Sichuan Conservatory of Music — guide for international students

The Sichuan Conservatory of Music (四川音乐学院) grew out of the Sichuan Provincial Experimental School of Drama and Music (四川省立戏剧音乐实验学校), founded in 1939, and took its present name in 1959. It is one of China’s independent professional music conservatories and one of the pilot institutions for the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree.

SCCM has more than 14,000 students on three campuses: the historic Wuhou campus at 6 Xinsheng Road in central Chengdu, the Xindu campus in Chengdu’s northern Xindu District, and the Linkong Economic Zone campus in Ziyang, a neighbouring city east of Chengdu. Together they cover more than 1,500 mu (about 100 hectares).

Teaching is organised in 19 departments and schools, among them Composition, Musicology, the School of Vocal Music and Opera, Chinese Instrumental Music, Piano, Orchestral Instruments, Music Education, Dance, Music Engineering, Popular Music, Accordion and Modern Instruments, Drama, Media, and Art Theory and Management, plus an affiliated arts secondary school. The university describes itself as offering 29 undergraduate majors. In June 2026 the ten bachelor’s majors of its former School of Fine Arts (painting, sculpture, animation, visual communication, environmental, product and public-art design, digital media art, art and technology, and new-media art) moved to the newly created Chengdu Academy of Fine Arts, starting with 2026 admissions. For an international applicant, SCCM is now a music, dance, drama and media school.

SCCM has admitted international students and students from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan since 2003. Its best-known graduates include the pop singers Li Yuchun (Chris Lee), Tan Weiwei, He Jie, Wang Zhengliang and Wei Chen, and the pianists Chen Sa and Wang Xinyuan.

For 2026 the Sichuan Conservatory of Music published two international admission guides on 17 March 2026, one for bachelor’s study and one for master’s study. Both programs are taught in Chinese, and you apply by emailing scanned documents to the Office of International Cooperation (ghc@sccm.edu.cn) by 15 May 2026. There is no online application portal. Both levels use one combined audition and interview in late May 2026, with no separate preliminary and final rounds. The bachelor’s audition consists of a professional (major) test and short questions about your background. Candidates outside China, or who cannot come to campus, audition by live online video. Candidates already in China can take the audition on campus. The exact format, date and repertoire are emailed to candidates in May, and the international guides do not publish set repertoire. The guides do not list majors either: bachelor’s applicants are referred to the conservatory’s 2026 undergraduate admission brochure for the majors and specialisations on offer, and master’s applicants to the 2026 master’s admission regulations on the graduate school’s website. You will receive an admission letter and a JW202 visa form only if you pass both the audition and the Chinese-language requirement. Neither guide mentions doctoral study, and SCCM’s own profile lists only master’s-level degree authorisations (one academic master’s in art studies and four professional master’s categories), so doctoral study is not open to international applicants. The international pages also list no Chinese-language, foundation or visiting-student program.

Degree programs

Select a degree level to see tuition, duration and entry requirements.

Non-degree programs

Documents to prepare

Application timeline

These are the dates Sichuan Conservatory of Music published for the 2026 intake. That cycle has closed. Use them as a guide to when each step falls in the year, and check the official pages for the 2027 dates before you plan around them.

Neither 2026 international admission guide mentions any scholarship for international students. SCCM’s international pages do not list participation in the Chinese Government Scholarship, the Sichuan Provincial Government Scholarship or a university scholarship for incoming international students; the scholarship notices on those pages are for SCCM’s own Chinese students going abroad. Plan to fund your studies yourself, and ask the office (ghc@sccm.edu.cn) whether any award is available before you apply.

Research at SCCM focuses on music and the performing arts: Chinese traditional music, the music of southwest China, music technology, composition theory and musicology. The university hosts several provincial key research platforms and, since 2013, a Sichuan provincial postdoctoral innovation practice base.

SCCM’s Office of International Cooperation runs the university’s international exchanges, study-abroad projects and international student admissions. The conservatory reports partnerships with 64 overseas universities and institutions in 23 countries and regions. Its faculty and ensembles perform and teach abroad regularly.

SCCM’s graduates work as performers, composers, teachers, sound engineers and popular-music artists across China. The university does not publish career or employment figures for international students.

SCCM’s three campuses are the Wuhou campus in central Chengdu, the Xindu campus in Chengdu’s northern Xindu District and the Linkong Economic Zone campus in Ziyang. Your admission letter tells you which campus you will study on. The university has its own concert venue, the Chuanyin City Concert Hall, as well as symphony, philharmonic, wind and Chinese traditional orchestras and choirs.

Accommodation

Dining

SCCM does not publish dining information for international students on its international pages. The Wuhou campus is in central Chengdu, a city famous for its food.

Facilities

Reach the Office of International Cooperation (对外合作处), International Students Management Office for questions about applications, documents, scholarships and arrival. Type university programs and offices are based on campus in Chengdu.