From 3 to 6 October 2024, the 26th International CHIME (Chinese Music Research Europe) Conference on "Sustainability and Chinese Music" took place at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media and the Center for World Music at the University of Hildesheim. This conference was supported by funds from the "Zukunft.Niedersachsen" funding programme of the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture and co-organised by the Leibniz Confucius Institute Hanover. The keynote speakers were Prof. Dr Huib Schippers, Prof. Mei Xiao from the Conservatory of Music Shanghai and (Assistant) Prof. Chung-Yuan Yu from Quanzhou Normal University, China. Dr Yongfei Du was in charge of the conference organisation.

Over the course of four days, more than one hundred scholars, researchers, musicians, cultural practitioners and students from China, Turkey, the United States, Australia and Europe came together to discuss and exchange ideas on the "Sustainability of Chinese Music Cultures" and "Chinese Music in the Context of Cultural Sustainability". This current and future-oriented discourse is based on an interdisciplinary exchange between the fields of ethnomusicology, music composition, global history, systematic musicology, historical musicology, ecomusicology, sinology and African studies. The lectures covered a variety of research topics and dealt with the economic, ecological and social aspects of human existence, including in relation to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations for the protection of ecological livelihoods as a basis for social stability and economic prosperity.

At the beginning of the conference, the guests were welcomed by Prof. Dr Michael Fuhr (CWM/HMTMH), Prof. Oliver Wille (Commissioner for Art, HMTMH), Prof. Dr Stefan Weiss (HMTMH), Bettina Gries (Leibniz Confucius Institute) and Frank Kouwenhoven (CHIME). The two Hanoverian musicians Omid Bahadori and Naranbaatar Purevdorij, two graduates of the musik.welt programme at the CWM, then introduced the audience to the world of Mongolian-Persian sound fusions in their small opening concert.

In order to promote exchange on the topic of musical sustainability with global aspects and to discuss methodological approaches of "Applied Ethnomusicology", a lecture panel on the topic of "Sustainability and World Music" took place, in which the following scientists participated: Prof. Dr Raimund Vogels with the lecture "Cultural Sustainability at the University of Music, Drama and Media Hanover (HMTMH) and Center for World Music of University Hildesheim (CWM)", Prof. Dr Sarah Ross with "Architectures of Knowledge: Sustaining Jewish (Musical) Heritage" and Dr Sebastian Hachmeyer on "From Native Bamboos to Indigenous Flutes: Applied Ecomusicology and Sustainability in Highland Flute Making in the Bolivian Andes" (CWM).

Prof Dr Huib Schippers spoke as keynote speaker on "Sustaining Sound Practices: Music as Intangible Cultural Heritage in China". In his lecture, he not only presented his theoretical concepts on musical sustainability, but also underpinned his argument - "China has a unique position in the world in terms of its engagement with music as Intangible Cultural Heritage" - with his many years of teaching experience in China. In her lecture, Prof Mei Xiao discussed "'Place-space tensions'-Sustainability in Traditional Music of Ethnic Groups in China". Using case studies of different ethnic groups in China, she showed that the "new spaces" created by musical practice do not form a geographical contrast between "country" and "city", but must be understood as a "text" with deep cultural meaning. Prof. Chung-Yuan Yu conducted a workshop entitled "The 'Vocalised Heterophony' of Quanzhou Nanyin, and its Transformation in Contemporary Music", which was followed by a concert with HMTMH students. Questions about the sustainability and preservation of the Nanyin music genre were thus vividly conveyed to the audience.

The CHIME Student Paper Prize, endowed with 500 euros and funded by the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media and the Center for World Music at the University of Hildesheim, was awarded for the first time at this conference. After intensive deliberation by the evaluation committee, the prize was awarded to Li Ziyunfei, a fourth-year student in the Department of Musicology at the Xinghai Conservatory of Music (Guangzhou, China). Her presentation at this year's conference was entitled "A Home Constructed by Cantonese Opera: A Case Study of Singapore Cantonese Opera Group OperaWorks Singapore".

Report by Dr. Yongfei Du