Founded in 1957, it is a well-known institution of higher music in South China, focusing on music and dance disciplines, coordinating the development of related art disciplines, and a key research base for humanities and social sciences in ordinary universities in Guangdong Province

The land of Lingnan, Zhong Lingyu is beautiful, and the music culture is profound. Here, there are many famous musicians, giving birth to a number of outstanding musicians who lead the trend of modern Chinese music culture, such as Xian Xinghai, Xiao Youmei, Ma Sicong, Li Ling. Xinghai Conservatory of Music is located in Guangzhou, the cultural center of Lingnan, and is the earliest institution of higher music in South China. The school is deeply rooted in the fertile soil of Lingnan and is impregnated with the soul of Lingnan music culture, creating a spirit of inclusiveness, learning from others' strengths, openness and innovation, and forming an excellent education and teaching tradition.

The history of professional music education in Guangdong can be traced back to 1932, when the Guangzhou Conservatory of Music was founded by Ma Sicong and Chen Hong, pioneers of modern music education in China. In October 1957, the Guangdong Provincial Government established the Guangzhou Music School, which enabled the continuation of modern professional music education in the region. Subsequently, the name of the school changed several times, and it changed several times. In 1958, it was renamed Guangzhou Music College; At the beginning of 1965, it merged with Guangdong Dance School to form Guangdong Art College; In 1969, it merged with Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts to form Guangdong People's Art Institute; In March 1978, it was renamed Guangzhou Music College; In June 1981, with the approval of the State Council, it was upgraded to Guangzhou Conservatory of Music; In December 1985, in order to commemorate the Guangdong people's musician Xian Xinghai, it was renamed Xinghai Conservatory of Music.

60 years of vicissitudes of life, 60 years of passing on the torch. Xinghai Conservatory of Music has always been committed to cultivating high-quality music and dance talents, carrying forward the spirit of Xinghai, inheriting the excellent Lingnan music culture, and following the school motto of "truth-seeking, beauty, virtue and dedication", and serving the economic and cultural construction of Guangdong. In the new era and new stage, the school grasps the good development opportunity of entering the Guangzhou University Town, makes use of the rich cultural resources of Guangdong, relies on the geographical advantages of being at the forefront of reform and opening up, adjacent to Hong Kong and Macao, and integrates into the educational ecological environment of multidisciplinary coexistence in the Guangzhou University Town, formulates development plans, and strives to achieve the goal of "building a high-level, distinctive and open conservatory of music that is compatible with the economic and social development of Guangdong, has strong competitiveness in China and has a certain influence in the world", and becomes an important base for the cultivation of artistic talents in the construction of a culturally strong province in Guangdong.

The school focuses on music and dance disciplines, and coordinates the development of related art disciplines. At present, there are 18 undergraduate departments (departments), including the School of Modern Music and Drama, the School of Music Education, the School of Dance, the School of Marxism, the School of International Education, the School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the School of Popular Music, the Department of Musicology, the Department of Composition, the Department of Vocal Music and Opera, the Department of Piano, the Department of Orchestra, the Department of Chinese Music, the Department of Arts Management, the Department of Musical Instrument Engineering, the Department of Ethnic Vocal Music, the Department of Music Foundation, and the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences. Lingnan Music Culture Research Center, Art Practice Center, Social Music Education and Training Center, etc., have a key research base for humanities and social sciences in Guangdong Province, a national college student cultural quality education base (joint) and 5 experimental orchestras. The major covers various fields such as composition and composition technology theory, musicology, recording arts, music performance and dance. The school has now formed a complete discipline system integrating teaching, creation, performance and research, with a school-running level of technical secondary school, undergraduate and graduate students, and a school-running pattern with general education as the main and continuing education as the supplement. Music and dance, the first-level discipline, is a key discipline with advantages in Guangdong Province, musicology, music performance, and recording art are national-level characteristic majors, musicology, music performance, recording art, composition and composition technology theory are provincial-level characteristic majors, piano is a famous brand major in Guangdong Province, and music performance is a key major in Guangdong Province.

The school has a well-structured, high-quality, and innovative teaching team. At present, there are 667 faculty members in the school. Among the teachers, 9 people enjoy the special allowance of the State Council, 5 people have won the "Ou Yongxi Outstanding Music Education Award" of the Ministry of Culture, 12 people are national model teachers, national outstanding teachers, and national outstanding educators, and 51 people are Guangdong colleges and universities Teacher Moral Model, Southern Guangdong Outstanding Teachers, Outstanding Educators, Outstanding Trade Union Workers, etc. 1 person was included in the "New Century Excellent Talent Support Program" of the Ministry of Education, and 3 people were rated as provincial famous teachers; There are 6 people who are the provincial training objects of the "Thousand Hundred and Ten" Project in Guangdong Province, 4 people who have been selected as young cultural talents of the Guangdong Provincial Special Support Program, and 5 people who have been selected as the Outstanding Young Teacher Training Program of Guangdong Province. In the past five years, teachers have won more than 500 awards at or above the provincial (municipal) level.

The school pays attention to the coordinated development of students' knowledge, ability and quality, and emphasizes the innovative talent training model. Following the objective law of higher art education, and in accordance with the talent training specifications of "solid foundation, wide caliber, strong ability, and high quality", an innovative curriculum system of "trinity" of subject courses, humanistic courses and social courses has been constructed. Practical teaching has been strengthened, and a "four-dimensional structure" practical teaching system of art practice, teaching practice, management practice and social practice has been formed. Attaching importance to the quality of teaching, according to the characteristics of music and dance art and the goal of talent training, a strict teaching quality monitoring system has been formulated to ensure the overall improvement of teaching quality. In the past five years, students have won more than 1,356 awards at or above the provincial (municipal) level in various professional competitions, including 286 international awards, 471 national awards, and 599 provincial (municipal) awards.

The school has a beautiful teaching environment and excellent teaching conditions. There are two campuses, Guangzhou University Town Campus and Shahe Campus, covering an area of 224961 square meters, of which the University Town Campus is 189993 square meters and the construction area is 210,000 square meters. The school has modern concert halls, professional recording studios, electronic music production centers, various rehearsal halls, academic lecture halls and piano room buildings and other teaching facilities. The school library has rich collections and advanced equipment; The construction of archives management is at the national level, ranking in the forefront of universities in the province; The process of campus informatization is constantly advancing, and it is gradually building a modern and intelligent digital campus in accordance with the idea of "unified planning and step-by-step construction". The school has also established practical teaching bases in Xinghai Concert Hall, Guangzhou Grand Theatre, Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, Guangdong Song and Dance Theater, Guangdong Performance Industry Association, Guangdong Television Station, Zhuying Orchestra, Guangdong Music Troupe, Guangdong Chinese Orchestra, Guangdong Cantonese Opera Company, Guangzhou Chengtou, Pearl River Piano Group Co., Ltd., Yamaha Musical Instrument Company and other units.

The school adheres to open education and actively carries out foreign exchanges and cooperation. In the past five years, it has successively held various academic seminars such as the Annual Conference of the Western Music Society of China, the Seminar on the Teaching and Enrollment Reform of Basic Music in National Music and Art Colleges, the Xinghai Berklee Music Week, the First Lingnan Guzheng Art Festival, the Xinghai Rotterdam Music Week, the First International Music Literature Translation Seminar, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao-Taiwan Arts Management Summit Forum. Experts and scholars at home and abroad are invited as visiting professors, and famous experts and scholars from the United States, Russia, France, Britain, Germany, Japan, South Korea and other countries as well as domestic famous experts are invited to visit, give lectures and hold concerts. Symphony orchestras, Chinese orchestras, choirs, chamber orchestras, dance troupes and other performance groups and various experts and scholars have been invited to visit, perform and give lectures in various art academies abroad, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and the mainland. The school has also established inter-school exchange relations with music schools in the United States, the United Kingdom, Austria, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and other countries and regions.

As of October 2017, the university has 4,264 undergraduate students, 469 adult education students, 251 graduate students, and 655 high school students. The school recruits students from all over the country (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan), and also recruits international students. Over the years, it has attracted high-quality students, with a first-choice undergraduate admission rate of 99.6% and a freshman enrollment rate of 99.8%. Since its establishment, the school has sent more than 22,000 senior music and dance talents to the society, and they have been widely praised by the society and employers for their solid professional foundation and excellent comprehensive quality. Many of them have become the backbone of art academies, art groups, research institutes and cultural management units in South China, and some of them are well-known at home and abroad. In recent years, the employment rate of the school's graduates ranks among the top universities in the province.

After 60 years of unremitting efforts of several generations of Xinghai people, the school has developed into a music and dance education center based in Guangdong, serving the whole country and facing the world, which has won high praise from the society and has been cordially cared for and fully affirmed by the party and state leaders and provincial leaders. Jiang Zemin once wrote the name of the "Xian Xinghai Memorial Hall" for our university. Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, He Guoqiang, Zhu Rongji, Li Ruihuan, Wei Jianxing, Song Ping, Wu Guanzheng, Zhang Dejiang, Wang Zhaoguo, Li Yuanchao, Meng Jianzhu, Zeng Peiyan, Wu Yi, Raidi, Han Qide, Zhou Tienong, Chen Zhili, Ismail Amat and other party and state leaders have visited our university. Li Lanqing once went to our school to have a cordial discussion with teachers and students. Ren Zhongyi, Lin Ruo, Huang Huahua, Zhu Xiaodan, Lu Zhonghe, Wang Shoudao, Yang Yingbin, Xiao Zhiheng, Liang Guoju, Lin Shusen, Li Hongzhong, Hu Zejun, Li Yumei, Zhang Guangning, Tang Bingquan, You Ningfeng, Lei Yulan and other provincial and municipal leaders have visited our school for many times to guide the work. Kim Jong Il, former General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and Chairman of the National Defense Commission, President Pierre Nkurun of Burundi, and Hermann de Croo, Speaker of the Belgian Chamber of Deputies, and other foreign leaders also visited our school and spoke highly of the school's operation, which enhanced the school's international reputation and expanded its influence.

In the new historical period, the school should thoroughly implement the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, plan the development and reform of Xinghai Conservatory of Music with the "three concepts" of Chinese pattern, world vision and Lingnan culture, respond to and connect with the national "Belt and Road" initiative, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area strategy, and the strategy of strengthening the province with culture, adhere to the connotation development, characteristic development, innovative development and international development, build a first-class teaching team, cultivate first-class music talents, launch first-class landmark achievements, and build first-class disciplines. A world-renowned, high-level conservatory with Lingnan characteristics!