The third China Art Song High-Quality Aesthetic Education Exhibition, staged alongside East Lake Music Week, brought five days of concerts, academic exchange and public performances to Wuhan from October 18 to 22, with total attendance exceeding 10,000 teachers, students and local residents.
Guided by the Hubei Provincial Department of Culture and co-hosted by Central China Normal University (CCNU), the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the Wuhan East Lake Eco-Tourism Scenic Area Administrative Committee, the programme paired established stars with young artists from both institutions — among them the internationally acclaimed baritone Liao Changyong, president of the Shanghai Conservatory and an honorary professor at CCNU, and the conductor Zhang Guoyong, chairman of the Chinese Musicians Association — in an effort to build a city-level brand at the intersection of the arts and cultural tourism.
The opening concert on Oct. 18, “Music Gathering at East Lake: Poetry and Music in Harmony,” was held as a courtyard performance at the Deyou Theater in the Tingtao scenic area. Liao led the vocals and Zhang conducted the Shanghai Conservatory Soloists Chamber Orchestra in a programme tracing a century of Chinese art song, paying tribute to the patriotic spirit of earlier generations and to Zhou Cangbai, an alumnus of Wenhua College — one of CCNU's forerunners — and a noted industrialist whose credo of “gardens for the public, aesthetic education for all” underpinned the choice of venue.
An academic symposium titled “Poetry and Music in Harmony: Carrying the Classical Forward,” together with the award ceremony for a companion paper competition, was held on the CCNU campus on Oct. 19. Scholars from China and leading arts universities abroad gathered on Guizi Hill to discuss how the Chinese art song tradition can be sustained and renewed. CCNU’s Heming Chamber Orchestra and faculty and student musicians from the Shanghai Conservatory gave a joint chamber concert that evening.
On Oct. 20, the Qintai Concert Hall hosted “Teacher, I Always Remember You,” a concert marking the 10th anniversary of the death of Zhou Xiaoyan, one of the founders of modern Chinese vocal pedagogy. Artistic-directed by Liao, the programme featured Shen Yang, gold medalist at Cardiff Singer of the World, and Han Peng, first-prize winner at the Verona Turandot International Opera Competition, in 27 Chinese and foreign vocal classics.
The programme closed on Oct. 21 and 22 with a guided concert of Jingchu folk songs, “Music Gathering at East Lake: Singing Together in Joy,” and a dance gala by the Earth Dance Company. Faculty and students from the CCNU School of Music presented 19 Jingchu folk songs and 10 original or adapted dance works, offering a concentrated view of the region's cultural range.
Senior officials from Hubei provincial and Wuhan municipal authorities — including the provincial publicity, culture and tourism, and education departments — attended alongside representatives of the Chinese Musicians Association and other partner institutions. CCNU Party Secretary Xia Lixin, President Peng Shuangjie and Vice President Liu Hongda were also present.
In recent years CCNU has aligned its work with national and provincial cultural strategies, signing a strategic cooperation agreement with the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, establishing the Hubei Provincial Center for Research and Promotion of Chinese Art Songs, and staging the exhibition three times. The aim, the university says, is to convert high-quality aesthetic education resources into momentum for local economic and social development and to support Hubei's bid to become a world-renowned cultural tourism destination. The broader stage, in turn, feeds back into teaching, research, creative production and talent training, strengthening the university's music and dance disciplines.
Chinese