Dr Xi Zhang was awarded her PhD in Music and Science by the University of Cambridge, following the completion of an MMus in Ethnomusicology at SOAS, University of London. She also holds an MA in the Psychology of Music and a BA in Music Education from Xinghai Conservatory of Music in China.

Xi’s research falls within systematic musicology by combining ethnomusicological, psychological, and computational approaches, focusing on Chinese music to explore the cultural, cognitive, and linguistic factors that shape musical practices. She is also interested in digital humanities approaches to Chinese music, with a particular focus on the role of AI technologies in connecting archival materials with contemporary musical performance and practice.

Before embarking on her doctoral studies, Xi served as a staff editor on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Xinghai Conservatory of Music from 2008 to 2014. During the same period, she worked as a research assistant and later as a research fellow at the Xinghai Conservatory of Music, contributing to three state-funded research projects and conducted experiments and extensive fieldwork across southern China.

Prizes, Awards, and Grant

  • Gerry Farrell Award | Sempre, the Society for Education, Music and Psychology Research | 2025
  • Chaozhou Study Award | International Chaozhou Studies Association | 2023
  • Music Faculty Grant for Conference Travel | 2023
  • Murray Edwards College Grant | 2023
  • ICMPC Travel Award | 2023
  • Aubrey Hickman Award | Society for Education, Music and Psychology Research (Sempre) | 2022
  • Cambridge Music Faculty funding for fieldwork in China | 2019

Publications

Refereed Journal Papers

  • Zhang X. (2024). Tones Shape Notes: The Realisation of Lexical Tones in Chaozhou Songs. Psychology of Music. DOI:10.1177/03057356231221958.
  • Zhang X. Cross I. (2024). Singers’ Realizations of Linguistic Tone in Chaozhou Song. Ethnomusicology. 68(2): 247–275.
  • Zhang X. Cross I. (2021). Analysing the relationship between tone and melody in Chaozhou songs, Journal of New Music Research, 50(4), 299-311, DOI:10.1080/09298215.2021.1974490
  • Zhang X. (2014). Re-categorisation of Chaozhou Music. Journal of Xinghai Conservatory of Music, 2014(4), 42-49. (In Chinese)
  • Zhang X. (2014). Who Am I?: Chaozhou She Song King Lei Chu-Liang’s Musical Behaviours and Self-concept. Music Communication, 2014(3), 17-24. (In Chinese)
  • Zhang X. (2014). Analysing and Interpreting of Performers’ Attitude-Behaviour Relation in the Musical Folk Activity of You Shen Sai Hui in Chaozhou. Musicology in China, 2014(1), 99-106. (In Chinese)
  • Zhang X. (2013). Chaozhou Music or Chaoshan Music: Exploring the Historical Changes of the Domain Name and Distribution of the Music. Journal of Xinghai Conservatory of Music, 2013(4), 33-42. (In Chinese)
  • Zhang X. (2009). The Audience’s Attitude Towards Chao Zhou Da Luo Gu in Folk Activities: A Survey in Yixi Town of Chaozhou City. Journal of Xinghai Conservatory of Music, 2009(4): 58-70. (In Chinese)

Book

  • Zhang X. (2017). The Social Psychology of Lingnan Chaozhou Music. Fuzhou: Fujian Education Press. (In Chinese)

Book Chapters

  • Zhang X. (2011). An Empirical Approach to the Corpus of Music in the Rehabilitation for the Elderly, In Luo Xiao Ping & Yu Jin (Ed.) Music and Psyche: The Concise Textbook of Psychogeromusicology for the Elderly (pp. 124-144). Beijing: Chinese Traditional Medicine Press. (In Chinese)
  • Zhang X. (2008). “The Investigation of Musical Behaviour in God Parade Ceremonies on 6th of Lunar January of Chinese New Year in Chaozhou City”, In Collections of Fieldwork and Research of Lingnan Music, Zhou Kai Mo ed. 2008:172-200. Xinghai Conservatory of Music. (In Chinese)

Conference Papers

  • Zhang X. Li Yukun (2024). Pitch Trajectories within Individual Notes for Sung Tones in Chaozhou. The 23rd Annual Conference of the Society for Traditional Chinese Music. Gannan, China.
  • Zhang X. Cross I. (2023). Effect of Melodic Context on the Realisation of Tones in Chaozhou Songs. ICMPC17-APSCOM7. Tokyo, Japan.
  • Zhang X. (2022). Tones Shape Notes: The Realisation of Lexical Tones in Chaozhou Songs. Sempre 50th Anniversary Conference. London, UK.
  • Zhang X. Cross I. (2021). Effect of Tone Sandhi on Singing in Chaozhou Dialect. Annual Cambridge Language Sciences Annual Symposium. Cambridge, UK.
  • Zhang X. (2021). The Relationship between Tones and Songs in Chaozhou. SEMPRE conference: Engaging and Interacting with Education, Music and Psychology Research. Keele, UK.
  • Zhang X. Cross I. (2021). Tone – Melody Matching in Chaozhou Songs: A Corpus Analysis. Cambridge Language Sciences Symposium for Early-Career Researchers. Cambridge, UK.
  • Zhang X. Cross I. (2021). The Realisation of Linguistic Tones in Singing in Chaozhou: An Observational Study. The Sixth International Conference on Analytical Approaches to World Music, 2021. Paris, France.
  • Zhang X. (2017). Speech Tones, Melody Contours and Musical Patterns: The Relationship Between Chaozhou Dialect and Chaozhou Songs. 44th ICTM Conference, Limerick, Ireland.
  • Zhou K.M., Wu D., Zhang X., Jiang X., (2013). Mixed Methods in Studies of Lingnan Music. 3rd National Conference of Higher Education Institutions on Regional Music Culture Research, November 2013, Guangzhou, China (In Chinese)
  • Zhang X. (2013). Chaozhou Music or Chaoshan Music: An Historical Explanation from the Change of the Domain Name and Distribution of Music. 3rd National Conference of Higher Education Institutions on Regional Music Culture Research, November 2013, Guangzhou, China (In Chinese)
  • Zhang X. (2011). Music in Rehabilitation for the Elderly: A Clinical Experiment. 4th Academic Conference of the Society for Music Psychology in China, July 2011, Beijing, China (In Chinese)
  • Zhang X. (2010). Interdisciplinary Perspectives of Ethnomusicology and Psychology of Music on Audiences’ Attitudes Towards Chao Zhou Da Luo Gu in Folk Activity, The Symposium of Cognitive Psychology of Music and Research Methods, November 2010, Beijing, China (In Chinese)
  • Zhang X. (2008). Audiences’ Attitude Towards Chao Zhou Da Luo Gu in Folk Activity of Yixi Town in Chaozhou, 3rd Academic Conference of the Society for Music Psychology in China, November 2008, Shanghai, China (In Chinese)