In 1991, we made a modest start, when some thirty Chinese music freaks met in Geneva to make music and to give a few papers. Things took on a more professional turn four years later in Rotterdam, with a veritable festival of East Asian music (1995). Subsequent conferences in places like Heidelberg, Leiden, Prague, Venice, Paris, Amsterdam, Dublin, London, Basel and Yulin (China) featured an average of seventy up to one hundred participants, and the co-operation of growing numbers of composers and musicians. 

 

1991, Geneva. Theme: Chinese Music.

Partners: European Seminar in Ethnomusicology, AIMP Geneva; 29 Sept. 1991.

 

1995, Rotterdam. Theme: East Asian Voices.

Partners: TWM, ESEM, Rotterdam Conservatory, De Doelen Rotterdam, 11-14 Sept. 1995.

 

1997 - Leiden. Theme: East Asian Strings.

Partners: Society for Ethnomusicology Arnold Bake, CNWS, Leiden Univ., 29-31 Aug 1997.

 

1998 - Heidelberg. Theme: Barbarian Pipes and Strings.

Partners: Chinese Studies, Musicology and E.Asian Art Depts Univ. of Heidelberg, 1-4 Oct.

 

1999 - Prague. Theme: Music in cities, music in villages.

Partners: Charles University, CCK Foundation, Academy of Music Prague, 15-19 Sept 1999.

 

2000 - Leiden. Theme: Performing Arts of Asia: Audiences, Patrons and Performers.

Partners: IIAS, Dept of Cultural and Social Studies, Leiden University, 23-27 Aug., 2000.

 

2001 - Venice. Theme: Music & Meaning in China & E.Asia. Beauty, Power, Emotions.

Partners: Venice Univ., Fondazione Giorgio Cini, SOAS London. 20-23 Sept. 2001.

 

2002 - Sheffield. Theme: Sex, Love and Romance.  The Passions in East Asian Music.

Partner: Department of Music, University of Sheffield, 26-29 July 2002.

 

2004 - Paris. Theme: Orality and Improvisation in East Asian Music.

Partners: Univ.of Paris IV Sorbonne, Etudes Ethnomusicologiques, Paris, 1-4 July 2004.

 

2005 - Amsterdam. Theme: Exploring China’s Musical Past

Partners: IIAS Leiden, Amsterdam China Festival, KIT Tropical Theatre, 5-9 October 2005.

 

2006 - Yulin, Shaanbei, China. Theme: Joining Forces. Musical Fieldwork in China

Partners: Mus.Research Inst. Beijing, Shanghai Conservat., Yulin Culture Bureau, 16-29 July.

 

2007 - Dublin, Ireland. Theme: I sing who I am. Identity, ethnicity & individuality in Chinese music.

Partners: University College Dublin and Chester Beatty Library, 11 to 14 October 2007.

 

2008 - Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, USA. Theme: Music & Ritual in China and East Asia.

Partner: Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, 16-19 Oct 2008.

 

2009 - Brussels. Theme: Chinese & East Asian Music: The Future of the Past.

Partners: Europalia Festival, Musical Instruments Museum Brussels, 18-22 November 2009.

 

2010 - Basel. Theme: Theory versus Practice in the Music of China and East Asia.

Partners: Swiss Festival Culturescapes and Goetheanum Dornach. 24-28 November 2010.

 

2011 - London. Theme: Performing Arts in Contemporary Asia: Tradition and Travel.

Partners: Royal Holloway University London, Asian Performing Arts Forum. 6-9 July 2011.

 

2012 - Leiden. Theme: Chinese Instruments and Western Museums.

Partners: Chinese Music Archive Hong Kong, Leiden Univ., Nat. Museum of Ethnology, 13-16 Sept 2012.

 

2014 - Aarhus, Denmark. 18th Chime conference

Theme: Sound, Noise and the Everyday: Soundscapes in China

Partners: Aarhus University

21-24 August 2014 

 

2014 - Venice. Theme: Storytellers in China  

Partners: Cini Foundation in Venice, the Department of Asian and North African Studies of the Ca'Foscari University of Venice 

16-19 October 2014, Venice

   

2015- Geneva, Switzerland.19th Chime conference

Theme: The face of Chinese music

Partners: Confucius Institute of the University of Geneva

21-24 October 2015

 

2016 - Hamburg, Germany. CHIME Workshop on Music Education in China, 17-20 November 2016

Partners: the Confucius Institute at the University of Hamburg More

 

2017 - Los Angeles (CA, USA), 20th CHIME on 'Festivals' 

29 March-2 April 2017. Partners: Department of Ethnomusicology, University Of California. More

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2018 - Lisbon, Portugal, 21st CHIME on 'Chinese Music as cross-culture'

9-13 May 2018. Partners: Macau Scientific & Cultural Centre & University of Lisbon. More

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2019 - Beijing, China, 22d CHIME on ‘Contrasts in Chinese Music’

19-22 September 2019. Partners: Chinese Music Research Institute, Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing. More

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2021 - Prague/Online, Czech Republic, 23rd CHIME on ‘Chinese Music and Memory’

1-3 Sept, and 8-10 Sept 2021. Partners: Institute of East Asian Studies at Charles University, Prague. More

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2023 - Lisbon/Mafra, Portugal, 24th CHIME / 6th Lisbon Conference on ‘Chinese Music and Musical Instruments’

9–13 May 2023. Partners: The Macao Scientific and Cultural Centre in Lisbon; The Municipality of Mafra; The Institute of Ethnomusicology of the New University of Lisbon; The Confucius Institutes of the Universities of Aveiro and Minho. More

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2023 - Heidelberg, Germany, 25th CHIME on ‘Barbarian Pipes and Strings Reconsidered — Negotiating Authenticity in the Musics of China: Transcultural Perspectives’

1–4 October 2023. Partners: Centre for Asian and Transcultural Studies Heidelberg (CATS); CATS Library; The Confucius Institute at Heidelberg University; The Museum für Völkerkunde Heidelberg. More

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