School Overview & Development History
The MUC School of Music was founded in 1959. It is the highest school of music education for ethnic minority-related music affairs in China. Moreover, it is the cradle for cultivating high-level ethnic minority music talents. Among its graduates, thousands of outstanding musical talents have been delivered to society. They have become academic leaders and backbones in the creation of music, performance, education, and music research in various regions. The MUC School of Music has the following departments:
The Minority Instrumental Music Department is one of the most characteristic and unique departments and curriculum offerings of the entire school and was established in 2008. It is the first specialized discipline of minority instrumental music in China and has made important contributions to the professional development of Chinese minority instrumental music. The teaching achievement "The Innovative Model of Inheritance of Specialization in Ethnic Music Colleges and the Cultivation of "Ethnic Talents" won the A-level Teaching Achievement Award in the State Ethnic Affairs Commission's 2019 Teaching Achievement Evaluation in Ethnic Universities.
The Minority Instrumental Music Department aims to promote the development of minority instrumental music education, highlight ethnic minority instrumental music schools' characteristics, and cultivate minority instrumental talents. The majors cover the main instruments of ethnic minority instrumental music, including Mourin Khuur, Huobusi, Dongbula, Rewapu, Lusheng, Sihu, Sanxian, Aiche, Boer, Tambourine, Gayaqin, Accordion, Bau and Bamboo Flute, etc. Since the establishment of the department, a group of outstanding professional teachers has been brought together. They have played an important role in the construction and development of ethnic instrumental music disciplines. They have authority in their respective professional fields, such as Bayar, Satellite, Alimujiang, and Imana Lie, Zhang Quansheng, Mural Bimrati, etc. There are currently 15 full-time teachers (including external hires).
Majors & Programs
Major programs exist in six facets related to the departments mentioned above. Some master and doctoral level work is offered but not for all departments and all instruments. Because of the unique structure and degree of specialization surrounding instrument mastery, the department's major programs are relatively diverse compared to the curriculum offerings of other schools within MUC.
Undergraduate Programs (4-Year Programs)
There are more than 40 specified majors in the following facets:
Music Composition (including various composition technique programs)
Musicology
Vocals (including various vocal technique programs)
Orchestra (including various orchestral instruments)
Folk Music (including research on various folk instruments)
General Music Major (w/focus on an instrument - i.e., piano, violin, erhu)
China Ethnic Minority Nationality Music Department Instrument Major (Morin Khuur, Huobusi, Dongbula, Rewapu, Lusheng, Sihu, Sanxian, Aiche, Boer, Tambourine, Gayaqin, Accordion, Bau and Bamboo Flute)
Professional Music Master's Programs (2-Year Programs)
Relevant coursework is also offered in about all of the 40 aspects, as mentioned above.
Academic Master's Programs (3-Year Programs)
Doctoral Programs (4-6 Year Programs)
School Focus, Beliefs & Development Objectives
The MUC School of Music adheres to the mission of inheriting and carrying forward the music culture of ethnic minorities and strives to build a development center for minority music teaching, research and creation, and a training base for outstanding talents of ethnic minorities, and gradually realize a complete and scientific system of distinctive disciplines. The mature and characteristic curriculum system includes traditional Chinese minority music, Chinese minority vocal performances, Chinese minority instrumental music, etc., combined with these courses, created the "Chinese Minority Vocal Music Textbooks" and "Introduction to Chinese Minority Traditional Music" More than 20 features such as "Dombira Performance Tutorial," "Rawap Performance Course," "Mongolian Sihu Tutorial," "Chinese Minority Style Chamber Music Award-winning Collection," "Chinese Minority Music Style Sightseeing Collection" teaching material. In China, the "Chinese Traditional Music of Minority Nationalities" was first established as an independent undergraduate compulsory course that realized the diversified characteristics of Chinese national music.
The MUC School of Music has developed a school-operating model which integrates teaching, academic, creative, and artistic practice. It has become a national "Ethnic-National Music Innovation Talent Training Model Experimentation Zone" and a national "Specialized Professional" construction unit involving both undergraduate and postgraduate teaching programs related to general music, composition, vocal music, folk music, minority instrumental music, orchestral, piano and music education, etc. With eight sections and more than 40 undergraduate majors and music master's degree authorization points, as well as the minority music Ph.D. The department's faculty have created a wide range of musical works such as "Big Changes at Jing Mountain," "The Wolf Tooth Warrior of the Five Peaks," and the "The Wood Carving Legend." The teachers and students of the school have won more than 300 awards in various competitions, and their music works have won more than 30 person-times. In the past 20 years, there have been more than 60 teaching and research projects and achievements at various levels, and 20 projects and achievements at the provincial and ministerial level, such as "Bonismo Music Research" and "Mongolian Religion and Sacrificial Music Culture Research" programs. The national-level scientific research project "Chinese Folk Songs Integration" (Tibet Volume) won the first prize of the Ministry of Culture, the Central Propaganda Department, the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, and the National Federation of Literature and Art in 2004 used for completing the National Social Science Major Project and the National Key Project of Art Discipline; "Three Folk Songs of Zhennan Mountain" and "Spring Has Arrived" won the second and third "Golden Bell Awards" respectively; "Auspicious Three Treasures" won the tenth "Five-One Project Award" of the Central Propaganda Department; The diversity of Buddhist music culture was awarded the second prize during the 8th Excellent Achievements in Philosophy and Social Science contest in Beijing in 2004.
Our Talent
There is a strong faculty structure in the department with 89 full-time teachers, 42 senior titles, 34 master's tutors, 2 doctoral supervisors, 14 doctors, 38 masters, and has earned the national "New Century 100 Million Talent Project" national level 1 title. Furthermore, the department is one of the winners of the "New Century Excellent Talents Support Program" of the Ministry of Education, and a participant in the two "Four Batches" of talents in the national propaganda and cultural system, and a winner of the national "Baosteel Excellent Teacher Award."
Full-Time Staff: 89
Professors: 2
Staff with Masters and Doctoral Degrees: 40+ and 30+ respectively
Academic Exchanges and Cooperation at Home and Abroad
In the process of developing unusual activities and more for students and faculty, the MUC School of Music has established the "Conservatory Orchestra," the "Conservatory Ethnic-National Orchestra" and the "Conservatory Choir." Among them, the "Conservatory Orchestra" was rated as the orchestra of popularization and promotion of serious music in colleges and universities in Beijing in 1999, and the "MUC School of Music Ethnic Music Orchestra" participated in the closing ceremony of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. It has received an Honorary Award from the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee. Since entering the new century, these orchestras have participated in more than 100 academic exchanges at home and abroad. They have exercised the students' actual performance ability while also contributing to the spread of ethnic music. Moreover, student groups led by instructors of the MUC School of Music have gone to countries around the world to perform in a variety of settings.
Examples of Internationally Active Scholars
Bao Aijun (包爱军), Mongolian Ethnicity
Dean, Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at MUC School of Music
Ph.D. in Musicology
About
Bao Aijun, of the Mongolian ethnic group, is from Kezuozhong Banner, Inner Mongolia, and graduated from the China Central Conservatory of Music in 2000 with a doctorate in Musicology. He is currently the Dean of the MUC School of Music and also serves as a Second-Level Professor and Doctoral Supervisor. He is a member of the MUC Academic Committee, he is Director of the Department of Art and Sports, he is also a member of the MUC Degree Evaluation Committee, and a MUC Member of the Art and Sports Group.
Research Interests & Activity
He is interested in research including but not limited to the following: Ethnic Music Studies, Buddhist Music Studies, Mongolian Music Studies, Comparative Studies on Northern Nomadic, and Agricultural Music Culture. In addition to this, he has been active in the following roles and projects:
Roles
Vice President and Secretary-General of the Chinese Minority Music Society
Member of the Expert Group for Foreign (Overseas) Academic Degree Certification of the Ministry of Education
Researcher of Central Conservatory of Music
Secretary-General of "One Belt One Road" National Art Education Alliance
Projects
"Study on the music of the chanting rituals of the Mongolian Tripitaka "Danzhuer"", National Social Science Foundation Art Project 2017
"Research on Buddhist Music Culture of Lama Temple", Beijing Philosophy and Social Science "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" Project
"Research on Mongolian Religion and Sacrificial Music Culture", National Civil Affairs Commission 2004 scientific research project
"An Introduction to Traditional Music of Chinese Minority Nationalities", 2002 Beijing Higher Education Quality Textbook Construction Project
"The Spread and Regional Variation of Chinese Tibetan Buddhist Music Culture", the Ministry of Education 2005 "New Century Excellent Talents" funded project
Key Projects
State Council Special Government Allowance Expert
"New Century Excellent Talent Support Program" Expert
Winner of National "Baosteel Outstanding Teacher Award"
Selected by the National Ethnic Affairs Commission as an expert in the "Young and Middle-aged Talents Training Program"
Representative Publications
"The Diversity of Mongolian Buddhist Music Culture" Religious Culture Press 2002
"Mongolian Long Tune Folk Songs" Culture and Art Publishing House 2013
"Mongolian Buddhist Music" (Mongolian) Inner Mongolia Cultural Publishing House 2006
"Chinese Minority Musical Instruments" (co-author) China Pictorial Publishing House 2004"
"Distinguish and Interpretation of Mongolian Music Term "urtu in daguu"" Journal of Central Conservatory of Music 1998
"On the Relationship Between "Andai" Songs and Dances and Mongolian Music" Chinese Musicology 2001
"Mongolian Buddhist Instrumental Music Types" Music Research 2002
"An Exploration of the Reasons for the Spread of Tibetan Buddhism and Its Musical Culture in Mongolia" Chinese Music 2008
"The Multicultural Features of Mongolian Buddhist Chanting Music" Chinese Musicology 2002
"A Textual Research on the Reasons for the Survival of Mongolian Polytechnic" Journal of Central University for Nationalities 1999
"Inheritance and Innovation of Religious Studies" International Academic Forum: "Disciplinary Features and Attributes of Chinese Religious Musicology", Beijing, China, 2019
The 2nd World Buddhist Forum: "Study on the Mongolianization of Tibetan Buddhist Music Culture", Wuxi, China 2009
High-level Forum on the Development of Chinese Minority Musical Instruments: "Institutional Research on the Inheritance and Dissemination of Minority Instrumental Music Universities", Beijing, China, 2018
The 4th International Symposium on Music Comparison between China and Japan: "Comparison of Music Education between Inner Mongolia and Japan in the Early 20th Century", Okinawa, Japan 2001
Mural Bimrati (穆热阿勒•比目拉提), Kazakh Ethnicity
Professional Instructor of Dombra
MA Dombra Performance
About
Master student, professional instructor of the dombra at the MUC School of Music. In 2009, he was admitted to the Dongbula major of the China Ethnic Minority Nationality Instrumental Music Department of the MUC School of Music. From 2014 to 2016, he was an instrumental performer at the China Central Ethnic Song and Dance Ensemble. From 2016 to 2019, he studied at the Kurmanhazi Kazakh National Conservatory of Music in Kazakhastan, majoring in traditional music art as well as dombula performance and research. He obtained a master's degree thereat. Moreover, he has participated in many major performances at home and abroad. In addition, he has co-recorded numerous albums with many musicians and singers, including Tusken, Alai, Fang Datong (Hong Kong), Lin Zhixuan (Taiwan), Zuo Xiaochu; Grammy Award winner Daniel Ho (USA), Mourin Khuur performer Hesige (Wait). Other than this, he has released his solo album "Ancestor's Gift" in December 2018.
Li Yongxiang (李勇翔), Hani Ethnicity
Master Tutor, Oboe Specialist
MA Musicology (Oboe Performance)
About
Li Yongxiang is of the Hani people. He is an oboe lecturer and master's tutor at the MUC School of Music. In 1986, he graduated from the oboe major at MUC and stayed on as a teacher. After that, he obtained a master's degree in 2001. He has held many solo music performances in China. He has accumulated a wealth of experience in learning performance and teaching techniques for more than 40 years.
He is an advocate of the notion that music knows no borders. For example, he believes we can use Western languages to tell Chinese stories and Western instruments to play Chinese music well. He believes that we must strive for the perfect combination of Western music and Chinese music. He believes much more work must be done to ensure that music and traditional culture continue to spread worldwide.
Research Interests & Activity
In October 2017, he held a solo concert entitled "Mutual Learning of Beauty" at the Imperial College of Confucius Temple in Beijing. He performed Chinese music works, ethnic minority music works, and foreign music works. Drawing on the adaptation of traditional Chinese ancient tunes for oboe and guzheng, he performed "Three Lanes of Plum Blossoms". This music is also an exchange and mutual learning between Chinese and foreign cultures, great integration of Chinese folk music, Chinese ritual music, and Western music. Moreover, it is a profound discussion of Eastern and Western culture and art. It also demonstrates China's new concept in the process of peaceful development, inclusive development, and win-win development. In October 2019, a concert with the theme of "Walking with Civilization" - Li Yongxiang and Friends was held at Beijing Lixu Theater. This concert served as a road of mutual inclusive development and win-win development of Western classical music and national music and elegant art and national folk art. He aspires to keep exploring new ways of spreading music civilization.
Key Projects
He has been a visiting professor of Inner Mongolia Academy of Arts, trained many outstanding talents for domestic and foreign professional performance troupes, professional music academies, and ethnic art groups. He has visited Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, and many other countries and regions with national performance groups. In recent years, he has devoted himself to researching and teaching more perfect integration of Western music and Chinese music.
Representative Publications
He has published a monograph "Chinese Minority Music" and published many other papers such as "The History, Connotation, and Reflection of Modern Music Education", "Tai Chi Diagram of Ritual Music" ", "The Examining and New Issues of World Music", "The Presentation of National Music in the Era of Mass Tourism" and more.
School Slogan
"Teaching, learning, creation, and art practice as a whole."
"Inherit and carry forward the music culture of ethnic minorities."
Official Website: http://yyxy.muc.edu.cn/
