The Academy as an Engine: The Role of Professional Education in Sustaining Chengdu’s Jazz Ecosystem

Abstract

This study explores the evolving ecosystem of jazz music in Chengdu, China, from 2010 to 2025 and the implications of professional education in sustaining the regional musical ecosystem. While historically, China’s jazz scene was confined to the country’s coastal cities, Chengdu has become a notable center due to its jazz scene and innovative model of institutionalization. This study attempts to integrate and examine the jazz ecosystem in Chengdu and the role that the professional education system plays in maintaining and defending the ecosystem of this niche art form against global music market volatility. The researcher chose qualitative methodologies to capture the local scene’s socio-cultural and musicological complexities. Using purposive sampling, 15 key informants were selected from three groups: 1) Academic and Creative Analysts from the Western Music Department of the Sichuan Conservatory of Music (SCCM), 2) jazz scene business owners, and 3) informal performers and audience participants. Primary data collection tools included a semi-structured interview guide on creative philosophies, an observation guide for the live performance venue, and a musicological study of 15 original jazz compositions and their arrangements. The Chengdu jazz development theory suggests that it developed as a spontaneous jazz ecosystem, followed by a jazz ecosystem consolidation, a mature ecosystem, and then a solidified ecosystem with an academic focus. The study identified the academy as the primary ecosystem engine, with 80% of ecosystem practitioners being current, active and institutionalized. The post-pandemic commercial venue closures devastated jazz, leaving the conservatory as the only resource and the last commercial or indigenous jazz venue, due to digital pedagogy and creative indigenous content. For global cities to develop the jazz ecosystem, the study shows that institutional pedagogy acts as a market stabilizer and cultural guardian. This research shows urban planners and music educators how to use formalized education as a tool to ensure cultural sustainability and innovative self-industry in the 21st century.