Professor Leigh Landy and Dr John Richards have both just returned from a fleeting and varied trip to China, where they visited historic institutions, gave performances and presentations, and continued work to strengthen international ties between China and De Montfort University.
John Richards presented a talk at the Shanghai Electroacoustic Music Week Festival and followed that up with a combined workshop and performance at the Shanghai Theatre Academy. He also gave a presentation on design and sound objects at the Centre for Digital Innovation, Tongji University, Shanghai. In Beijing the following week, he performed in the Miji Minifest curated by Yan Jun where he also worked with musicians and artist from Beijing. Finally, he joined Leigh Landy to present a talk at the China Conservatory in Beijing, the MTI’s newest partner.
Leigh Landy had a slightly lengthier schedule there including a talk at the Shanghai Conservatory’s Composition Department and meetings with their Dean of Sound Engineering regarding potential future collaboration. He also met with staff from the new Zhejiang Conservatory in Hangzhou (in Shanghai) and is expected to visit this new conservatoire in the spring.
He was featured composer at this year’s Musicacoustica Festival at the Central Conservatory in Beijing where he also presented a master class and sat on two juries (as well as visiting the China Conservatory). Further meetings were held with a staff member from the Xinghai Conservatory in Guangzhou where a draft proposal is being circulated including the creation of an MTI China. A further Musicacoustica concert was held in the Southeastern city of Xiamen as part of the eMac Festival there, so his new work was performed there for the second time.
Finally, he was in residence for a week at the Tianjin Conservatory where he is Visiting Lecturer. This visit included two talks, a one-composer concert and discussions with the conservatoire President concerning various forms of collaboration with DMU. Negotiations will commence in the near future to investigate which forms of collaboration will be pursued.
