An SHCM teacher plays a traditional Chinese instrument for a group of German musicians and music lovers during an exhibition in Hamburg.

Shanghai has a long and strong relationship with Germany. To mark the 30th anniversary of the sister-city relationship between Shanghai and Hamburg, the German city held the 6th Chinese Art Festival in November 2016 with over 160 activities.

Students and teachers from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music presented concerts in the festival in collaboration with their peers at the University of Music and Theatre Hamburg. The concert, seminar and exhibition all featured the theme of “Exotic Sound of Chinese Music.”

The exhibition displayed 45 traditional Chinese musical instruments and folk music instruments for 20 days. Elmar Lampson, president of the University of Music and Theatre Hamburg, and the SHCM professor, Zhang Xianping, spoke at the opening of the exhibition. Visitors watched Chinese musicians play with some of the instruments.

At the seminar on November 11, Chinese and German musicians and scholars discussed Chinese culture and music and compared them with Western culture and music.

Concerts held in Hamburg featured Chinese piano works composed in the 20th century, music played on Chinese and Western instruments, Asian and folk melodies, and other music works.

The festival enabled the SHCM and the University of Music and Theatre Hamburg to strengthen academic exchanges and foster mutual understanding.