Past Meetings

PAST CHIME MEETINGS

In 1991, we made a modest start, when some thirty Chinese music enthusiasts met in Geneva to make music and to give a few papers. Things took on a more professional turn four years later in Rotterdam, with a veritable festival of East Asian music (1995). Subsequent conferences in places like Heidelberg, Leiden, Prague, Venice, Paris, Amsterdam, Dublin, London, Basel and Yulin (China) featured an average of seventy up to one hundred participants, and the co-operation of growing numbers of composers and musicians.

28th CHIME Conference

Digital Futures for Chinese Music

Department of Music, University College, Cork, Ireland

4-8 July 2025

THIS CALL FOR PAPERS IS CLOSED

Digital Futures for Chinese Music

Call for Papers

In this conference we focus on the various ways new media (digital media especially) provide spaces for preserving, creating, playing, sharing, teaching, or discussing music, and the ways these spaces are impacting what musicians, culture bearers, and others do in the musical part of their lives. Prospective participants are encouraged to submit proposals that resonate with this theme. However, presentations of any new research in the broad area of Chinese music studies are also welcome, whether these engage with the theme or not.

New digital media provide for “repackaging” of traditions, access to distant events, gestures of sharing and commemoration, and spaces (and toolkits) for new creation, online learning, critical commentary, or playful remixing. We might study these situations in several ways:

as platforms and tools for new kinds of musical creation, curation, and participation
as spaces for new formats of presentation, repatriation, and commemoration
as settings where performance facets like musical expression, liveness, or authenticity are open to striking reformulations
as a source of musical materials, influences, threats, or inspirations
as contexts that raise expanded economic and reputational possibilities as well as ethical or legal concerns

We welcome proposals that address one or more of these questions, or which pose other questions related to the digital futures for Chinese music, as well as those relating to new research more broadly.

Please note that this is an in-person conference.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: 15 JANUARY 2025. Successful applicants will be notified c. 1 February 2025. A registration website will be available c. 15 January 2025. Attendees who need letters of invitation for visa or funding purposes are encouraged to register as early as possible to allow the necessary time for those arrangements.

Proposals are invited for:

Solo Papers (20 minutes with 10 minutes for questions)

Panels (3 or 4 linked papers around a theme, totalling 1.5 or 2 hours)

Roundtables (3 or 4 shorter presentations, around 15 minutes each, followed by a chaired discussion, totalling 1.5 or 2 hours)

Performance-based presentations or workshops (with durations as above)

Films or other media presentations (with durations as above)

Collaborative or multidisciplinary presentations that include a group of researchers, practitioners, or other research participants (again with durations as above).

Abstracts for individual papers should be 250-300 words in length. For panels and roundtables, send an abstract for each paper/contribution together with an overall panel/roundtable description of c. 150 words.

Submission of abstracts: https://www.chimemusic.net/28th-chime

All proposals will be peer reviewed.

Keynote speaker: YU Hui is a Changjiang Distinguished Professor of the Chinese Ministry of Education and Director of Center for Ethnomusicology at Yunnan University. An ethnomusicologist specializing in Chinese traditional music in the digital era and ethnic minority music in Yunnan, his recent publications include: The Oxford Handbook of Music in China and the Chinese Diaspora (Yu, Hui and Jonathan P.J. Stock eds., Oxford University Press, 2023) and Global Perspectives on Chinese Music in the Internet Age (Yu, Hui and Stephen Wild eds., Hangzhou: Zhejiang University Press, 2019). He is currently chief editor of Asian Musicology.

Conference Organiser and contact for enquiries:

Dr. Lijuan Qian, lijuan.qian@ucc.ie

Dr. Alexander Khalil

Dr. Keyi Liu

Prof. Jonathan Stock

The CHIME Prize for the best student paper presented at the 28th CHIME meeting (on 'Digital Futures fro Chinese Music') at University College Cork, Ireland (4 to 8 July 2025) was awarded to He Shuiqingqing 何水清清, of the University of Bristol, UK.

Her paper ‘Uncovering Authenticity: The Digital Transformation of Remote Musical Traditions of China' reported on fieldwork investigating qiang music from Sichuan province, and guyüe ensemble music from Xi’an. The judging panel were most impressed by the depth and richness of the fieldwork reported on and the ambition of the theoretical contribution offered, alongside the real potential that the research showed for exerting impact upon the field. Plus, they remarked that presentation was delivered in a dynamic and memorable way.

The CHIME Prize 2025 came with a cash award of 500 euros. Thank you to the prize panel, Samuel Horlor, Kim Hunter Gordon, Liu Keyi and Edwin Porras.

27th International CHIME

Meeting in the Field

Zhejiang Conservatory, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

7-12 November 2024

THIS CALL FOR PARTICIPATION IS CLOSED

Call for Participation

Dear Friends, Colleagues and Chinese Music Enthusiasts,

The Zhejiang Conservatory of Music in Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China, is proud to announce the 27th International CHIME – Meeting in the Field, 7-12 November 2024. It will be a unique five-day event, combining three days of immersive fieldwork across Zhejiang province (8-10 Nov) with a two day-conference (11-12 Nov) at the Conservatory campus, in which the participants are invited to exchange experiences and present ad hoc reports on their musical fieldwork.

About the Conference

Inspired by the 11th CHIME meeting, held in Yulin, Shaanxi province in 2006, the 27th edition of CHIME once again takes up the format of a ‘traveling conference’ – a Meeting in the Field. This time we aim to explore local musical traditions scattered across Zhejiang province. Through hands-on fieldwork sessions and insightful discussions, we hope to uncover the rich cultural tapestry woven into the various landscapes of the Jiangnan area.

Chinese and international scholars from diverse corners of the globe are expected to join forces in this meeting. Ethnomusicologists who carried out little or no fieldwork in China so far are welcome to take up the challenge. The gathering in Zhejiang will offer them rare chance to engage with China’s musical heritage and native fieldwork practices. Those who have already carried out extensive fieldwork elsewhere in China are equally welcome to take up this opportunity to access a rich and varied panoply of rural musical traditions in Zhejiang. Scholars with backgrounds in Sinology or Anthropology are also explicitly welcomed to list up! A team of seasoned local music scholars will join the event as guiding experts.

The meeting’s key objectives are to foster a rich cross-cultural dialogue and to make unexpected discoveries! Come prepared to find inspiration in local music cultures, to develop ideas for future in-depth research, and to build relationships with research collaborators of diverse backgrounds.

Two Itineraries

For the fieldwork segment, two distinct groups will be formed, each designated to explore a specific area within Zhejiang province:

Group 1. Central and northern Zhejiang, conducting research around Yue opera and other local music culture;
Group 2. South-west Zhejiang, conducting research about puppet shows and music in relation with traditional architecture.

Each field group will also be accompanied by a dedicated team of audiovisual experts to aid in collecting and documenting materials. The conference organizers will ensure that ethical concerns (including privacy and use of personal data) are taken into full consideration.

To avoid over-crowding during fieldwork, we aim at a conference of max. 25 to 30 participants, to be divided into groups of approximately 15 for the two separate itineraries.

The Zhejiang Conservatory of Music will serve as the central hub for keynotes, individual presentations, and collaborative discussions.

The hosting institution will provide accommodation, meals, and cover internal travel expenses related to the fieldwork to the international scholars.

Participants will be expected to cover their own travel to the conference site and back home.

Submission Guidelines

To participate in the conference, all prospective applicants are required to submit a formal application comprising a motivational letter plus a succinct (max 200 word-)biography. The submission deadline for these documents is 30 May 2024.

Ensure your submission aligns with the conference's theme and objectives.

Key Dates

Submission Deadline: 30 May 2024

Notification of Acceptance: 30 June 2024

Conference Dates: 7-12 November 2024

Join us in this extraordinary journey across Zhejiang province, where music resonates in diverse landscapes, and fieldwork unveils the stories behind the melodies.

For inquiries and submissions, please contact serratore.f@gmail.com (Francesco Serratore).

Conference Committee

Wu Fan, (Chair), Zhejiang Conservatory of Music

Francesco Serratore (Co-Chair), Zhejiang Conservatory of Music

Frank Kouwenhoven, CHIME Foundation, The Netherlands

Odila Schroeder, Heidelberg University, Germany

26th CHIME Conference

Sustainability and Chinese Music

University of Music, Drama and Media Hannover, Germany

Center for World Music, University of Hildesheim, Germany

Leibniz-Konfuzius-Institut Hannover e.V. 德国汉诺威莱布尼茨孔子学院

3-6 October 2024

This conference is supported by a ‘zukunft.niedersachsen’ grant from the Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony

THIS CALL FOR PAPERS IS CLOSED

All speakers have been notified and are registered for the event. Please double-check if your name is on the list of participants. People planning to attend the conference as listeners are kindly asked to register with the conference organizer Du Yongfei (chime.music.info@gmail.com).

Call for Papers

Sustainability and Chinese Music

Urgent contemporary challenges have brought sustainability (可持续性) into sharp focus as a basic concern across musical worlds and research into music and sound. What are the historical and contemporary threats to the vibrancy of traditions and practices in Chinese music (technological, economic, political developments) and how have people acted to secure dynamic futures (heritage work, education, advocacy)? How has Chinese music been affected by the acute climate and environmental crisis, and can it become a potent force for change? Against these backdrops, how do individual musicians and researchers build lasting careers?

We welcome the following forms of proposal engaging with the broad theme of sustainability and Chinese music:

1. Individual paper (20 minutes plus 10 minutes for questions): submit an abstract of max. 250 words

2. Panel sessions of three to four papers: submit a panel abstract of max. 250 words plus abstracts of max. 200 words for each contribution

3. Performances, workshops, film screenings or roundtable discussions: submit an abstract of 250 words; please indicate the length of the contribution.

Abstracts should include name(s), affiliation(s) and contact details of all participants.

The primary languages of our meeting are English and Chinese. We encourage speakers to bring summaries or translations of their presentations to be made available to all conference participants.

The best student paper presented at the conference will be awarded with the CHIME Award, a prize of 500 Euros and (subject to standard procedures of editing and peer review) publication of the finalized version of the paper in the CHIME Journal.

Submission

Please send the information requested to the programme committee at chime@zo.uni-heidelberg.de by 5 May 2024. (Note: this mail address includes ‘Heidelberg’, but the actual meeting will definitely take place in Hannover and Hildesheim.)

Acceptance notifications will be sent by the end of May 2024, along with confirmation of the conference registration fee and other preliminary details.

Programme Committee

Du Yongfei (Chair), University of Music Drama and Media Hannover/Center for World Music – University of Hildesheim

Michael Fuhr, University of Music Drama and Media Hannover/University of Hildesheim

Samuel Horlor, Music Dept, University of Durham, UK

Li Shuqin, Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing, China

Raimund Vogels, Center for World Music – University of Hildesheim

Zhang Boyu, School of Music, Chin Univerity of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China

The CHIME prize for the best student paper presented at the 26th CHIME meeting (on Sustainability in Chinese Music) in Hannover and Hildesheim (3 to 6 October 2024) has been awarded to Li Ziyunfei 李梓芸菲, of the Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangdong. Her paper ‘A Home Constructed by Cantonese Opera: A Case Study of Singapore Cantonese Opera Group OperaWorks Singapore’ was awarded for its clarity and its insightful presentation of how Cantonese opera first took hold in Singapore through migration, and then developed among amateur Cantonese opera groups there. In her talk, Li Ziyunfei focused on three successive generations within one artistic family, and how they met the challenges of maintaining their art in a foreign and fairly diverse environment, ultimately successful in building meaningful links between Singapore and China. She showed how her research fitted into wider scholarship on migrant traditions and the Chinese diaspora in Singapore, and argued convincingly that the specific activities of OperaWorks Singapore showcase a clear potential for further development of Cantonese opera among overseas Chinese communities, strengthening local people’s cohesion and sustaining the art.

Jury member Jun Feng (on the left) congratulates Li Ziyunfei.

The CHIME student prize consists of 500 Euros, publication of the research in the CHIME journal, and (as a special extra) free participation and coverage of travel and accommodation in the upcoming edition of Lisbon conferences on Chinese music and musical instruments, in May 2025.

The Jury for this year’s prize consisted of Feng Jun (Music Department at SOAS), who made the announcement, Samuel Horlor (Music Department, Durham University, UK), Frank Kouwenhoven (CHIME Foundation, Leiden, The Netherlands), Annie Li Huan (School of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, PRC) and Yang Kuang-Tze (Institute of Culture and Media Aesthetics, University of Hildesheim, Germany). (FK)

2025 - Cork, Ireland, 28th CHIME on 'Digital Futures for Chinese Music'

4-8 July 2025. Partners: Department of Music, University College Cork.

2024 - Hangzhou, China, 27th CHIME, 'Meeting in the Field'

7-12 November 2024. Partners: Zhejiang Conservatory of Music.

2024 - Hannover/Hildesheim, Germany, 26th CHIME on 'Sustainability and Chinese Music'

3-6 October 2024. Partners: University of Music, Drama and Media Hannover; Center for World Music, University of Hildesheim.

2023 - Heidelberg, Germany, 25th CHIME on ‘Barbarian Pipes and Strings Reconsidered — Negotiating Authenticity in the Musics of China: Transcultural Perspectives’

1-4 October 2023. Partners: Centre for Asian and Transcultural Studies Heidelberg (CATS); CATS Library; The Confucius Institute at Heidelberg University; The Museum für Völkerkunde Heidelberg. More

2023 - Lisbon/Mafra, Portugal, 24th CHIME / 6th Lisbon Conference on ‘Chinese Music and Musical Instruments’

9-13 May 2023. Partners: The Macao Scientific & Cultural Centre in Lisbon; The Municipality of Mafra; The Institute of Ethnomusicology of the New University of Lisbon; The Confucius Institutes of the Universities of Aveiro and Minho. More

2021 - Prague/Online, Czech Republic, 23rd CHIME on ‘Chinese Music and Memory’

1-3 September and 8-10 September 2021. Partners: Institute of East Asian Studies at Charles University, Prague. More

2019 - Beijing, China, 22nd CHIME on ‘Contrasts in Chinese Music’

19-22 September 2019. Partners: Chinese Music Research Institute, Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing. More

2018 - Lisbon, Portugal, 21st CHIME on 'Chinese Music as Cross-culture'

9-13 May 2018. Partners: Macau Scientific & Cultural Centre; University of Lisbon. More

2017 - Los Angeles, CA, USA, 20th CHIME on 'Festivals'

29 March-2 April 2017. Partners: Department of Ethnomusicology, University Of California. More

2016 - Hamburg, Germany, CH IME Workshop on 'Music Education in China'

17-20 November 2016. Partners: the Confucius Institute at the University of Hamburg. More

2015 - Geneva, Switzerland, 19th CHIME on 'The Face of Chinese Music'

21-24 October 2015. Partners: Confucius Institute of the University of Geneva

2014 - Venice, Italy, 'Storytellers in China'

16-19 October 2014. Partners: Cini Foundation in Venice, the Department of Asian and North African Studies of the Ca'Foscari University of Venice

2014 - Aarhus, Denmark, 18th CHIME, on 'Sound, Noise and the Everyday: Soundscapes in China'

21-24 August 2014. Partners: Aarhus University

2012 - Leiden, The Netherlands, 'Chinese Instruments and Western Museums'

13-16 September 2012. Partners: Chinese Music Archive Hong Kong; Leiden University; National Museum of Ethnology.

2011 - London, UK, 'Performing Arts in Contemporary Asia: Tradition and Travel'

6-9 July 2011. Partners: Royal Holloway University London; Asian Performing Arts Forum.

2010 - Basel, Switzerland, 'Theory versus Practice in the Music of China and East Asia'

24-28 November 2010. Partners: Swiss Festival Culturescapes and Goetheanum Dornach.

2009 - Brussels, Belgium, 'Chinese & East Asian Music: The Future of the Past'

18-22 November 2009. Partners: Europalia Festival; Musical Instruments Museum Brussels.

2008 - Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, USA, 'Music & Ritual in China and East Asia'

16-19 October 2008. Partner: Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson.

2007 - Dublin, Ireland. Theme: I sing who I am. Identity, ethnicity & individuality in Chinese music.

11-14 October 2007. Partners: University College Dublin; Chester Beatty Library.

2006 - Yulin, Shaanxi, China, 'Joining Forces. Musical Fieldwork in China'

16-29 July 2006. Partners: Music Research Institute, Beijing; Shanghai Conservatory; Yulin Culture Bureau.

2005 - Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 'Exploring China’s Musical Past'

5-9 October 2005. Partners: IIAS Leiden, Amsterdam China Festival, KIT Tropical Theatre.

2004 - Paris, France, 'Orality and Improvisation in East Asian Music'

1-4 July 2004. Partners: University of Paris IV Sorbonne; Etudes Ethnomusicologiques, Paris.

2002 - Sheffield, UK, 'Sex, Love and Romance: The Passions in East Asian Music'

26-29 July 2002. Partner: Department of Music, University of Sheffield.

2001 - Venice, Italy, 'Music & Meaning in China & East Asia: Beauty, Power, Emotions'

20-23 September 2001. Partners: Venice University, Fondazione Giorgio Cini; SOAS, University of London.

2000 - Leiden, The Netherlands, 'Performing Arts of Asia: Audiences, Patrons and Performers'

23-27 August 2000. Partners: IIAS, Dept of Cultural and Social Studies, Leiden University.

1999 - Prague, Czech Republic, 'Music in Cities, Music in Villages'

15-19 September 1999. Partners: Charles University; CCK Foundation; Academy of Music Prague.

1998 - Heidelberg, Germany, 'Barbarian Pipes and Strings'

1-4 October 1998. Partners: Chinese Studies, Musicology and East Asian Art Departments, Heidelberg University.

1997 - Leiden, The Netherlands, 'East Asian Strings'

29-31 August 1997. Partners: Society for Ethnomusicology Arnold Bake; CNWS; Leiden University.

1995, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 'East Asian Voices'

11-14 September 1995. Partners: TWM; ESEM; Rotterdam Conservatory; De Doelen Rotterdam.

1991, Geneva, Switzerland, 'Chinese Music'

29 September 1991. Partners: European Seminar in Ethnomusicology; AIMP Geneva.