Review

U.S. Visit of Music and Arts Education Delegation

The Music and Arts Education Delegation arrived in the United States on April 5, 1980 for a four-week tour of eight American cities. The delegates met with arts educators, artists, and arts policymakers and were exposed to a wide spectrum of approaches to arts education. The five-member delegation was led by Lin Mohan, vice chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Arts Circles and Vice Minister of Culture. The delegates were Wang Zicheng, chief of the Bureau of Arts Education, Ministry of Culture; Zhao Feng, director of the Central Institute of Music in Beijing; Tan Shuzhen, deputy director of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music; and Zhou Ying, delegation secretary. 

In New York the delegates attended a welcoming reception, hosted by the Carnegie Hall Corporation, at the Carnegie Cafe. Following a speech by Isaac Stern, Henry Geldzahler, New York City’s Commissioner of Cultural Affairs, read a city proclamation announcing April as U.S.-China Arts Exchange Month. The Rockefeller Brothers Fund arranged a three-day program on arts education in New York City that included explanations of the role of government – federal, state, and local – in arts education. Among the participants were Ezra Laderman, director of music programs for the National Endowment for the Arts; Vivian Anderson, special assistant to the Commissioner of the New York State Department of Education; and Janita Byars, director of the Arts in General Education Program. 

Another highlight of the New York visit was a special jazz performance arranged by David Bailey of Jazzmobile. Billy Taylor gave a musical introduction to the history of jazz, with demonstrations of technique by Victor Gaskin, Keith Copeland, Jimmy and Percy Heath, Slide Hampton, Jimmy Owens, and Richard Muhal Abrams. In addition, the delegates visited Lincoln Center, the Juilliard School, Columbia University, several public and private schools, and the Henry Street Settlement and attended several opera and theatre performances. 

In Miami the delegation participated in the annual convention of the Music Educators National Conference. Vice Minister Lin Mohan gave a speech on “Music and Music Education in China,” followed by a showing of “Spring Buds,” a film on the Central Institute of Music in Beijing.

While in Washington, D.C. the delegates had a full day of briefings on federal funding for the arts by representatives of the national endowments. Patricia McFate, deputy chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and David Searles, deputy chairman of policy and planning of the National Endowment for the Arts, led the discussions. The delegates also met with John E. Reinhardt, director of USICA, Daryl Johnson, acting director of the China Desk at the State Department, and Roger Stevens, chairman of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

The Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies arranged a side trip to the Wye Plantation where the institute’s vice president, Stephen Strickland, presided over a half-day conference on a variety of topics. Patricia McFate led a discussion of “The Arts, the Humanities, and the Individual,” and Charles Bray III, deputy director of USICA, covered “Communications and Culture: International Patterns and National Policies. “Walter Anderson, special assistant to the chairman of NEA and Ezra Laderman, director of music programs at NEA, discussed “Music Education in the United States: History and Contemporary Trends.”

The First National Bank of Chicago arranged for the delegates to visit the Art Institute of Chicago, the Field Museum of Natural History, the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. At the Chicago Symphony, the group chatted with conductor Sir Georg Solti, and at the Cliff Dweller’s Club the visitors enjoyed a briefing on the symphony’s educational programs. During their visit to Indiana the delegates attended classes and performances at Indiana University’s School of Music and toured the Indianapolis Museum of Art. While in Utah, the delegation was treated to special performances at Brigham Young University in Provo and met actor Robert Redford at a reception held at the Sundance ski lodge. In addition, the delegation enjoyed a broadcast performance of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and a tour of Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

Broadcast Music, Inc. of Los Angeles arranged for the delegates to visit Universal Studios, MGM, the University of Southern California, and the American Film Institute. At the other end of the state, the Chinese Culture Foundation arranged for the delegates to enjoy the sights of San Francisco, including the Asian Art Museum, and to meet with representatives of the Chinese-American community.

The Playwright Cao Yu

China’s leading playwright, Cao Yu, visited the United States early in 1980 under the co-sponsorship of the Center for US-China Arts Exchange and the Committee on Scholarly Communication with the People’s Republic of China. Cao Yu, heralded as China’s Shakespeare, popularized “spoken” drama (hua ju) on what was traditionally the lyric stage. The 1934 production of his first play, Thunderstorm  (1933), was followed by a series of prodigious works that virtually changed the course of Chinese drama by opening the curtain of the Chinese stage to new theatrical modes and themes. Accompanied by the prominent Chinese actor and interpreter, Ying Rocheng, Cao Yu began a five-week tour of the United States, beginning in New York on March 19.

During his two-week stay in New York, Cao attended plays and met with theatre professionals (including Edward Albee, Robert Anderson, Ruth Goetz, Joseph Papp, and Michael Bennett) and members of the academic community at Columbia. In addition to attending Broadway performances of Talley’s Folly and A Chorus Line, Cao saw productions of two of his own plays. The Center for Theatre Studies at Columbia produced Leslie Lo’s new translation of Peking Man (1940) and the La Mama Theatre presented Sunrise (1936). Cao attended opening night of Peking Man, congratulating the cast after the performance and presenting director Kent Paul with a bouquet of roses.

Arthur Miller and Cao Yu gave a joint lecture on “Theatre in Modern China” to a full house at Altschul Auditorium in the School of International Affairs of Columbia University. Schuyler Chapin, dean of the School of the Arts, introduced the two playwrights as artists “who combine passion and technique.” In his preface to Cao’s remarks, Arthur Miller commented on the failure of Western educational institutions “to do so much as look at the East” and cited this failure as contributing to the gulf between the two cultures. “Like most other human failures,” said Miller, “the gap in our current understanding of one another’s worlds is as much a failure of imagination as anything else.” America’s foremost living playwright, Miller praised Cao Yu for the universality of his works and for his ability, “like Nina in Chekhov’s The Seagull, ‘to endure.'”

In his speech, delivered in Chinese and translated by Ying Rocheng, Cao traced the major trends in Chinese drama from the earliest known plays, dating from 2,000 years ago, to the present. He emphasized that Chinese playwrights have always used drama as a means of conveying social and  political ideas although “conscientious writers have not always had an easy way to follow.” From 1949 to the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, “there were ultra-leftist political movements that hampered the development of drama.” During the Cultural Revolution, said Cao, “our lips were stopped and our hands were tied, but they couldn’t tie up our thoughts.” Cao himself was forbidden to write, labeled a “stinking intellectual,” and banished to the countryside where he tended pigs at a commune. He later returned to the Beijing theatre, where he worked as a janitor, and it was at this theatre that a group of Japanese visitors recognized the playwright and brought his case to the attention of authorities. Cao modestly claimed, however, that his experiences were mild compared to those of many of his fellow artists. The playwright concluded by saying that with the overthrow of the Gang of Four, China has moved into a new era in which writers will no longer be condemned because of their political opinions. “This marks the period during which a hundred flowers will truly bloom and a hundred schools will truly contend. And it may mark the time when China will be truly modernized.”

Professor Bernard Beckerman, chairman of the Center for Theatre Studies at Columbia, led an all-day seminar on “Current Trends in Chinese and American Theatre” at which Cao, Ying, and American theatre professionals exchanged views of theatre in their respective countries and discussed the future of exchange in theatre arts. The participants included Ellen Stewart, founder of La Mama; Bernard B. Jacobs, director of the Shubert Organization; Amiri Baraka, playwright; and actress Estelle Parsons.

The Center and the Asia Society’s Performing Arts Program co-sponsored an exhibit entitled “Photographs of Contemporary Theatre Productions in the People’s Republic of China.” Collected by the Beijing People’s Art Theatre, the exhibit was divided into three parts: photos of Cao Yu’s plays, photos of plays by other contemporary Chinese playwrights, and photos of Western plays produced in China. Photographer Inge Morath served as consultant for the exhibit.

After their departure from New York, Cao and Ying traveled to other cities and universities where they met with members of the East Asian studies communities and theatre professionals. In Washington D.C. the Committee on Scholarly Communication with the People’s Republic of China arranged an hour-long program on “Modern Trends in Chinese Theatre” at the American Film Institute Theatre of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Cao Yu’s presentation, translated by Ying Rocheng, was followed by a lively panel discussion led by Alex De Angelis of the CSCPRC. Other participants included Robert Stevens, literary manager of the Folger Shakespeare Theatre, and Chou Wenchung, director of the Center.

Music and Music Education in China

Following is the translation of a speech delivered by Vice Minister of Culture Lin Mohan during a special session of the annual convention of the Music Educators National Conference held in Miami in April 1980.

China is a nation of many nationalities and a nation with a very long history. According to historical records and research on recently excavated relics, our culture in general and our music in particular were already rich and varied some three thousand years ago. In 1977, a set of sixty-five bells with specific pitches arranged as chimes was excavated in the southern part of central China. The inscriptions on the bells indicate that they were made for a certain local lord in the year 433 B.C. The discovery of this set of bells proves beyond doubt that a twelve-tone scale generated from the cycle of fifths had been adopted in China some 2,400 years ago. We have also preserved what are probably the oldest music scores in the world. Among these are the scores for Qin and Pipa of the Tang Dynasty, 1,300 years ago. It is said that the composition for Qin, “The Solitary Orchid” (of which we have a copy dating from the fifth century) was composed by Confucius some 2,600 years ago. This composition reflects the feelings of dedication and incompatibility among the intellectuals of ancient China, like the solitude of a lone orchid in the valley.

Like water flowing through the course of a great river, the music of the many nationalities in China and the folk music of many regions have interacted and become integrated, over thousands of years, into a national music of China that is magnificent and variegated. The development of Chinese music has been further enriched by the influence of foreign music such as that of India, Persia, Burma, Korea, and other countries. Confucius, the great philosopher and educator of ancient China, attached great importance to the impact of poetry and music on the spiritual life of the people. As you may know, in ancient China poetry and music were related. Confucius thought that poetry and music could inspire men and help them to understand life and reality, that it could unite people through their thoughts and feelings and spur them to recognize and criticize the ugly and dark. We believe these ideas of Confucius are still valid today.

Even in ancient China, there were already institutions for training musicians, among them the music school for training imperial musicians for the court of Western Zhou and the schools for training singers and dancers for the court of the Tang Dynasty. In the late nineteenth century, European and American music were introduced in China. Works by Western composers such as Beethoven, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky are now appreciated by more and more people in China. The conservatories of music founded since 1949 have trained many musicians according to European and American techniques. They have also composed music in a modern national style. Nie Er, the composer of our national anthem, and Xie Xinghai, the composer of “The Yellow River Chorus,” are prominent among them.

We believe that man’s ability in thought is cultivated by science, while man’s ability in imagination is cultivated by art. Without imagination there is no hypothesis, there is no science.”— Lin Mohan

We believe music must have its own national flavor. The music of each nation or nationality is always related closely to the life, thoughts, feelings, and language of its people. Even the natural environment is bound to have its effects on the style of music produced therein. The rhapsodic folk music of northwest China is very different from the lyrical music of the southeast. Therefore, we are not in favor of copying or imitating foreign things. We must learn from the achievement and experience of foreign music so as to enrich and develop our own. We must not be isolated. One crucial reason for the glorious achievements of Chinese music has been its ability to absorb superior achievements of foreign cultures.

Our music education is based on this policy. We now have seven professional music schools, each of which has its own middle and elementary schools. In universities, teachers colleges, and colleges for minority nationalities there are forty-five music departments. These numbers are too low for a nation of nine hundred million, but compared to only one professional music school before 1949, the rate of expansion is encouraging. At these conservatories and music departments students may choose training in either traditional Chinese music or Western music. The curricula of conservatories and departments in various geographical regions also emphasize local traditions and characteristics. In addition we are planning to establish a national music conservatory for the study of our traditional music. All students must also study humanities, the musical culture of the minority nationalities, theory, and piano. Our goal is to cultivate intellectual, moral, and physical development, and we expect our students to be familiar with traditional music while mastering the theory and practice of Western music. We hope to produce specialists who can create a new music with a national character.

Our country has a total of two hundred and ten million students in secondary schools. There has been much debate on how to strengthen their education in music and the arts. Some wish to emphasize only mathematics, physics, and chemistry. We believe the strengthening of offerings in music and the arts will in no way endanger studies in the natural sciences. We believe that man’s ability in thought is cultivated by science, while man’s ability in imagination is cultivated by art. So without imagination there is no hypothesis, there is no science.

Some say that we are too ambitious, willing to turn all of the two hundred million students into artists. How could we possibly harbor such ambition? If they all turned to the arts, how could we eat? We believe the purpose of improving arts education in secondary schools is to raise the level of virtue, of emotional maturity, and of cultural accomplishment among the young. Of course, from amongst them there will also emerge some superior artists. By now, however, there is more of a consensus on this matter. The Ministry of Education has formally announced a policy that demands attention to education in music and the arts in elementary and middle schools. As for nonprofessional and after-school music education for youth, the ministries of culture and of education carry out activities in cultural centers and other centers with the cooperation of the trade union, youth league, and the Federation of Students. For adults there are activities in urban cultural centers, clubs in the factories, and rural cultural centers where people may participate in choruses, instrumental ensembles, and dance groups.

We must learn from the achievement and experience of foreign music so as to enrich and develop our own.” — Lin Mohan

These groups also provide the conservatories with a pool from which to select the most talented students. In 1977, thirty thousand applicants took entrance examinations for the Central Conservatory of Music and the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. But because of limited facilities at these conservatories, less than one percent was admitted.

During the past two years, there have been frequent exchanges in literature and the arts between our two countries. The world famous Boston Symphony and the celebrated violinists Isaac Stern and Yehudi Menuhin have been warmly welcomed by the Chinese people. In the United States the Chinese Performing Arts Troupe has been equally well received by the American people and the famous play, “Peking Man,” is being presented in New York. Professor Chou Wen-chung, the director of the Center for United States-China Arts Exchange, has made positive contributions to the development of Sino-American cultural exchange and to better understanding and friendship between our countries. May the flower of friendship between our two peoples bloom forever, and be more beautiful as it continues to blossom.

Li Cunxin

Last September, Li Cunxin, a graduate of the Central Institute of Dance in Beijing danced with Suzanne Longley in the Houston Ballet’s production of “Le Corsaire” at Jones Hall in Houston. Li’s work with the ballet is part of a flourishing dance exchange between the Houston Ballet and the Central Institute that began in March 1979 when Houston’s artistic director, Ben Stevenson, visited China as a member of a Center-sponsored delegation. Since then five Chinese students have been awarded scholarships by the Houston Ballet Academy. In April 1980 Stevenson returned to the Institute to teach for a month and to stage two of his own works, “L” and “Three Preludes.” His visit was covered by a film crew from KUHT 8, Houston’s public broadcasting station, and the film will be aired soon.

This June, Stevenson will return to Beijing with jazz dancer Gwen Verdon; Claire Duncan, Hiller Huhne, and eleven other members of the Houston Ballet; a stage manager; and a pianist. Both the Central Institute and the Houston Ballet are looking forward to performances in which dancers from both companies will appear together.

Cooperative Projects

In addition to carrying out its own projects, the Center has assisted individuals and delegations traveling under a variety of auspices by making contacts, arranging events, and providing consultation.

In July 1980 the Chinese Cultural Delegation, led by Senior Vice Minister Liu Fuzhi, visited this country at the invitation of the United States International Communication Agency. Arrangements for the visit were made by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. The Center assisted in organizing a conference on “Legal and Commercial Aspects of Cultural Exchanges” and arranged for the delegation to visit galleries and studios in Soho.

Last August the Boston Symphony invited several Chinese musicians to attend the Tanglewood festival. The group consisted of Han Zhongjie, conductor of the Central Philharmonic Orchestra in Beijing; Liu Dehai, pipa soloist f rom the Central Philharmonic Society; Jiang Jianhua, erhu soloist from the Central Conservatory; Huang He, yang qin soloist from the Central Institute of Music; and Jian Huilu, interpreter from the Ministry of Culture.

At the request of Han Zhongjie, the Center then invited the group to visit New York for three days. The Center arranged a conference on “Music Performance and Training in the U.S.,” attended by management executives in musical performance and administrators and teachers in professional and academic music training programs. The Center also arranged for the Chinese guests to meet with several well known Chinese-American musicians and to enjoy the sights of New York.

In September 1980 the Center sponsored a roundtable discussion on “Recent Trends in American and Chinese Art” for visiting artists Hua Junwu and Huang Yongyu and a group of American artists, critics, and art historians. Mr. Hua, a renowned political cartoonist, is vice chairman of the Chinese Artists Association. Mr. Huang, a painter, is a professor at the Central Institute of Fine Arts in Beijing. Their visit to the U.S. was sponsored by China Daily News.

The Center has assisted American friends planning to visit China by arranging for them to meet with artists and arts leaders. Among those whom the Center has assisted are Russell Phillips, vice president of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund; Porter McKeever, consultant to the Rockefeller Family and Associates; and Mrs. Robert Tangeman. Whenever possible, the Center provides assistance that will enrich existing programs and foster new ones.

Art Historian From China

At the invitation of the Center, Jin Weinuo, chairman of the art history department of the Central Institute of Fine Arts in Beijing, arrived in the United States last October for a six month visit. Professor Jin is China’s leading authority on the country’s Buddhist cave painting and sculpture. He has published widely and serves on the editorial and executive boards of major publications and societies in China. His book, Studies in Chinese Buddhist Caves, will soon be published in China.

During his half-year stay. Professor Jin spent several weeks in New York visiting major museums, universities, and art institutes. On November 10, 1980, he presented a slide lecture at Columbia entitled “Cave Paintings of Northern China.” The event was cosponsored by the Center and Columbia’s Department of Art History and Archaeology. After leaving New York, Professor Jin traveled to a number of major universities and museums including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Berkeley, and the University of Michigan. In November he attended the ACLS workshop of Chinese painting held at the Nelson Gallery of Art in Kansas City. At that conference he gave a special lecture on “Paintings in the People’s Republic of China.” His tour of the United States was arranged by the Center in cooperation with Professor Chu-tsing Li of the Kress Department of Art History at the University of Kansas. In March Professor Jin returned to China via Europe, where he was hosted by major museums in Great Britain, Sweden, West Germany, and France.

David Gilbert With The Central Philharmonic

David Gilbert, who since June 1980 has served as principal guest conductor of the Central Philharmonic Orchestra in Beijing, returned from China for three months last fall to fulfill his duties as music director of the Greenwich Philharmonia. Mr. Gilbert admits that the position of guest conductor has been a challenging one, but very satisfying because “the orchestra, though relatively inexperienced, is responsive and fresh and starving for new repertoire. They need exciting music – Strauss, Mahler, Ravel, and Bartok – in their lives.” Last summer Gilbert developed a concert series consisting entirely of pieces that were new to the musicians. Since then, the orchestra has presented one concert every two weeks, rehearsing six days a week.

The language barrier between conductor and musicians was overcome with the help of excellent translators and a good ear for Chinese on Mr. Gilbert’s part. He says he was able to use Chinese for musical terms and for giving general directions to the orchestra.

Mr. Gilbert, who was recommended to the Chinese Ministry of Culture for the one-year position as principal guest conductor by the Center, returned to Beijing in late December, eager to pick up where he left off. The Central Philharmonic, Mr. Gilbert, and the Center are grateful to music publishers Alexander Broude, Inc., Carl Fischer, Inc., and G. Schirmer, Inc. for their generous donation of scores to the orchestra.

Reviewing, Exploring, and Improving

A report by Michelle Vosper, Center Program Coordinator.

In December 1980, the Center’s director, Professor Chou Wen-chung, and I spent three weeks In China meeting with government officials, artists, and arts administrators in Beijing and Shanghai. The purpose of the visit was to review with the Ministry of Culture the programs carried out by the Center during the past two years, to explore means of refining procedures, and to improve channels of communication. We met with old friends in various sections of the ministry, including the Fourth Department of Foreign Cultural Affairs, the Arts Bureau, and the Bureau of Art Education, with vice ministers Lin Mohan, Yao Zhongming, and Zhou Erfu. The Chinese officials voiced strong support for the Center’s programs and recognition of its accomplishments. One vice minister noted with admiration that the Center was at present carrying out more programs with China than were many governments around the world.

A major concern of many Chinese officials is the effect that the Reagan administration might have on cultural exchange between the two countries. They feel that specific American government policies could directly affect the attitude of the Chinese government toward exchange and thus influence the number of projects approved.

Members of the Central Philharmonic Orchestra gather here at the home of conductor Li Delun. Chou Wen-chung is seated between conductors Li Delun (left) and Han Zhongjie (right). Standing from left to right are Wu Meihe, Luo Qing, Zhu Xinren, and Meng Zhaolin.

Our trip included nine meetings with the various professional associations under the China Federation of Literary and Arts Circles. Here at a banquet in Beijing are leading members of those organizations: (left to right) Lu Houming, Chinese Photographers Association; Jia Zhi, of the China Society for the Study of Folk Literature and Art; Yang Huilin, CFLAC; Lin Mohan, vice chairman of CFLAC; Chou Wen-chung; Luo Fen, CFLAC; Sun Zhen, Chinese Musicians Association; Hua Junwu, Chinese Artists Association; Meng Guangjun, Chinese Film Association; and You Huihai, Chinese Dancers Association.

The Center plans to expand its programs to include translation and publication. Seated here are leaders in the field of publication: Wang Ziye (second from right), deputy director of the Chinese National Publishing Administration, and left to right: Wang Heng of the Chinese National Publishing Company, Tu An of People's Literature Publishing tlouse, and Shen Changwen of People's Publishing House.

The gathering of representatives from Shanghai's dance organizations included (seated left to right): Xiao Yan, director of the Shanghai Music and Dance Troupe; Li Mulin, Shanghai Institute of Dance; Chou Wen-chung; and Hu Rongrong of the Shanghai Ballet Company. Standing from left to right are Zhu Jidao and Zhao Jingan of the Shanghai Arts Bureau and Chen Xiyang, conductor of the Shanghai Ballet Company.

In a meeting with Vice Minister of Culture Zhou Erfu, Chou Wen-chung pointed out that during the past decade exchange organizations succeeded in bringing about an atmosphere of friendship and mutual interest that ultimately influenced American government policy toward China. Therefore, the most effective means of preventing retrenchment in U.S. China relations would be to strengthen cultural ties rather than to weaken them. Professor Chou expressed confidence that the fruits of cul tural exchange carried out in the past few years would not be jeopardized by the policies of either government. However, he emphasized that the support of the people of both countries would be needed to nourish these developments.

The December trip marked an important new stage in the Center’s growth. For the first time, the Center negotiated projects with the China Federation of Literary and Arts Circles (CFLAC), the professional nongovernment arts organization that oversees China’s national associations in each of the arts. Among those with whom we met were Cao Yu, chairman of the Chinese Dramatists Association; Lu Ji, chairman of the Chinese Musicians Association; Xu Xiaobing, chairman of the Chinese Photographers Association; Tao Dun, chairman of the Chinese Ballad Singers Association; and Feng Mu and Bi Shuowang, vice chairman and secretary-general, respectively, of the Chinese Writers Association. (See photo for other leading members of CFLAC’s arts associations).

The China Federation of Literary and Arts Circles and the various associations resumed activities in 1980 after ceasing to function during the Cultural Revolution. At the recommendation of the Chinese government, the Center will serve as the direct counterpart to CFLAC in carrying out programs in the areas of materials, specialists, performances and exhibitions, and translation and publication. In meeting with the different associations, we discussed a large number of projects, many of which may be carried out in late 1981 and 1982. In the meantime, the associations and the Center agreed to begin working immediately on a systematic exchange of information and materials. Later this year, the Center will publish a special issue of the newsletter to introduce the various associations, their members, and their work.

While in Beijing we also had discussions with the directors and leading members of the city’s major arts institutes and organizations, including the Central Philharmonic Orchestra and the Central Institutes of Dance, Fine Arts, Music, and Chinese Opera. A team from the National Publishing Administration of China, led by deputy director Wang Ziye, held a meeting to explore future exchanges with the Center in translation and publication. We also met with individual artists such as painters Ye Qianyu and Zhang Ding, pianists Liu Shikun and Ying Chenzhong, and conductors Li Delun and Han Zhongjie to discuss recent trends and to explore mutual interests. John Thomson and Ted Liu of the Cultural Section of the American Embassy in Beijing also met with us to discuss future cooperation between the Center and the American government.

In Shanghai our visit was coordinated by the Shanghai Bureau of Culture, which arranged for us to meet with representatives of all of the city’s major organizations in theatre, music, drama, and dance. Participants in the meetings included Huang Yijun and Chen Xiyang, conductors of the Shanghai Philharmonic and Shanghai Ballet, respectively; Xiao Yan, director of the Shanghai Dance School and Hu Rongrong of the Shanghai Ballet Company; Zhuang Zejing, stage director of the Shanghai People’s Art Theatre; and Shi Yan, director of the Shanghai Youth Theatre Company. At the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, we were greeted by director He Luding and deputy directors Ding Shande and Tan Shuzhen. We also visited the Shanghai Institute of Chinese Painting which trains students in the traditional style of painting and the Shanghai Academy of Art, a professional organization for both oil and ink painting and sculpture. At the academy we were shown around by several artists who introduced their own work including Yu Yunjie, painter and director of the academy.

Ye Qianyu, well known painter and cartoonist, displays his work at his home in Beijing. During the December trip, many individual artists were eager to discuss their possible involvement in the Center's programs.

Scene from a production of Romeo and Juliet by the Shanghai People's Art Theatre, December 1980

Scene from a production of Romeo and Juliet by the Shanghai People's Art Theatre, December 1980

The final stop on the month-long trip was Hong Kong where Professor Chou has maintained contact  with leaders in the arts for the past decade. In March of this year, the seventh annual conference of the Asian Composers League was held in Hong Kong, chaired by Doming Lam, artistic director of the Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong. Through the efforts of Professor Chou and the Center, a delegation from China attended this conference for the first time. This event marked the initial step in cooperation between the Center and Hong Kong’s arts organizations.

During his visit to Hong Kong, Professor Chou engaged in round-the clock discussions with a number of the city’s arts administrators. The discussions focused on exploring ways to include Hong Kong’s arts institutes in the Center’s programs. The participants agreed unanimously that it would be practical for Center-sponsored artists and specialists to stop off in Hong Kong en route to China or to  the U.S. Such an arrangement would contribute to Hong Kong’s artistic life and would provide additional funding sources that would ultimately increase the flow of specialists in both directions. Cooperation in student exchange was another area of interest.

Among those organizations with which Professor Chou met in Hong Kong were the Urban Council, the Hong Kong Arts Center, the Department of Recreation, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Conservatory.

Update

In February the Center welcomed three specialists who will carry on exchange work in the United States for four months. Chen Gang, one of China’s most talented young composers and affiliated with the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, will lecture on music in China at Columbia and other universities, and observe classes on music composition and theory. Mao Yuan, a teacher at Beijing’s Central Institute of Opera, has composed vocal and instrumental music for opera and dance dramas. Some of the works of the Chinese composers will be performed publicly by American professionals during their visit. Also in this country is Li Keyu, a costume designer at the Central Ballet Theatre Company in Beijing who has designed costumes for productions of such internationally famous works as “La Dame aux Camelias” and” Swan Lake.” Her dance sketches, which are acclaimed for their grace and liveliness, have appeared in many publications in China.

The China Federation of Literary and Art Circles has invited the Center to send a small delegation of leaders in American arts to visit China in late April. The delegates will represent the fields of film, dance, drama, and music and will meet with colleagues to carry out professional dialogues, to present their own work, and to set the stage for future exchanges in the arts.

The Center has arranged for Beverly Sills, general director of the New York City Opera and world renowned opera singer, to visit China for several weeks in May of this year. As the guest of the Central Institute of Music in Beijing, Miss Sills will lecture and give demonstrations there and at music institutions in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities.

In August the Center plans to send violinist Lin Cho-liang and Dorothy DeLay, renowned violin teacher of the Juilliard School of Music, to Beijing to attend the Chinese national competition for violinists. Mr. Lin will give demonstrations and recitals and Ms. DeLay will conduct master classes.

In September the Center will receive the first students to have been awarded Chinese government scholarships to study the arts in the United States. This initial group will include two students in each of the areas of film, theatre, and orchestral conducting. The Center is now working out programs that will combine academic work with on-the-job training in various professional organizations. At this time the Center is able to assist only those students who have government or private funding to cover their expenses. But the Center is seeking funds to carry out a systematic exchange of students in both directions, a program that has already been proposed to and endorsed by the Chinese Ministry of Culture.

Acknowledgements

The Center wishes to express appreciation for gifts and grants received from the following organizations in 1980:

• Asian Cultural Council
• Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies
• Celanese Corporation
• Exxon Corporation
• Ford Foundation
• Harold Shaw, Inc.
• Henry Luce Foundation
• Mary Livingston Griggs and Mary Griggs Burke Foundation
• Mr. and Mrs. George D. O’Neill
• Rockefeller Brothers Fund
• United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia

Contributors

The Center wishes to thank the following organizations and individuals for their contributions to the Center’s exchange programs during 1980:

• Arts, Education and Americans, Inc.
• Brigham Young University
• Broadcast Music, Inc.
• Carnegie Hall Corporation
• Chinese Culture Foundation
• First National Bank of Chicago
• Hopewell Foundation
• Indiana University School of Music
• Music Educators National Conference

For contributed materials, services, and hospitality that enriched the Center’s programs in 1980:

• Alexander Broude, Inc.
• American Music Center
• Bellerophon Books
• Belwin-Mills Publishing Corporation
• Carl Fischer, Inc.
• Center for Theatre Studies, Columbia University
• Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
• China Daily News
• Committee on Scholarly Communication with the People’s Republic of China
• Dramatists Guild
• Eugene O’Neill Playwright’s Foundation
• G. Schirmer, Inc.
• International Theatre Institute
• Japan Air Lines
• Juilliard School of Music
• League of Theatres and Producers
• Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc.
• Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Metropolitan Opera
• National Committee on US-China Relations, Inc.
• New York City Opera
• New York Philharmonic
• Northwest Orient Airlines
• Performing Arts Program of the Asia Society
• Public Theatre
• Shubert Organization
• Steinway and Sons
• Theatre Communications Group
• Universe Books

Friends

The Center would like to express special thanks to the following individuals for their continued support and assistance to the Center’s programs: David Bailey, Seymour Barab, Judith Berger, Bernard Beckerman, Yi-an Chang, Morton Gould, Ming Cho Lee, James Mason, Arthur Miller, Robert and Ellie Mok, Inge Morath, Joseph Papp, Walter Scheuer, Shen Shanhong, Mrs. Robert Tangeman, Norval Welch, and Hubert Wang.

• Chou Wen-chung, Director
• Michelle Vosper, Program Coordinator 
• Jocelyn Charles, Administrative Assistant

The Center for US-China Arts Exchange
Columbia University

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