The 2019 Pacific Alliance of Music Schools Summit was held at the College of Music Seoul National University on April 14-17. Heads and representatives from 15 Pacific music academies in China, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and other countries attended the event to exchange ideas on music education development.

Liu Ying, deputy president of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, was among the participants.

This year the summit focused on the discussion of striking a balance between retaining the tradition and making progress in music education during collaboration among schools while being regionally distinctive.

They shared the common view that against the background of globalization they need to keep their traditions alive while extending cooperation. The participants believed that curriculum reform should be promoted to cultivate students’ independent thinking and that student exchanges are necessary to broaden their horizon.

Meanwhile, it was felt that scientific means should be used to develop music arts and music education should confront the impact from commerce.

Liu showcased SHCM’s educational outcome in the current phase using examples of the conservatory’s original opera “Tang Xianzu” tour of Melbourne and Sydney and the concert in collaboration with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, demonstrating a balance between tradition and progress.

During a division meeting, six music colleges from China, Japan and Korea talked about building a multilateral dialogue mechanism and fostering closer ties to collectively improve the level of music education in northeast Asia.

A memorandum of cooperation was also signed between the SHCM and the College of Music, Mahidol University, of Thailand during the summit.