Vocal education in the context of intercultural communication: Experience of teaching chinese students

Abstract

The article considers vocal education in an intercultural communication perspective, presents corresponding Polish research and experience of Chinese students training in Ukrainian universities. The result of the study is the idea of creating a kind of multi-aesthetic synthesis, where a specific association of vocal activities in different cultures will be made. One example of this is a project that will contain both the European vocal technique elements and the Chinese singing tradition in one performance. The article proves that internationalization processes in higher art education create the context of intercultural communication in the process of vocal training of Chinese students and a new trend emerges – research area of Chinese PhD students in Ukrainian universities. The studies of Chinese researchers conducted in Ukraine contribute to the achievement of the specified synthesis.

Introduction

With rapid flow of information and long-distance mobility, today’s world is becoming a “global village”, where an individual can participate in events and acquire knowledge and skills from various sources and remote locations. Identification of global social relationships that connect remote local communities crystallises in an individual in such a way that events from other places affect the history of small “homelands”.

Dynamic changes in the world create differences in young people’s educational opportunities and offer a chance to place their interests and ambitions in selected educational centres. Globalisation initiates the use of new educational techniques. Distance learning and mobility, diversity of educational offers, financial opportunities and higher education internationalization characterize modern stage of society development. With internationalization, the phenomenon of interculturally emerges.

Vocal education is a specific area of cognition that requires appropriate mechanisms and procedures to prepare a competent specialist. And that is all in spite of cultural differences or the multiple perspectives for communication.

The experience of Chinese students’ vocal education in Ukraine testifies to the growing popularity of this branch of the lush tree of higher education in this country. In recent decades, Ukrainian vocal school has become quite famous among Chinese musicians. Students from China are beginning to study vocals en masse in Ukraine, in the music academies of Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, at the vocal faculty of Kharkiv National University of Arts, at the music-pedagogical departments of well-known pedagogical universities, etc. Thus, a real dialogue of Ukrainian and Chinese cultures is emerging in the area of higher vocal education.

The aim of the article is to show vocal education in an intercultural communication perspective, based on Chinese students training in Ukrainian universities.

Literature Review

In current studies on the issues of vocal pedagogy we single out works of Polish researchers on the specificity of a human voice in the dimension of communication (A. Obrębowski (2008), A. Łastik (2002), D. Dolińska (2013) et al.), works of Ukrainian and foreign researchers of the theoretical-methodological plane (L. Gorbunova (2015), S. Krasovskyi (2019), S. Malloch and C. Tan (2016), H. Nikolai et al. (2020), N. Samoilenko (2013), U. Liedtke (2020) et al.). Special attention deserve the studies of Chinese researchers on the issues of preparing vocal teachers for schools and universities: Huang Changhao (2021) – methodological foundations of future musical art teachers’ vocal-choral training at pedagogical universities, Lin Yang (2021) – formation of the future music teacher’s readiness for artistic-interpretative activities in the process of vocal training, Li (2020) – formation of future musical art teachers’ methodological competence in the process vocal training, Lou Yu (2022) – formation of vocal-orthoepic culture of foreign master’s students in the process of preparation for professional activity, Luo Chao (2018) – methods of the future musical art teachers’ vocal training by means of personification technology, Qi Mazurowska and Boski (2014) – genre and style priorities of the professional training of Chinese vocalists at the stage of globalization, Tan Zhu (2016) – method of vocal training future music teachers in consolidation basis, Tao Rui (2022) – methodology of forming artistic-pedagogical proficiency of future voice teachers, Wang Baney J. (2004) – formation of transcultural competence of future musical art masters in the process of instrumental training, Wang Chen (2018) – method of forming the performance artistry of students of the master’s degree in the process of vocational training, Wang Jianshu (2013) – formation of vocal-performing culture of future music teachers in the process of professional training, Wu Yi fang (2012) – methods of preparing future music teachers of Ukraine and China to work in multicultural environment, Yu Huang (2021) – formation of vocal and performing mastery of Chinese students in the conditions of the educational space internationalization, Zhang Yu (2022) – students’ multicultural competence formation at Chinese universities, Zhu Junqiao (2016) – ormation of vocal culture of the future teachers of music art in the process of professional training, Zhu Junruj (2021) – formation of artistic-cognitive competence of future voice instructors using innovative technologies.

Thus, the review of scientific research shows the attention of their authors to the issues of vocal training. At the same time, the problem of generalization of scientific thought on peculiarities of higher vocal education of Chinese students in the context of intercultural communication has not been solved.

Methodology

The specified problem was solved from two angles – conducting the scientific discourse of international thought, in particular Polish and Ukrainian, regarding the individual problems of vocal education in the context of intercultural communication and generalization of the results of the relevant research of Chinese PhD students that took place in Ukrainian universities in the last decade. Accordingly, the methodology focuses on solving the following questions.

1. What is the difference between European and Chinese vocal traditions taking into account the specifics of using sound registers in vocal education of the West and the East in the context of intercultural communication?

2. What are the priorities of Chinese students receiving vocal education in Ukraine regarding the choice of repertoire using appropriate regional singing techniques?

3. What problems of vocal education are studied by Chinese PhD students within Ukrainian research area?

The article uses a number of research methods – general scientific (concretization and generalization (Polit & Beck, 2010)) and specific scientific (conceptual discourse, genetic and comparative analysis), with the help of which scientific provisions regarding the phenomenon of intercultural communication are summarized (Babbie E., 2016; Bray et al., 2014).

The methodological foundations comprise culturological, comparative and technological approaches. The culturological approach enables considering communication from the positions of multiculturalism, interculturalism and transculturality. The comparative approach gives grounds for comparing peculiarities of vocal education in general and voice formation in particular of Chinese students mastering European vocal culture. The technological approach allows considering the technology of intercultural communication in the integrity of all its elements.

Results and Discussion

Voice is an important part in the process of human communication. First of all, it is a carrier of the oral (verbal and vocal) transmission, which enables information about society to be exchanged. In many professional environments, as researchers point out, voice is a tool for everyday work and expression.

In terms of discussion, we’d like to note that the results of a comparative analysis of the European scientific thought provide numerous options for highlighting individual problems of vocal education in the context of intercultural communication. First of all, the general characteristics of the human voice attract attention. Zygmunt Pawłowski (2005), based on the phoniatric diagnostics he conducted, highlights the fact that the human voice is formed by vibrations generated by the vocal (cords) folds. For singers, voice is a musical instrument. Before reaching the recipient, the waves resulting from vibrations at a specific frequency go through the larynx, throat, mouth and other resonators, bouncing from obstacles encountered on the way. It may be modified to create a wide sound range. The high plasticity of voice makes it possible for the speaker to change the meaning of what they are talking about. This is usually done by manipulating the tone or stressing individual parts of a word or sentence. The timbre and scale of voice are personal properties and may vary considerably between individuals and nations. The tone of voice may suggest that the statement is a question, order, request or negation, even if it is not the case from the perspective of grammar. Research into the parameters of voice frequency conducted under the guidance of Andrzej Mitas (2019) proves their convergence with emotions felt by an individual, such as anger, happiness or sadness. The timbre of voice can also indicate to what extent the speaker is interested in something or what their attitude to what they are talking about is. As our observation of teachers show, voice is an extremely fragile instrument, strongly linked to emotions, relaxation or stress levels, or self-assessment. Under the influence of the environment, education and certain life experience, the individual may lose the timbre of his voice in line with his temper, or intentionally change the tone and dynamics to achieve, for example, a certain social status (Kisiel, 2012).

The scale of the human voice comprises a range of sounds produced by the human voice, which varies with respect to the person’s age (children, young people, adults), gender and type of voice. Bogumiła Tarasiewicz (2003) indicates that, the average vocal range of an adult is one and a half octaves (12 sounds), while in those who practice singing, it may extend up to three or four octaves. The most popular male voice is baritone, and the most popular female voice is mezzo-soprano, although with age adults’ voice lowers. This is due to the calcification process of some cartilaginous parts in the larynx, the experience of mass media taken over by the speakers, and also as a result of voice training. In older people, the process of change is due to the transformation of the hormonal balance, which leads to women’s voices lowering and men’s voices elevating. According to Maria Behlau and Gisele Olivera (2009), these changes affect people who operate with their voices professionally, i.e., actors and singers, to a lesser extent.

In Polish scientific literature on the subject, the significate of voice in public communication was raised by Andrzej Obrębowski (2008). Aneta Łastik (2002) also pointed to similar observations. The reports presented by the researchers contain the idea that emphasises the essence of voice as a showcase of an individual holding a dialogue, who reveals to the interlocutor whether he feels well, whether he likes the tone of his voice and likes himself. Not only words are important in a conversation, but also the strength and timbre of the voice. Many people have a problem expressing their thoughts and getting the message across in the correct way, because for example their voice is shaking or breaking at the least appropriate moment. It is possible to control everything with the proper training. It also turns out that some people manipulate their voice to achieve certain social objectives. Men who want to be dominant often lower their voice to get more obedience. They also use this measure with a woman whom they like, when they want to sound more attractive. In highly developed countries, women also take similar measures, trying to resemble men more in order to raise respect and admiration from others.

In his historical outline for Polish opera lovers, Paweł Krupka (2002) explains that the bel canto school in old Europe was probably to some extent equivalent to hatha yoga or tai chi chuan, the Asian systems of body and spirit exercise. The main difference was that the main aim of it was music, rather than meditation or combat. However, the common denominator was the pursuit of internal excellence through practising in a certain field. For members of certain Asian cultures, who have a clear voice and dominance of the cephalic register, it has become fashionable to imitate the voice of representatives of the European nations. Today, the Chinese want to master the art of European bel canto in singing. Another issue is performance of the vocal music by the “old continent” artists, where the preferred technique is the key to artistic success. The Chinese audience takes a liking to opera, symphonic music and, in general, European art and culture. It reacts very vigorously to this type of art during concerts (Wen Zhang, 2020). At this point, it should be noted that the Chinese vocal technique is based mainly on the cephalic register, so the sensory effect is completely different from that of a typical European dramatic opera. It is difficult for a Chinese opera singer to perform Giacomo Puccini’s opera in the aesthetics of verismo, and vice versa, it is hard for the European singer to sing at the Chinese opera.

Interpersonal communication is a specific art of communication between people. It is about sending and receiving information. This process occurs between two or more people. Communication usually includes an intention and meaning, that is, ability to connect with the other person and succeed in being understood. This is a process, as Joann Behlau and Oliveira (2009) points out, in which people exchange information with each other using a common set of symbols. The intentions and the set of metaphors are important in the communication process. However, what should not be ignored here is the intangible factor, i.e., feelings and emotions, as well as mimics and facial expressions, which can be conveyed either intentionally or subconsciously. The communication process is effective when the recipient understands the information transmitted to him as intended by the sender. The basic condition for this effectiveness, as Dorota Dolińska (2013) emphasises, is for the recipient to verify that he understands the intentions of the sender correctly by providing feedback to him. In order to be considered effective, it is necessary to be aware of one’s body language and consistency of that language with the words spoken.

Generalisation of thoughts in the context of intercultural communication makes it possible to claim that in personal contacts, the Chinese, unlike the Europeans, use very little gesture or facial expression. They also keep a much larger distance, usually at the arm’s length. The Europeans do not usually avoid touching, it is natural for them and results from friendliness. On the other hand, the Chinese do not like to be touched by strangers. The exception is greeting and saying good-bye, when a handshake suffices. Similar rules apply to verbalisation, especially when engaging in a conversation or commenting on someone’s statement, and in this respect, they are very reserved (Maria Giryn-Boudy, 2021). In Asian culture, it is a very important aspect to be grateful and build harmonious relationships. Research conducted by Karolina Mazurowska and Paweł Boski (2014) shows that in business relations the Chinese tend to avoid conflict, in favour of adjusting to the partner and competing with them in order to be successful.

Stephen Malloch and Colwyn Trevarthen (2009) emphasise the importance of music in interhuman communication and the significant impact of sound culture on individuals and social groups. It is assumed that this field of art has been present in people’s lives for centuries – at work, while playing and resting as well as in ceremonies. Thus, in the history of communication, as Dariusz Raś (2019, 56) points out, a belief has been established on the importance of music as “fine art that affects human spirit by organising sound structures, arranged according to certain principles, typical of particular periods of music development”. German researcher Ulrike Liedtke (2020) emphasises that music is communication in itself that takes place between musicians playing or singing, and between artists and listeners, or as a means of transmission of a message, or an affect in artistic multimedia symbioses. Music allows a dialogue, may shape it, guide it or counterpoint it. At present, it reaches its audience through the latest technological means, it is always available, regardless of time, and sometimes it is impossible to be located any longer. It is often overused by a market oriented towards opinions and advertising. From the time perspective, it seems that live music received directly by participants in a concert may be classified as a unique meeting aimed at connoisseurs. As Anna Waluga (2012) argues, singing is a constitutive element of human activity, the need to exteriorise oneself, the opportunity to fulfil oneself emotionally and express oneself, both in its most primitive manifestations and in its artistic form. Singing songs, as Stefan Erdely (1979) assures, meets both musical and psychological needs. A song in this process is used for self-identification and symbolises the bonds with community and culture.

Statements and judgements quoted in the analysis as well as reports from the research or theoretical interpretations show the specificity of the human voice in the communication dimension. They encourage researchers to address the problem of vocal education seen from the perspective of intercultural communication.

In considering the issue of intercultural communication, first of all, a terminological analysis should be conducted. The term “intercultural” has Latin origin (inter – between and cultura – processing, upbringing, education, development, etc.). Since in the modern internationalized space of higher education, students are constantly involved in a multicultural environment, on the one hand, they must be nationally conscious in order to ensure their own identity, and on the other hand, accept the diversity of cultures and understand the need to preserve their identity, that is, to be between cultures. Note that researchers in Ukraine usually use the terms “multicultural” and “intercultural” education as synonyms.

The results of the terminological analysis regarding intercultural communication give grounds to state that in the modern world the available means of communication create many opportunities for communication between people of different worldviews, beliefs and races. In the socio-cultural coordinates of the higher education internationalization, the problem of creating such an international educational space in which both national interests and individual interests could be realized is actualized. We agree with Serhii Krasovskyi’s opinion that “now none of the cultures can exist in isolation, since the culture itself is a communicative system, and according to the theory of systems – no system can develop without interaction with other systems, in this case – outside other cultural samples” (Krasovskyi, p. 66–67). The scientist’s statement that the concept of “communication” contains “a block of mechanisms, means and methods by means of which reality is transformed and developed at all levels – social, cultural, economic, political, etc.” is productive (Krasovskyi, 2018, p. 66–67).

In his turn, Antonio Perotti considers multiculturalism to be the basis of a new concept of society. The concept of a “global society” is being replaced by the concept of “nodal, network society”. The scientist believes that individuals no longer belong to a single society, but are part of numerous networks that intersect and create many possible combinations. Thus, society builds itself in the process of permanent socialization (Perotti, 1994). In our opinion, the ideas of the network society are consonant with another concept – the concept of transculturality. Regarding its interpretation, we consider important the statement of Paul Ricoeur about the need to consider humanity as a single whole, which “enters the era of universal civilization, which shows colossal progress in all spheres of life, but at the same time sets the difficult task of adapting the cultural heritage to this new state and its preservation” (Ricoeur, 2007: p. 316).

It also seems appropriate to compare the concept of transculturality with the current phenomenon of cultural hybridization, which determines, in particular, changes in the representation of such a form of identity as national. Let us emphasize that unlike multiculturalism, which establishes value equality and self-sufficiency of any cultures, the concept of transculturality assumes their openness and mutual involvement. The principle of differentiation changes to the principle of interference (the process of spontaneously superimposing the features of one culture system on another), that is, the “scattering” of the symbolic meanings of one culture in the fields of other cultures. The researchers define transcultural competence of future masters of musical art as their ability to search for and find the supranational unity of the world cultural space by means of musical art, in particular, to be aware of the artistic-figurative content of musical artifacts and interpret it in the context of modern geocultural processes, which allows masters of musical art to be in demand as teachers and instrumentalists in any country (Wang, 2022).

In this context deserves attention Zhang Youwen’s dissertation research “The students’ multicultural competence formation at Chinese universities” because it is a multicultural competence that allows Chinese students to successfully carry out intercultural communication in the process of vocal education in Ukraine. Comparison and generalization of the views of Chinese and Ukrainian scientists allows Zhang Youwen to provide his own definition of the concept of “multicultural competence”. According to the author, it is an integrative personal formation that “comprehensively combines the knowledge, skills, traits and values of a person ensuring one’s ability to interact effectively with representatives of other cultures on the basis of mutual respect, understanding and tolerance as well as the willingness to continue and to develop the diversity of cultural self-expressions in the context of a globalized society” (Zhang Youwen, 2020, p. 4).

Therefore, Zhang Youwen believes that essential features of students’ multicultural competence are the ability to effectively interact with representatives of other cultures (note that such interaction is impossible without intercultural communication) and the willingness to develop a variety of forms of cultural self-expression. As for the latter, in a discussion plane, we note that although the problem of self-expression always exists for vocalists, the main thing in vocal education is mastery of vocal technique and the ability to create convincing artistic images, taking into account the world experience of famous vocal schools.

Another aspect of the study of the problems of intercultural communication of professional musicians can be found in the dissertation research of Wu Yi fang, which concerns preparation of future music teachers of Ukraine and China to work in a multicultural environment. The author defines this phenomenon as a “process of gaining experience based on knowledge, skills and techniques that constitute a professional polycultural competence, which enables music teacher to efficiently use ethnic and artistic heritage in pedagogical and sociocultural activities within the dialogue of cultures of different ethnic groups in the context of national policy” (Wu Yi fang, 2012).

The results of analysis of a wide range of scientific sources have proved that in the international scientific space of music pedagogy, the vocal training of bachelors of musical art is characterized in a variety of ways, since it includes various types of activities – actually vocal, language, pedagogical, acting, etc. Within the framework of discussion, we note the differences in the views of scientists, which can be explained by the authors’ choice of a certain angle of consideration of the problems of vocal education. Most of them emphasize importance of the results of vocal education, such as mastering an artistic-figurative sphere of vocal works or as formed ability to create an artistic image using various means of expression (musical, vocal and verbal separately or in their entirety) and the ability to emotional-figurative revealing the musical content of a vocal piece.

The study of Chinese PhD students training experience in Ukraine revealed peculiarities of conducting their dissertation research on vocal issues. According to the results of a comparative analysis of a significant array of dissertations on the issues of vocal training of Ukrainian and Chinese specialists in the field of musical art, it has been found that in the first decade of the 21st century, this problem is actualized in the research of postgraduate students from China, who study at pedagogical universities of Ukraine, majoring in 13.00.02 – theory and methods of music education. One of the first significant studies is the work of Wang Jianshu (2013), in which the specifics of the future music teachers’ professional training regarding formation of their vocal-performing culture are determined.

During this period, the defence of these dissertations was carried out in one Specialized Academic Council at M. P. Drahomanov National Pedagogical University. Only later, a similar Specialized Academic Council was opened at Sumy State Pedagogical University named after A. S. Makarenko. It is in the latter that Chinese students who completed postgraduate studies at South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University named after K. D. Ushynsky began to defend their dissertations on the problems of vocal training.

The issues of intercultural communication and vocal training of specialists are also considered in the studies of postgraduate students within other specialties. Mainly relevant investigations are carried out in specialty 13.00.04 – theory and methods of professional education (e.g. Zhu Junqiao (2016) “Formation of vocal culture of the future teachers of music art in the process of professional training”. It should be noted that in this specialty, Chinese vocalists are defended significantly less than in specialty 13.00.02 – theory and methods of music education.

It should be emphasized that since 2016, when the 4-year PhD students training was introduced in Ukraine in accordance with the European system of higher education at its third level, the problems of vocal training began to be investigated within the scope of the specialty 014 Secondary Education (Musical Art). In the 20s of our century, the defence of dissertations for obtaining PhD degree in this specialty began actively. Vocal education problems prevail in the studies of Chinese PhD students who study at South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University named after K. D. Ushynsky. Among them, we can mention the dissertations of Zhu Junruj (2021) “Formation of artistic-cognitive competence of future voice instructors using innovative technologies”; Yu (2022) “Formation of vocal and performing mastery of Chinese students in the conditions of the educational space internationalization”; Tao Rui (2022) “Methodology of forming artistic-pedagogical proficiency of future voice teachers”). In all above-mentioned dissertations of Chinese PhD students, certain aspects of intercultural communication in the process of vocal education were studied.

It is noteworthy that with appearance of postgraduate students from China in Ukrainian pedagogical universities, the topic of vocal training begins to be actively explored precisely in their studies.

In addition, one of the serious dissertations on the genre and style priorities of professional training of vocalists from China at the current stage was defended in the specialty 17.00.03 – musical art at Kharkiv National University of Arts – “Genre and style priorities of the professional training of Chinese vocalists at the stage of globalization” (Qi, 2018).

In this context, interesting is Qi Mingwei’s (2018) interpretation of the basic concept of his study – “genre and style priorities”. The author proves that Chinese students who study in Ukraine demonstrate certain priorities in choosing a musical repertoire. According to Qi Mingwei, Chinese students in Ukraine learn European vocal art through mastering the diverse repertoire included in educational programs. Their compilers – leading vocal teachers – emphasize that on the threshold of the new century, paradigmatic changes are taking place in vocal pedagogy, in particular, the transformation of musical language and conditions of vocal-pedagogical communication, which are influenced by the polystylistics of the composer’s thinking and complication of the principles of formation in updated vocal genres. Therefore, modern pedagogical practice can no longer rely only on historically established traditions of academic singing. Thus, certain genre-cultural “genotypes” are mandatory components of the repertoire in the “Solo Singing” Program of Kharkiv National University of Arts, taking into account the specific weight of the Chinese contingent: a folk song that embodies the mental “genocode” of various national cultures (Ukrainian solo singing, Italian song; Chinese solo song, etc.); classical song (Austro-German, romantic); arias of different types (e.g. a baroque or elaborate aria from operas of the 19th century, which differ as representatives of the Italian, German, or French school); samples of intellectually sophisticated lyrics of the 20^th century, which are usually studied in concert and chamber singing classes, in particular, vocal cycles of B. Britten, G. Mahler, D. Shostakovich, etc.).

Note that in the vocal-pedagogical communication with Chinese students, the teachers remain in the traditional positions of the Italian vocal school. Mastering the classical repertoire of the European bel canto tradition remains the first priority. Among Chinese researchers, the prevailing opinion is that the vocal technique (school) is original foundation, and artistic content is a derivative, which depends on the experience and technical skill gained by the vocalist. According to Qi Mingwei, although mastering the vocal Olympus involves assimilation of foreign traditions, national priorities remain indisputable and original in vocal performance (Qi, 2018). In the context of intercultural communication, the researcher emphasizes importance of the expression of “national images of the world”, in particular the “Chinese image of the world”, and stable attention to song samples of the national vocal tradition (ibid.).

We believe that in music, the main communicative function is carried by sound images of the world, which become the basis of the intercultural worldview of PhD students in the dialogue “East – West”. In this connection, let’s emphasize the significant communicative potential of the song genre, since it is the primary meta-genre, the original form of intonation, and it is the folk song that carries national image of the world. In terms of communication, the song genre remains the most popular in almost all historical eras. Its ability to modify in various aesthetic and communicative forms of both high, academic art and mass cultural, popular art is impressive.

So, in intercultural communication, the song genre can become a representative of the vocal music of different countries. Chinese students master it in different versions. Thus, the German lied and the French chanson are characterized by the advantage of metrical regularity. At the same time, Ukrainian solo singing is characterized by: sonority as a sign of the national musical style, cantilence, the priority of melody over metro-rhythm (with the exception of dance samples).

Conclusion

Generalization of the scientific thought regarding higher vocal education of Chinese students in the context of intercultural communication proved the need to take into account the difference in the vocal traditions of China and Europe. For the European nation, speaking with a voice that uses lower sound registers and singing with warm baritone or alto creates a feeling of security, seriousness and dignity, and gives a feeling of contact with a competent person who believes to be right. As a rule, the treble voice irritates young listeners in particular, creates a funny situation, does not encourage to be focused or have serious relations.

The dominance of the high register in voice is more oriented towards mixed, strange, volatile and surprising feelings, which relate to exotic, ephemeral or celestial forms. In artistic music, the treble is mainly used in boys' choirs and popular music. In folk art, the high-level voice timbre may be referred to the technique of the so-called white voice, where the brightness and intensity of the sound are superior to careful controlling and mastering the timbre and articulation.

The result of the research is the idea of creating a kind of multi-aesthetic synthesis, where a specific association of vocal activities in different cultures will be made. One example of this is a project that will contain both the European vocal technique elements and the Chinese singing tradition in one performance. We believe that this idea can be successfully incorporated into the process of academic vocal education.

One of the most important aspects of intercultural communication of Chinese students in Ukraine is acquaintance with European vocal art through mastering the diverse repertoire included in educational programs. In vocal-pedagogical communication, teachers prefer classical examples of the European bel canto tradition, which is based on the achievements of the Italian vocal school. Ukrainian “solosinging” with its incredible melodiousness as a sign of the national musical style acquires special importance in the repertoire of Chinese students.

The significant communicative potential of the song genre, its ability to be modified in various aesthetic and communicative forms of both high, academic art and mass cultural, popular art, has been revealed. In intercultural communication, the song genre becomes a representative of the vocal music of different countries.

The internationalization processes in higher education create the context of intercultural communication and a new trend emerges – research area of Chinese PhD students in Ukrainian universities. Of particular importance in this context are the results of our joint research within the Odessa Scientific School, in which the problems of vocal education are solved taking into account its intercultural contexts.

In the presented article, the main attention was focused on the peculiarities of vocal education of Chinese students in Ukraine, when work on voice training allows them to understand the intercultural contexts of the singer’s communication with the audience and master the basics of vocal technique of various European schools. A scientific discourse on highlighting certain aspects of the specified problem in the research of Chinese graduate students of Ukrainian universities was presented. However, the issues of the education of foreign students in culturally different conditions remained insufficiently covered, which we plan to address in the next publications.