If with the help of the reform and opening up drive since the end of the last century many Chinese composers had almost raced to enter the new era under the influence of modern Western music trends， they are nowadays entering the "middle age" in their composition career， capable of encountering contemporary cultural and artistic trends of the world in a calm and steady manner while in the meantime absorbing whatever useful from foreign music cultures and restoring their self-confidence in the cultures of their own. This appears to be the most obvious transformation in the history of modern Chinese music composition.

Zhu Shirui's chamber music piece for Chinese instruments "Water Thoughts II" （for Erhu and Guzheng） symbolizes in a more explicit way the state of "rebirth" in comparison with the period right after his return to China from abroad when he was so eager to integrate the Chinese music into the outside world by applying modern Western techniques. His thoughts used to be something very common among those composers who have experienced the stage of "cramming up on Western composing techniques" in the late 20th century. The composer himself has obviously worked hard in discovering and displaying the character， nature and potential of these two instruments， and moreover， he deserves to be called a great master of Chinese music composition. This work is endowed with the sense of modernity and the contemporary composing techniques， but without any intention of imposing them upon the audience. For this I feel a great relief. The most remarkable is the virtuosity in the Allegro Movement， in which， instead of forming the quick bow by putting to gether the musical scales of both erhu and violin in a very simple way we used to adopt， he takes into full consideration erhu's special performing features such as the open string positions and upward or downward glissando when composing the part of quick bow. This is what foreign composers would not be able to do.

In the first few years after he came back from his overseas studies， Jia Groping composed some works which some Chinese audience would find difficult to understand. But after over ten years' hard work， his new composition "Tranquility in Breeze" in the form of contemporary chamber music for Chinese instruments shows his more experienced techniques and realizes a more profound fusion of both traditional Chinese music and modern Western composing techniques.

A Review of the Series of Activities in

Celebration of the 85th Anniversary of the

Shanghai Conservatory of Music

On the autumn days of beautiful sunshine and falling leaves from November 26 to 28， 2012， the Shanghai Conservatory of Music， the first professional music institution ever in China which has a long standing reputation both at home and abroad， celebrated the 85th anniversary of its founding. The celebrations include a series of events with so rich content in varied forms， such as celebration ceremonies as well as as academic and artistic activities， that they provide a panoramic profile of what the conservatory has achieved in composition， performance， education and theoretic research in a domestic leading level.

The major event was the conference in celebration of the conservatory's 85th anniversary at He Luting Concert Hall on the afternoon of November 26 with participation of the conservatory's leading figures， faculty and staff， student representatives， some retired workers and alumni. The host of the conference first read out a congratulatory letter to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music from the Art Bureau of the Ministry of Culture， which expressed their congratulations for the conservatory's 85th birthday and for its latest achievements and great teaching traditions， and encouraged the school to create a brighter future in its construction and development.

Then the President of the Conservatory Prof. Xu Shuya delivered a speech on behalf of its leading body. He first expressed his deep honour and tribute to those pioneers who made outstanding contributions to the development of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music such as Cai Yuanpei， Xiao Youmei， Huang Zi， He Luting， Ding Shande and Sang Tong. Then he reviewed the latest achievements that the conservatory has made over the recent years， presented an overview of the newest developments in such fields as campus construction， "085" Capacity Building Project， subject programme construction and talent training. He thanked those of the faculty and staff working at the grassroots level and all the retired who have contributed their best years to the conservatory's growth. Finally， the conference concluded with a ceremony of honoring with rewards those faculty and staff members who won prizes at various music competitions or were awarded prestigious titles during the recent years. All the faculty and staff members who have worked in the conservatory for over 30 years received certificates of honour from the school management.

On the same occasion of celebrating the 85th anniversary of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music， the National Forum of Music Conservatories Presidents was held in Shanghai. Presidents， Party secretaries-general， experts and scholars from nine music conservatories and six academies of arts gathered at this summit meeting in presenting an overall picture of education level and teaching and management achievements of all the professional music conservatories in China. Focusing on the theme of further developing the art studies and making more innovations， the forum discussed such issues as discipline planning and construction， talent training modes and education objectives in the present situation of upgrading the art studies to an individual department of disciplines. When facing the same problems in the discipline construction and content development， the participants from all the conservatories shared with eath other their new thoughts on the development of art studies， and their suggestions and advice on how to develop professional music education in the country.