Kari Bleivik, Head of School of Popular Music and Voice, along with Jiani Yang, Senior International Recruitment Officer and Lead for China, recently visited Sichuan Conservatory of Music (SCCM), one of the top music institutions in China.
During the visit, senior leadership from both institutions held productive discussions on future collaborations and explored potential opportunities for students. They also shared in-depth, up-to-date information on course settings, the popular music environment in both countries, and how to address future technological challenges in the field.
Following the discussions, Kari delivered a lecture titled Finding Your Voice to an audience of hundreds. The session attracted significant interest and received positive feedback, particularly from SCCM’s Popular Music and Jazz students. As part of the session, four current SCCM students performed their portfolios, and Kari provided valuable, bespoke feedback to each of them.
Jiani then led a session introducing Leeds Conservatoire, bringing details of Leeds to the other side of the world. This visit marked a promising start to the partnership between the two institutions and offered Chinese students a valuable opportunity to gain deeper insights into the British teaching environment, as well as the popular music and jazz sectors.
Reflecting on the visit, Kari shared the following: "It's been great to come together and share ideas around music pedagogy, curriculum development and the use of AI in music education. It is clear that some of the challenges we face in music education are universal, and discussing them with international colleagues can bring new perspectives. It was also a pleasure to hear and work with the four masterclass students, who were all performing such distinctive performances and to such a high level."
