World’s first Music Confucius Institute holds seminar

Traditional Chinese music is of course an important part of Chinese culture. Now in an effort to allow more people to discover it, a group of experts from the Music Confucius Institute and other musicians have gathered at Beijing's Central Conservatory of Music. The group are meeting to consider how to effectively share Chinese music with the world.

This is just an ordinary classroom at China's Central Conservatory of Music. But performing on stage are some of the best artists of Chinese music.

The artists are not just playing a small concert here but more importantly sharing their ideas on how to make Chinese music accessible to more people around the world.

The international seminar is being held by the Central Conservatory of Music, which opened the world's first Music Confucius Institute in Denmark in 2012.

"Music Confucius Institutes are a platform to share Chinese music with people around the world. We host a variety of activities and concerts involving students and performers from both countries. And it's not limited to traditional Chinese music- there's also contemporary music, an area that has really development over the past few decades." said Guo Shulan, Chairperson, Board of Music Confucius Institute.

The Music Confucius Institute is a collaboration between the Central Conservatory of Music and the Royal Danish Academy of Music. The project was initiated in 2007 when rector of the academy, Bertel Krarup first visited China. Krarup says he's thrilled about the cooperation.

The director says the 2nd and 3rd Music Confucius Institutes are already on schedule. Hopefully, other than just learning Chinese in their classroom, more and more foreign students will have the chance to learn about Chinese culture through the universal language of music.