as well as cross-cultural relationships in this realm between Yunnan and adjacent cultures, such as those of Thailand,
Myanmar and other nearby countries and regions. The book focuses in particular on the two themes of localization
and modernity.
READ MORE
After an introductory chapter, which discusses the cultural significance of the books topic ,the second chapter offers
a chronological surveyof the beginnings and historical development of Christian music in Yunnan.The
third chapter analyzes relations between Christian music and aboriginal music cultures in Yunnan.The fourth
chapterdescribes the inheritance and disemmination of various specific types of Christian music in Yunnan in
more detail, while the fifth chapter focuses specifically on ritual music.Two further chapters are devoted to Christian
hymns,offering musicalanalysis, and classification and discussion of genres, structures and patterns. Chapters eight
to thirteen discuss the nature of regional Christian music cultures in Yunnans minority settlements, and the
last chapter offers a summary and a discussion on the two topics, "localization" and "globalization" , and
ponderthe situation of Christian music culture during contemporary era.
Village ceremonial music regaining its voice after the Cultural Revolution
乔建中 (Qiao Jianzhong) – 望——一位老农在28年间守护一个民间乐社的口述史 (An Oral History of How one Old Farmer Guarded the Interests of a Rural Folk Musical Association during
28 Years). Published by: Zhongyang bianyi chubanshe, Beijing, 2014, 275 pp. ISBN 9787511723277.
This book is an oral history of Lin Zhongshu, a 74-year old farmer and vice head of Qujiaying Village, Rangdian Town, Guan County, Langfang City,
Hebei Province, who in the 1980s, following the terror of the Cultural Revolution, went to great lengths to help
revive the ceremonial music of the local village association, at a time when it was far from clear if this would not lead
once again to violent repression.
READ MORE
In the autumn of 1985, several members of the local village association were eager to restore the
ceremonial music they had learned from elder generations. But fearful of new repression, following the recent terrors
of the Cultural Revolution, they turned to Lin Zhongshu for help. Could they be allowed to play again? If not,
they would smash theirinstruments and sell them as scrap copper. If yes, they would resume their old
practice. Lin did not dare to give an answer, but went to the county and even national governments to find out more.
Through interviews, and a close examination of hundreds of local newspaper writings, inscriptions, name cards and
other sources and documents (many of them reproduced in the book), the eminent ethnomusicologist Qiao Jianzhong
has traced the story of Lins efforts to get the ceremonial music of Qujiaying village going again. He reports on how
this farmer ultimately managed to guard and promote the interests of his village musicians over a period of 28 years.
Qiao Jianzhong produced a moving and important testimony of rural music life in times of social upheaval and political
uncertainty.
Books on the semantics and esthetics of Chinese music
Two independent academic publications dealing in detail with the semantics and esthetics of Chinese music have
appeared almost simultaneously this year. One is Adrien Tiens The Semantics of Chinese Music; issued by John
Benjamins Publishing Company, Amsterdam/Philadelphia, 2015, 303 pp. It has Chinese characters in the main text;
appendices, a bibliography, and a brief index. It can be ordered via https://benjamins.com The other book is
Véronique Alexandre Journeaus Poétique de la musique chinoise, with a préface by Rémi Mathieu.; issued by
LHarmattan, Lunivers esthétique, Paris, 2015, 443 pp, ISBN : 978-2-343-05903-7, price 39 €. For more info
or for ordering, check http://editions-harmattan.fr
Both publications cover a lot of new ground for western readers and to tackle a much underestimated realm of interest.
We expect to review these books in the CHIME Journal.
READ MORE ON RECENT PUBLICATIONS...
Some other recent publications of interest include:
Altenburger, Ronald, with Margaret B. Wan and Vibeke Børdahl – Yangzhou. A Place in Literature, The Local in Chinese Cultural History. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu,
2015, 510 pp Hardback, ISBN 978-0-8248-3988-8. Index, glossary, references. This volume is the most recent
material result of the cooperation of an international group of scholars that calls itself The Yangzhou Club, and whose
research deals with the cultural history of the city of Yangzhou. An earlier volume was published with NIAS Press
in 2009. The present book includes substantial chapters on local storytelling, popular theatre, village theatreand related
topics. Highly recommended!
Winzenburg, John (compiler/editor) – Half Moon Rising. Choral Music from Mainland China, Hong Kong,
Singapore and Taiwan.
An anthology of choral pieces for SATB chorus and piano, published with 1 CD by Edition Peters, London 2015,
234 pp. ISMN 979-0-57700-908-7. The scores are in Western staff notation, lyrics in pinyin (with a pronunciation
guide) and in English translation, with elaborate introductions in English to every one of the 24 songs contained in the
book.
Howard, Keith (2015) SamulNori: Korean Percussion for a Contemporary World. Farnham: Ashgate Publishers,
SOAS Musicology Series, London, 230 pp, b&w illustrations and music examples. Hardback, ISBN 978-1-4724-6289-3.
Michael Church (ed.) –
The Other Classical Musics. Fifteen Great Traditions. The Boydel Press, Woodbridge, 2015, hardback, 404 pp.
Amply illustrated (colour and bl/w photos), music examples, references, index, suggestions for recommended reading
and further listening.
This book positions great musical traditions from the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, the Far East, and Southeast
Asia next to Western classical music and addresses the pertinent question What is classical music? Fifteen chapters
offer broad introductions for a non-expert audience into a range of important regional music traditions. These include
two chapters on Chinese music (guqin and Chinese opera). There are explorations into a wealth of other musical realms,
from North American jazz to Turkish or Iranian music, from Thailand to North India and beyond.
PEOPLE IN MUSIC
Han Mei new Director of Center for Chinese Music in Tennessee
Dr. Mei Han (Ph.D. University of British Columbia) has been appointed as the founding Director of the Center for
Chinese Music and Culture at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Dr. Han will create
and oversee a new museum of Chinese musical instruments, library, concert series and lecture series with a focus on
intercultural education and understanding. She will also teach Ethnomusicology and direct a Chinese Music Ensemble
as a tenured Associate Professor at the MTSU School of Music. Dr. Han Ph.D. is also widely known as a concert
performer on the Chinese zheng.
In memoriam Yu Runyang (1932-2015)
The distinguished musicologist Professor Yu Runyang, long-time Editor of the music journal Yinyue yanjiu (Music Study) and former president of the Central Conservatory of Music
(in the period 1988-1992) died from illness on 23 September this year. Yu started off as a composition student at the
Central Conservatory in 1952, and continued studying Musicology at the University of Warsaw in Poland from 1956
onwards. He returned to Beijing in 1960, and was active as an editor and leader at the Central Conservatory. He taught
numerous courses in Universities all over China. As a scholar his focus was on the history of Western music and on music
aesthetics, and he travelled extensively in wider Asia, Europe and the United States. He published numerous articles and
monographs in Chinese, including Historiographical Essays of Music Aesthetics (1986), Study on Music
Historiography (1997), An Introduction to Modern Western Music Philosophy (2000), and New Approaches to
Music Aesthetics (1994). He was one of the chief editors of a General History of Western Music (alsoi in Chinese, 2001),
and was awarded several state prizes for his academic activities.
Lin Zaiyong new Director of the Shanghai Conservatory
Lin Zaiyong (林在勇) has been formally appointed as the new Director of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
Mr Lin, a native of Shanghai, was already acting as the institutes interrim Head and – since 2013 – as the
Conservatorys Secretary of the Party Committee. These functions are normally separate, but after protracted
problems in finding an appropriate replacement candidate for Lins predecessor Xu Shuya, Mr Lin was chosen
to fulfill both functions. Mr Xu Shuya, an internationally acclaimed composer of contemporary Chinese music,
stepped down already some time ago. The 50-year old Lin forms a notable contrast to his predecessor: he studied
Chinese Language and Literature as well as Philosophy at East China Normal University and is probably more at
home in ancient Chinese culture than in (new) Chinese music. He was previously active as an Associate Professor
of the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at East China Normal University (1994-97) and gained
leadership experience as Deputy Dean of The School of Humanities and Social Sciences (1997-2001) and as
Vice President of East China Normal University (from 2007). He has been active as a (Deputy) Party Secretary
in various institutions since 2004.
Uyghur singer Perhat Khaliq wins Prins Claus Award
This autumn, the 33-year old Uyghur singer, guitar player and band leader Perhat Khaliq from Urumqi was one of
the 2015 laureates of the Dutch Prince Claus Foundation. He received the award for reathing new life into traditional
Uyghur forms. Perhat Khaliq performs a mix of traditional mukam tunes, rock and blues, and counts Bob Dylan
among his major inspirations. His gravely, deeply passionate voice perfectly suits the melancholy songs for which
he is best known. Perhat lost both his parents and brother through illnesses, and his lyrics tell stories of heartbreak,
perseverance and longing for freedom.
[READ MORE]
Only a few years ago, he was performing mainly in the smoky interiors of local bars in his hometown Urumqi, the
capital city of Xinjiang. After being invited to perform at a festival in Osnabrück in 2010, his career skyrocketed,
not just in Europe but also at home. He received invitations to perform in Turkey, The Netherlands and elsewhere,
his first CD album was released in 2013 (Qetic: Rock from the Taklamakan Desert), and German producer Michael
Dreyer managed, after long deliberations, to persuade Perhat to join the popular Chinese TV contest The Voice of
China in 2014, in which he gained the 2nd Prize. Contrary to his own expectations, it made him a star in China,
although Perhat hardly lives up to the standard image of happy harmonious Uyghurs promoted by the Chinese authorities.
The online video of his audition in the show (where, a typically, he sang a song in Chinese) was watched by
netizens more than 415 million times. (See:http://v.qq.com/cover/f/fql2a8u30ashzo5/g00149mx345.html)
Perhat generally has to walk a fine line to be allowed to travel abroad and to continue performing in his own unique style.
Amongst other things, he must refrain from any political statements while touring abroad. He recently initiated a rock
festival in Urumqi which features rock from Xinjiang, Kazakhstan and China. Last winter, the police in Urumqi invited
him to visit a jail and to play for the inmates. He wrote a special song for that occasion, and according to Perhat half of
the inmates were in tears when he sang it.
North Korean music groups call off three concerts in Beijing
Two North Korean music ensembles called off a series of concerts in Beijing just hours before they were expected
to go on stage on 12 December. The musicians abruptly returned home the same day. The incident hints at on-going
diplomatic tensions between North Korea and China. Chinas relations with North Korea have deteriorated in the
past five years, notably in the wake of that countrys third nuclear tests of 2013 and ensuing threats of war with
South Korea.
The two music groups – which were caught sneaking out of Bejing by Voice of America reporters – were the 18-member female pop band Moranbong (Mudanfeng 牡丹峰) and the Merit (Gongxun 功勋) National Choir.
The groups cancelled a series of three joint concerts in Beijing just three hours before their first show was scheduled
to begin. The musicians had only arrived at Beijings International Airport a few hours earlier, and they returned home,
dressed in North Korean military garb, on a North Korean plane the same day.
[READ MORE]
Videos of their music have been uploaded on Youtube, and have now become a focus of widespread interest,
although the groups can hardly lay claims to being Asian pop sensations. Their repertoire consists of propaganda
songs like Lets support our Supreme Commander with Arms or Our Dear Leader, and they dance to their songs
with rigidly synchronized body movements which even die-hard fans of Chinas New Year TV shows will define as ypically North Korean. Nevertheless, there is an elder generation audience in China which appreciates some of the
songs: they will remember the tunes and some of the words, which evoke the elated and defiant mood of the early
1950s, when China and North Korea were firmly united in their fight against South Korea and the United States.
The women of Moranbong may well have been hand-picked for their beauty by Kim Jong-Un, the North Korean
leader who took power in late 2011. According to Reuters Press Agency, Moranbong is one of his pet projects,
founded in 2012 as part of an ambition to put his personal stamp on North Korean Arts; the short haircuts of the
performers are apparently trendsetting in Pyonyang. The shows in China would have been their first overseas outing.
An unnamed source quoted by Reuters stated that Beijing had invited the two groups to thank North Korea for
hosting senior Chinese official Liu Yunshan at a military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers
Party in Pyonyang. The Chinese authorities paid for the groups plane tickets and accommodation. There is
widespread speculation about the exact reasons for the sudden departure of the musicians. Problems apparently
ensued when Chinese censors disapproved of some of the lyrics to be sung in the concert, which glorified the
Korean War of 1950-53 too much and criticized the joint enemy of that time, the United States, calling the USA
an ambitious wolf. The Koreans, on their side, complained that their shows were going to be attended only by low-level Chinese officials, and reportedly decided, after having consulting Kim, to return home. North Korea has not
commented on the event. Chinas Xinhua News agency reported merely that communciation issues at working level
had led to the cancellation of the shows.
EVENTS, INSTITUTIONS, ARTISTS, MEDIA
CentralConservatory of Music celebrates 75th Anniversary in grand style
The Central Conservatory of Music (CCOM) in Beijing currently commemorates its 75th anniversary. The
Conservatory was founded in 1950, and held a large scale celebration from 1–10 November, featuring an
academic forum, masterclasses, an exhibition and many musical events featuring prestigious teachers and
alumni of the institution, including two gala concerts in Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts
(NCPA). The entire programme was extremely well-organized, refreshing, audacious in its approach, showing
CCOM at its very best. And this at politically conservative times, and under the gloomy sky of Beijings smog...
The Conservatory is widely regarded as the number one top-level music educational institute in China, and it easily
lives up to this reputation. It certainly did so during the celebrations, as CCOM managed to create a relaxed
and truly festive atmosphere, and offered a remarkably powerful programme. Native and foreign visitors alike
were duly impressed!
READ MORE
Sister institutions from around the world joined the commemoration and participated in the specially organized
Academic Forum on Music Education for the 21st Century.Since the opening up of China in the 1980s,
international relations have become increasingly important for Chinese academic institution such as CCOM.
The Conservatory now benefits from a large network of partners in Europe, the USA and the adjacent Pacific
area, promoting collaborations and enhancing mutual understanding. Many institutions participated in the
Academic Forum, making it a quite unique event in the annals of tertiary music education. The list of participants
illustrates just how prestigious CCOMs international educational cooperation has become. Presidents of several
major schools were invited as keynote speakers, including President Joseph W.Polisi from Juilliard School,
Dean Robert Blocker from Yale University, Gretchen Amussen from the Paris Conservatoire, Rector Ulrike
Sych from the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna, as well as many others.
Delegations from European institutions further included representatives from the Akademia Muzyczna w Krakowie,
Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi di Milano, the Hochschule fur Musik und Theater Hamburg, Det Kongelige Danske
Musikkonservatorium in Copenhagen, the Griegakademiet in Bergen, the Geneva Haute école de musique; the
Cleveland Institute of Music, the Eastman School of Music, the New England Conservatory, the Peabody Institute,
the University of British Columbia and the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. A formidable line-up.
It is also striking to see how North-East Asian countries, whose political relations remain rather cold, have
developed strong ties in the field of academic exchange. In the region, tertiary music education is now federated
through the Pacific Alliance of Music Schools, which had its second meeting in Beijing in April 2015. Major
players of the area were present at CCOMs anniversary commemoration, such as Seoul National University,
Tokyo University of the Arts, Singapore Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, as well as institutions from
Taiwan, such as Taipei University of the Arts and Tainan University of the Arts.
Presentations and discussions during the Forum focused on cooperation patterns. Some speakers (notably from
the US) clearly had rather conventional collaboration models in mind, more or less viewing (western) music
education as a business product to be marketed. But there were some refreshing exceptions, speakers who
advocated new collaboration models which would take into account the cultural dimension and promote genuine
bilateral cooperation and cultural exchanges. President Joel Smirnoff from the Cleveland Institute (former first
violinist of the Juilliard Quartet) was among them. He explaining why, if he were a young student again, he would
choose to study at CCOM.
Many partners of CCOM displayed a commitment to bilateral exchanges, such as the Royal Danish Academy of
Music in Copenhagen, which now hosts a Confucius Institute for Music, the Hochschule fur Musik und Theater
Hamburg, which developed classes for intercultural composition, and the Geneva Haute école de musique, which
is pursuing several research projects related to China.
Two truly fine concerts were presented in the magnificient National Centre for the performing Arts as part of the
celebrations. The first one featured a Chinese Orchestra (see photo with suona (shawm) soloist Guo Yazhi), the
second one the China Youth Symphony Orchestra. Top class soloists from among teachers and alumni of the
institution featured in these invents. They included pianist Lang Lang, violinist Lü Siqing, clarinetist Fan Lei, and
conductors Yang Yang and Li Xincao. Gorgeous music could be heard in both concerts, and the atmosphere of the
celebrations was very warm, touching and moving (which cannot always be automatically taken for granted during
formal grand occasions!) Many would agree that the excellence attained by Central Conservatory graduates in recent
decades is quite amazing. The only slight shadow over the festivities was the forced stepping down of the Conservatorys
president Wang Cizhao, following accusations of corruption. But Wang has been able to continue his teaching and
research activities at the Conservatory, and the incident – for several weeks a much debated item on internet fora – has not in any way diminished the memory of CCOMs truly impressive anniversary festivities.
Field recordings of music in China by Tash Music & Archives (Beijing)
Ethnomusicologist Xiaoshi Andrew Wei and five colleagues at Tash Music & Archives in Beijing have initiated a fine
series of carefully documented CD soiund recordings and videos of traditional and ethnic music in China. The Tash
archives were established in 2012 in Beijing with the aim of creating high quality and well documented recordings in
this realm. Tash also wants to focus on the music of Turkish groups in China, archival recordings, oral narratives and
language recordings. Amongst others, they have issued CDs with Quarry ballads from Sichuan stone workers, music
of the Tibetan Community at Dêqên County, as well as folksongs of the Uzbek Communities of Xinjiang. Further
projects, such as albums of boatmen songs and local folk songs from Sichuan are currently being prepared. Tash
cooperates with prominent ethnomusicologists and cultural experts inside China and internationally, but also with
committed local collectors in the field. For more on Tash (塔石) and for ordering their products, please check their
website: www.tm-archives.com
Chinese music at the OAI in Bonn
The East Asia Institute (Ost-Asien-Institut, OAI) in Bonn has initiated the founding of a Kuratorium to promote and
enhance its on-going musical and musicological exchange with mainland China and Taiwan. The Kuratorium will
serve as the OAIs Advisory Board for activities in realm. Its members will include Drs Huang Chun-Zen (Taipei),
Frank Kouwenhoven (Leiden). Barbara Mittler (Heidelberg), and François Picard (Paris). The Board will be formally
established on 11 November 2016 in conjunction with a musicological workshop and concert of Chinese music.
Further announcements will follow.
This edition of the Chime Newsletter was prepared by Frank Kouwenhoven, Bi Yifei, Zhang Mingming,
Zhang Ting, with contributions by Li Huaqi, Xavier Bouvier, Jiang Shan, Liu Hongchi and Yang Yiran.
