The Department of Traditional Chinese Music boasts itself being part of the ‘national first-class undergraduate construction major’.

Adhering to the school motto of ‘Striving for Excellence’, the spirit of ‘Diligence, Excellence, and Solidarity’, and the positioning of cultivating excellent national instrumental music performance professionals for China, the department endeavors to build a high-standard comprehensive talent cultivation model that integrates teaching, research, creation, and performance and contribute to inheriting, developing and carrying forward traditional Chinese music culture.

The department comprises four professional teaching and research faculty teams: 1) Plucking", 2) String Pulling, 3) Wind and Percussion, and 4) Art Practice. It has established the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music Chinese Orchestra and Zhejiang Conservatory of Music Youth Chinese Orchestra, and three research institutes (Zhao Songting International Bamboo Flute Art Center, Erhu Research Center, and Jiangnan Sizhu Music Research Center). With 16 research orientations, the faculty of the department currently boasts 6 professors, 1 foreign distinguished professor, and 7 associate professors. It has 20 postgraduate supervisors.

Bearing in mind the fundamental task of cultivating talents with professional and moral excellence, the department adheres to deepening reform and promoting innovation. Taking the platforms of Chinese Orchestra Academy, Chinese orchestras, Chinese Chamber Orchestra of Zhejiang Conservatory of Music and other practice groups, the department has been working to combine classroom teaching with the practical performances. Thanks to these efforts, fruitful results have been made in talent training, teaching development, theoretical research, which have enhanced the department's academic strength and social influence. Through such platforms as ‘Chinese Music Art Festival’, ‘Chinese Music Art Week’, ‘Chinese Music Classroom’, and ‘Weekly Concert’, the department has been striving to promote Zhejiang's traditional culture with a focus on Jiangnan music style, give a modern take on Chinese music, create excellent art performances, and exhibit its achievements in teaching and talent training. The department has held diverse activities such as the ‘Sun of the East’ concert series, the ‘Great Music Celebrates Harmony’ concert series and the National Chinese Orchestra Leaders' Forum. The teachers and students of the department have participated in hundreds of important performance and academic exchange activities at home and abroad, and ever won awards at many important competitions in China such as the Chinese Golden Bell Award for Music, the Wenhua Art Academy Awards, the CCTV China Instrumental TV Competition, and the National College Students Art Festival. Moreover, the department has more than ten projects obtaining subsidies from the China National Arts Fund, one course winning the title of the National First-Class Undergraduate Course, and multiple provincial and ministerial projects for scientific research, teaching reform, and course development. In addition, the department has published several papers in first-level core journals and compiled several monographs and textbooks.