MINNEAPOLIS & ST PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A Chinese delegation of 14 top administrators from the second largest Music Conservatory in China will visit McNally Smith College of Music to firm up arrangements that began last January for a contingent of Chinese students to study at the only Hip Hop Diploma Program in the U.S. Shenyang Conservatory in Shenyang, China, will meet with McNally Smith officials to tour the school and sign agreements on Tuesday, August 16, 2011, at 2:00 p.m. in the college’s Conference Room (See Schedule Below).
“For the last eight months, I've been communicating with one of China’s largest music conservatories to bring about this cultural exchange,” notes Harry Chalmiers, President of McNally Smith College of Music, who led the American delegation to China. “The partnership’s exciting potential for our students and our campus is matched by the enthusiasm of the Chinese officials coming to visit and the students back in Shenyang eager to study here. This is only one of many efforts in cultural exchange currently underway at McNally Smith, and it could be a major development not only for the Hip-Hop Diploma program but also for partnerships in our Business, Production, Composition, and Performance programs in the future.”
Exchange Program Set in Motion over the 2010 Holidays; US Consulate Advocates Strongly
Last winter over the 2010 Holidays, McNally Smith officials and faculty members — all working musicians with national reputations — traveled to Shenyang for a series of first meetings to begin the cultural exchange process. A rousing concert performance also took place, featuring students from the Conservatory and McNally artists/faculty, including Randy Sabien, who heads the Strings Department, Toki Wright, Hip-Hop Studies Diploma Coordinator, and Sean McPherson, also faculty on the Hop-Hop Diploma program. The winter meeting was heralded by U.S. Consul General in Shenyang, Sean Stein, who advocated for the process to move forward.
"We strongly support cultural and educational exchange,” Mr. Stein says. “The collaboration of music and arts is a fitting way for two countries to strengthen their ties.” Stein added that he was “personally excited about the possibility of the program between the Shenyang Conservatory of Music and McNally Smith College of Music because students at both music institutions eventually will benefit greatly from studying American and Chinese music in both China and the U.S.”
Schedule of Events (subject to change)
- 10:30 am – Performance student and faculty in the Auditorium (45 min)
- 11:15 am – Welcome and tour of McNally Smith campus (60 min)
- 12:30 pm – Lunch at nearby restaurant (90 min)
- 2:00 pm – Meeting and agreement signing
- 2:00 pm – Additional meetings and classroom visits for other members of the delegation, joined by McNally Smith faculty and administration.
- 3:00 pm – Delegation departs
About Shenyang Conservatory of Music
Shenyang Conservatory of Music (SCM), is a well-established conservatory of music and dance in the northeast of China. It was founded in 1938 as the Luxun Academy of Arts by Zedong Mao, Enlai Zhou and other CPC leaders. In the early period of the new China, the school was moved to Shenyang and renamed as the Shenyang Conservatory of Music in 1958.
Since its founding, the SCM has been a large music college comprised of four campuses (the Major Campus, the Chanqing Campus, the Taoxian Campus, and the Dalian Campus), which consists of 12 departments including Composition, Musicology, Vocals, Chinese Vocals, Winds & Strings, Chinese Instruments, Keyboard, Music Education, Popular Music, Electone, Instrument Craft, and Dancing. The conservatory offers quality education to approximately 8,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional studies students of various ages.
http://www.sycm.com.cn/web_english.asp
About McNally Smith College of Music
McNally Smith College of Music offers a variety of degree programs in Music Performance, Recording Technology, Music Composition, Music Business and other areas. As of the fall 2011 term, it will also offer a Masters of Performance degree. Its alumni are working all over the world performing, recording, producing, being written about and leading successful lives in the music industry.
The music college’s diverse faculty includes Grammy® Award nominees, Hollywood film composers, Broadway veterans, players in Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion,” assorted Nashville Cats, best-selling Jazz artists, authors, major label rockers, Billboard chart toppers, commissioned composers, accomplished producers and engineers who have worked with everyone from Atmosphere, Prince, Phil Collins and Aretha Franklin to Yanni, Paula Abdul, Dick Dale and countless other rockers, combos, orchestras, recording labels, and industry executives who care deeply about their art and the next generation of music makers. With more than 600 students and a 125-member faculty and the only Hip-Hop diploma program in the country, McNally Smith students get a personalized music education that combines musical artistry and wide access to current music technology, research tools and performance facilities.
For more information — or to interview McNally Smith and Shenyang Conservatory spokespersons — please contact Todd Walker or Martin Keller at the above phone numbers and email addresses.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6828376&lang=en