Co-organized by the School of Innovative Design at City University of Macau and the School of Music at South China Normal University (SCNU), the “Twin-City Resonances · Guangdong–Macao Echoes” Exchange Concert and the Third Guangdong–Macao Doctoral Forum in Musicology took place on October 24–25, 2025. Building on multiple rounds of collaboration, the event was jointly advanced by faculty and students from both institutions. Professor Dai Dingcheng and Professor Kong Yilong served as academic advisors to the forum and artistic directors of the concert. The chief planners were Long I-Ian and Huang Xiying, supported by an administrative team from both universities. The event aimed to highlight each institution’s strengths and achievements in performance and research, promote discipline development among Guangdong–Macao universities, and further strengthen close exchange and cooperation between the two schools.

On October 24, the “Twin-City Resonances · Guangdong–Macao Echoes” Exchange Concert was staged at the University Town Concert Hall of South China Normal University. The program gathered highly accomplished, nationally recognized musicians and young scholars from both universities, presenting a cross-cultural selection of Chinese and Western works. Highlights included: Gao Yang (CityU Macau, PhD Class of 2024) performing “Yunshang Su” with the SCNU Chinese Orchestra, evoking vivid Eastern imagery; Zheng Qiaochu (PhD Class of 2025) and Xue Congyu in “Musical Impressions,” a pair of miniatures for clarinet and piano that sketched delicate, imaginative scenes; and Wang Zhe (PhD Class of 2025) with Xue Congyu in the guqin–piano duet “Mist over the River,” embodying an “East–West, ancient–modern” fusion.

In the second half, tenor Fu Haotong (PhD Class of 2025), with Wang Yuan at the piano, delivered “Da Jiang Dong Qu (The Great River Flows East)”—majestic and stirring; Chen Jie (Qiaofeng) (PhD Class of 2025) offered a percussion solo, “Marimba Concerto: Movement I,” crafting a sound world at once nuanced and full of tension; and Lü Jia (PhD Class of 2023), with piano by Long I-Ian, performed “Paganini: Variations on the ‘Moses’ Theme,” displaying both depth of feeling and virtuosic command. The hall resounded with enthusiastic applause throughout. More than a stage exchange, this “Guangdong–Macao Echo” also served as a living linkage between teaching, creation, and research.

On October 25, the Third Guangdong–Macao Doctoral Forum in Musicology was held in the Academic Lecture Hall of South China Normal University, featuring presentations by outstanding doctoral candidates from both universities. Li Zhicheng (PhD Class of 2023) delivered “Defining Guqin Lineages via Cavity-Tone Characteristics,” proposing a distinctive method supported by solid evidence; Xue Yanfang (PhD Class of 2024) presented “Sichuan Qingyin and Jinqianban: Urban Musical Change amid the Decline of Teahouse Culture,” offering fresh insights into urban musical transformation; and Gao Shuo (PhD Class of 2023) discussed “A Paradigm of Early Baroque Chromatic Keyboard Works—Sweelinck’s Chromatic Fantasia,” a rigorous contribution to Western music theory analysis. With differentiated research routes and methodologies, the participants broadened research horizons and substantively deepened cross-institutional collaboration.

Concluding under the principle of joint planning and faculty–student synergy, the “Twin-City Resonances · Guangdong–Macao Echoes” Exchange Concert and the Third Guangdong–Macao Doctoral Forum in Musicology came to a successful close. As a co-organizer, City University of Macau will continue—within the established collaborative framework—to deepen cooperation with SCNU’s School of Music; advance joint research and teaching practices focused on Guangdong–Macao arts and humanities; expand normalized channels for inter-campus tours, workshops, and graduate training; and build a sustainable, integrated “research–stage–education” platform to serve cultural development and public-arts outreach in the Guangdong–Macao Greater Bay Area, further enhancing the university’s academic influence and social contribution in the arts and increasing the public-service visibility of Guangdong–Macao higher education.

(Author: Zhang Yaqin, PhD student, Class of 2025, City University of Macau, Arts—Musicology)