General Information
As the pioneer and incubator of professional music education in China, Shanghai Conservatory of Music (SHCM) has been widely reputed as the “cradle of musicians” for its prestigious status in China’s music education. The SHCM, formerly the National Conservatory of Music, was founded by Mr. Cai Yuanpei, who also served as its first president, and Dr. Hsiao Yiu-mei on November 27, 1927. It is the first independent music institution of higher education in China.
Currently under the leadership of Ms. Pei Xiaoqian, Secretary of the CPC SHCM Committee, and President Liao Changyong, the Conservatory consists of over ten departments and divisions, including the Composition and Conducting Department, Musicology Department, Orchestral Instruments Department, Voice and Opera Department, Piano Department, Chinese Traditional Instruments Department, Music Education Department, Music Engineering Department, etc. At present, it has 2841 full-time students and 517 faculty and staff members. As the first Chinese conservatory that has the authority to confer doctoral degree in three first-level disciplines including Musicology & Dancology, Art Theory and Drama & Film Studies, the SHCM takes great pride in its full-fledged, multidisciplinary music education system featuring an interconnected curriculum covering music creation, music performance, music theory and applied music. The SHCM ranked No. 10 in the QS World University Rankings 2024 by the subject of Music.
Since its founding, the SHCM has been committed to its mission of training professional musical talent, cultivating the sense of beauty and harmony in Chinese people, and developing Chinese musical art by introducing Western music while carrying on excellent traditional Chinese music heritage. It has nurtured several generations of outstanding Chinese music talent and incubated numerous masterpieces including renowned violin concerto Butterfly Lovers and piano work Shepherd Boy’s Piccolo.
SHCM has reached strategic cooperation with the world’s top music schools in more than 30 countries and regions, including Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of Music, Berklee College of Music, Yale School of Music, Royal College of Music, University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Hamburg University of Music and Theatre, Paris National Superior Conservatory for Music and Dance, and Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory.
On November 27, 2017, the SHCM, together with 15 world-class music institutions from 13 countries and regions including the USA and the UK, and 10 conservatories in China, released the Indicators for International Discipline Assessment of Musicology & Dancology, and signed the Shanghai Consensus on Music Education of Excellence, providing a Chinese resolution in setting the standards for global music discipline evaluation.
Wholeheartedly committed to delivering top quality music education in line with the highest standards, the SHCM is devoted to educating and training future-oriented, well-rounded art talent with international vision and moral and artistic excellence, while striving to become one of the world’s best conservatories with distinctive Chinese characteristics and international prominence.
