Holding the key for art education

The Exchange and Cooperation Forum for International New Era Art Education was held at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing late last month, bringing together the heads of music schools, educators, musicians and students from countries including France, Spain, the United Kingdom and Ukraine, in an effort to share the collective experience of art education and promote future exchange programs.

The forum opened with a gala concert featuring the award-winning Amber Quartet performing Bela Bartok's Romanian Folk Dances rearranged by cellist and quartet member Yang Yichen, followed by The Beautiful Nalati Grassland composed by Liu Chang and performed by the Plucked Instruments Ensemble of the Central Conservatory of Music, and The Desert composed by Wei Jun and performed by guzheng player Hu Xuyuan and percussionist Bai Kai.

The forum led to the foundation of the Sino-European Alliance for Educational Cooperation in the Humanities and the Arts, a platform for international art education cooperation, and the creation of an international youth art and education center in Hainan province, according to Dong Songtao, vice-president and secretary-general of the International Education Committee of the Chinese Society of Educational Development Strategy.