Bulletin No. 1, 2010

Humanities · Humanity · Humankind  11 departments is Chinese music and tradition. Most music in a globalized world emphasizes Western music.’ Besides teaching, the department organizes regular colloquia and concerts for the University and the public. Student ensembles, choir concerts and other events are held semi- regularly throughout the year. And well-known musicians and artists from Hong Kong and the world come to perform on campus from time to time. The department also hosts visits by students. ‘We don’t anticipate all of them becoming music majors, but we want them to know more about music. Knowing music is not just about knowing your instrument. It means understanding it within the social and historical context,’ explained Professor McClellan. The depar tment has two repositories of valuable archival materials—the Chinese Opera Information Centre (COIC) and the Chinese Music Archive (CMA). The CMA does a lot of work that interfaces with the community. It organized the first Hong Kong symposium on guqin in 2008. It produced CDs on blind naamyam singer Dou Wun, developed material to support the new secondary school curriculum, and produced scholarly publications. The COIC is home to one of the world’s most important collections of historic Chinese opera materials, including libretti, costumes and stage photos donated by opera diva Pak Suet Sin. Research in the department falls into four main areas: composition, history, theory and musicology. But these sub-disciplinary borders are breaking down as research increasingly takes the form of a multi-faceted kind of humanistic study. For example, ethnomusicology methods are applied to the study of history. ‘My teacher told me that whatever instrument you’re playing, you should aspire to sound like the human voice. We’re all singers in some way or another,’ concluded Professor McClellan.