NEW YORK, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Educators and performers from the United States, Canada and Europe will gather in New York City next week for a two-day conference on the developments and challenges of teaching Chinese music in the West.

The discussions, which will take place on March 11-12 at Bard College, a private liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, will cover prospects for broadening the knowledge and appreciation of Chinese music among general audiences of all ages as well as music departments and conservatories throughout the Americas and Europe.

The event is presented by the U.S.-China Music Institute of the Bard College Conservatory of Music in partnership with the Central Conservatory of Music (CCOM), Beijing, the Music Confucius Institute of the Royal Danish Academy of Music, and the Center for Chinese Music and Culture at Middle Tennessee State University.

Speakers include CCOM President Yu Feng; Han Mei, director of the Center for Chinese Music and Culture, Middle Tennessee State University; Randy Raine-Reusch, Canadian composer and multi-instrumentalist; Patty Chan, music director and president of the Toronto Chinese Orchestra.

During the event, world-renowned pipa virtuoso Wu Man will also stage a performance combining traditional Chinese instrumentation with world music and Western jazz inflected elements.