Music education and musical experiences in Hong Kong

In the last two decades, educational and curricular reforms in Hong Kong have been designed to prepare students for the challenges following the return of Hong Kong's sovereignty from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China in 1997. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government has repeatedly emphasized the importance of the development of national identity and patriotism in school education, and has at the same time introduced Chinese cultural values into the school curriculum. This article explores how the dynamics and complexity of the relationships between the state and cultural identity in Hong Kong are re-shaping music education and music experiences in response to contemporary sociopolitical changes. The first problem for the HKSAR is how to incorporate Chinese music into a Western-orientated music curriculum; and the second is how to cultivate national identity and social harmony through school music education. Questions of how to integrate such musical experiences in school music education will remain a challenge for the future.