The College of Music of Chongqing Normal University, formerly the Department of Music, was established in 2001 and renamed “College of Music of Chongqing Normal University” in 2004, when “Chongqing Music College” was established by Chongqing Municipal Education Commission in CNU. Throughout the years, the College has been taking cultivation of music education teachers and versatile music artists as its mission, and persisting in the schooling principles of “building the college based on teaching, consolidating the college based on disciplines, managing the college based on institution and prospering the college based on harmony”.Following these principles, the College has been growing in both its schooling scale and staff team, while its talent quality and academic level are also being constantly improved.
Currently, the College has 95 staff members and over 1,000 master candidates, undergraduates and junior college students. It has four undergraduate majors (i.e. musicology, music performance, dance performance and dance study) in six orientations, and a multi-disciplinary specialty system comprising general disciplines of music and dance study with art (master program), music pedagogy and music teaching specialties. With a Department of Music, a Department of Music Performance, a Department of Dance, teaching and research sections covering vocal music, piano, music theory, instruments, dance, music teaching skill and pop music, as well as the art teachers cultivation and training base of the Ministry of Education and the music teachers training base in Chongqing, the College has trained over 1,200 in-service music teachers.
The College of Music is reasonably structured with teachers of active thinking and industriousness. Among the staff, there are 12 professors, 17 visiting professors and 17 doctors, who are graduates from professional music academies, such as China Conservatory of Music, Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Ukraine Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Music, and Russian Conservatory of Music. The current dean of the College,Prof. Zhang Lihui, is also the President of Chongqing Music Association and the winner of China Plum Blossom Award. The College has also invited nationally renowned music scholars like Jin Tielin, Wang Bingrui, Bian Zushan and Xu Zhijun as guest professors.
The College always takes teaching as the center of all work and implements a “two-way selection” system.It is a pilot unit of music education (teachers training) reform by the Ministry of Education, and the undertaker of multiple scientific research projects of provincial and ministerial level.It has publicized up to 223 academic articles in core journals, and won many honors, including the Gold Award of the CCTV Youth Song Competition, the 24thChina Plum Blossom Award, Five project prize, Star Award, and so on.
The College places special emphasis onpractice of students and teachers in art; it has art groups like Chorus, Symphony Orchestra and Dance Society. In art practices, students have made notable achievements. For example, the Students’ Chorus was awarded the seventh Excellence of Golden Bell Award in 2009, and won the three prize of singing group in national vocal competition in 2012.
As to international exchange, the College has established sound partnership with Perugia Conservatory of Music, St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music and Ukraine Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Music. In the last 5 years, the College has sent 45 musicians overseas for exchange visits, cooperative research and further study. At present, all the staff of College is working to make the College a senior music academy influentialin western China or even in the whole country.
