The year 2012 is the 60th anniversary of South China University of Technology (SCUT)and the 8th anniversary of the School of Arts (SA). To Honor this milestone, the School of Arts of SCUT has three historically significant works published: Academic Papers of SA, Selected Musical Works of SA and Selected Musical Performances of SA (DVDs and CDs). These works, as a look back at the achievements made by the School of Arts, are essential for self-evaluation as well as for a more productive future.
Written by teachers in the School of Arts, the collected thirty-four articles in the Academic Papers of SA are all about academic studies on areas like the contemporary musicians in Guangdong, the international musicians and their works, the music and dancing education and aesthetics in higher learning institutes, and the popular music in Guangdong. Many of these papers, with their valuable insights on history or other significant topics, have never been published elsewhere. They will contribute to the academic pursuits and the growth of the School of Arts.
The Selected Music Works of SA collects thirteen pieces of chamber music composed by five instructors from the School of Arts, who are responsible for teaching music composition . These works reflect the teachers’ enthusiasm for writing music. No matter how busy they are with their teaching and academic work, they still spare time to compose music, to improve their works, and even to hold much-appreciated concerts for their newly-composed music. Their efforts have paved the way for greater achievements of the School of Arts in creative work.
The Selected Music Performances of SA (DVDs and CDs) collects some important live concert performances by the teachers of the School of Arts and by the Youth Symphony Orchestra of SCUT. These works contain significant values for their coverage of music in various styles. Moreover, they were given in the well-known concert halls in China, like the National Center For Performing Arts in Beijing, the Guangzhou Grand Theater, and Xinghai Concert Hall in Guangzhou, representing partly the higher artistic standard achieved by both instructors and students of performing-arts in their efforts to combine classroom training with real performance. Nowadays, showing the audience the recorded performances is getting popular because it offers people the opportunity to experience the on-to-spot performance again. These invaluable videos of concerts have recorded the significant moments in the history of SA, illustrating the contribution of the Youth Symphony Orchestra to the growth of SA, and presenting the teachers’ never-ending pursuits of performing arts.
The Symphony Orchestra of SCUT was established on December 28, 2005, which mostly consists of students. Over the past years it suffers from the so-called problem of “never-boiling water” caused by student mobility. However, in spite of all difficulties, both teachers and students have never given up their efforts for higher quality performances and have won great popularity among both professionals and non-professionals. With a repertoire of over 210 pieces of music, they have performed more than two hundred concerts over the years, i.e., twelve to thirteen ones each semester on average. Moreover, the orchestra has performed on many important celebration occasions in and out of Guangdong Province. To follow the National Education Ministry’s requirements for elegant arts on campus, it also performs five to seven concerts in different universities every year. These performances promote greatly the teaching and academic pursuits of SA. Good examples include the open video courses freely accessible online – Opening the door to the World of Symphony and Opening the door to the World of Operas, both of which satisfy the requirements of the Education Ministry for top-level quality courses. Another example is the completion of the course – Training and Performing Arts of Symphony Orchestras, which meets the requirements of the Guangdong Provincial Education Department for top-level quality courses.
The publication of the three collected works will definitely motivate the staff of SA to be more actively involved in their future teaching and academic pursuits.（He Ping）
