In October 2021, The 2021 Sixth IPEA International Percussion Competition was successfully held and broadcast live online worldwide. The competition is hosted by Shanghai Conservatory of Music, organized by The International Percussion Center of Shanghai Conservatory of Music and International Percussion Education Association (IPEA, founded in 2014), and co-organized by the Chinese Musicians Association Percussion Institute, Percussive Arts Society (China Branch) and Drum Corps International. It aims to promote the development of percussion education, enhance communication between international music colleges and percussion educational institutions, and create a high-level communication platform with international perspectives and standards. This year, the competition was entirely held online, including video selections and three online rounds. The jury comprises some of the best performing percussionists and educators of our time.

The contestants came from 12 different countries. Many of them came from world's premiere schools of music and institutes including Merchant Logo Geneva University of Music（The “Haute école de musique Genève – Neuchâtel”）, State University of Music and the Performing Arts Stuttgart（Musikhochschule Stuttgart Konzertexamen）, Paris Conservatory（Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris）, Frost School of Music University of Miami, Juilliard School, Eastman School of Music, Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music Katowice, National University of Singapore, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, The Catalonia College of Music（Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya),Tokyo College of Music, Senzoku Gakuen College of Music, Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Central Conservatory of music, Xinghai Conservatory of Music, Nanjing University of the Arts, Sichuan Conservatory of Music and Suzhou Symphony Orchestra. In addition, some professional musicians also participated in the competition. From the audition to the final round, three finalists were selected.

Nikolay Ivanov from France won first place in the 2021 Sixth IPEA International Percussion Competition. Xia Yuan from China won second place and Oliver Xu from the United States won third place. Chen Yi, from Taiwan, China, won the Best Chinese Works Performance Award.

As young percussionists,these young contestants are rising stars in the world who have already won several international awards. Nikolay Ivanov has won the the second place and the Most Popular Audience Award in the 2018 TROMP international percussion competition. Xia Yuan has won the first place in the 2021 The Modern Snare Drum Competition. Oliver Xu has won the first place in2021 5th PAS China International Percussion Festival.

Founded in 2014, the IPEA is jointly founded by SHCM and 14 top music institutions, including the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et Dedanse de Paris, Hochschule für Musik, the Theater und Medien Hannover, the Conservatorium van Amsterdam，the Eastman School of Music, and the Yale School of Music. IPEA aims to promote the development of percussion education and music exchanges between various international music colleges and percussion education institutions. As Initiating organization of IPEA, SHCM has done a lot of efforts and promotion work for Chinese percussion in the world. Since 2016, IPEA has held an International Percussion competition in China every year.

President of IPEA, Dean of SHCM, Professor Liao Changyong expressed that the establishment of the IPEA has always been stick on to uniting and driving more forces to produce ideas, works, talents on the global vision and international standards, making more contributions to the prosperity and development of mankind.

The executive director of IPEA, Professor Zhou Xiong says that IPEA will make good use of the global resources of IMC to promote the development of world percussion music.