On November 14, Massimiliano Baggio, the president of the Verdi Conservatory of Music in Milan, Italy, visited ZheJiang Conservatory of Music. President Wang Rui met with him and held discussions. Vice President Dong Dejun attended, accompanied by relevant leaders from the International Office, the Art Department, and the Department of Vocal and Opera .

At the outset of the meeting, Wang Rui extended a warm welcome to Dean Massimiliano Baggio and his delegation, and introduced Zhejiang Conservatory of Music’s (ZJCM) achievements in cultural and educational exchanges with Italy in recent years. Notably, last year ZJCM had the honor of hosting a delegation led by the President of Italy, and jointly staged the classic opera “Marco Polo” with the Venice Conservatory—deepening and concretely expressing the cultural friendship between China and Italy on the artistic stage. He emphasized that ZJCM consistently maintains an open and inclusive attitude toward international cooperation. As one of Italy’s oldest and most prestigious music academies, the Milan Conservatory “Giuseppe Verdi” possesses profound artistic heritage and outstanding teaching capabilities. The timing is now increasingly ripe for deepening bilateral cooperation, and ZJCM is highly enthusiastic about building upon this foundation to pursue broader and deeper collaboration, jointly advancing high-quality development in music education between China and Italy.

Dean Baggio sincerely thanked ZJCM for its warm hospitality and shared the itinerary and cooperative vision of this visit to China. He noted that China and Italy enjoy a strong atmosphere and vast potential for enhanced collaboration in education and culture. The Milan Conservatory “Giuseppe Verdi” has long attached great importance to exchanges and synergy with top-tier Chinese music institutions. As a benchmark institution in China’s music education sector, ZJCM impresses with its comprehensive disciplinary coverage across all areas of music, high-quality teaching resources, and excellent performance facilities. This special visit aims precisely to leverage the 2025 China-Italy University Presidents’ Dialogue as an opportunity to further strengthen mutual trust and cooperation with outstanding Chinese music institutions, continuously expanding the scope and enriching the dimensions of collaboration on the existing foundation—ensuring that outcomes of Sino-Italian music education exchanges benefit ever more faculty and students.

Subsequently, both sides affirmed their long-term cooperative vision of “stable and in-depth engagement,” planning to jointly advance collaboration in specialized fields such as orchestral studies and vocal performance, while actively exploring diverse collaborative models—including joint research initiatives and faculty exchange programs—to gradually scale up cooperation. Additionally, both parties reached consensus on using practical stage arts as a vehicle: through collaborative rehearsals and similar formats, professional collaboration between faculty and students from both institutions will be concretely realized, further promoting deep integration of Chinese and Italian cultures within the art of opera.

As one of Italy’s oldest music conservatories, the Milan Conservatory “Giuseppe Verdi” was founded in 1807 and enjoys an esteemed reputation in international music education. Zhejiang Conservatory of Music, with its comprehensive disciplinary coverage across all domains of music and its high-caliber performance facilities, provides solid support for implementing these cooperative initiatives. Moving forward, both sides will continue deepening collaboration across multiple domains, using musical notes as a bond—yielding even richer fruits from the integration of Chinese and Italian arts education.