Preface
Introduction: A Rising Scale in Relative Minor
Chapter 1. Early Lessons in Globalization
Voices
Chapter 2. The Roots and Routes of Asian Music
Chapter 3. Playing Gender
Chapter 4. Class Notes
Voices
Chapter 5. A Voice of One's Own
Conclusion: Musicians First
Acknowledgements
Notes
Selected Biography
Index
About the Author
Why do so many Asians devote their lives to playing Western classical music?
Mari Yoshihara is Associate Professor of American Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.She is the author of Embracing the East: White Women and American Orientalism.
"It provides an excellent overview of the role that Asians have come to play in the world of western classical music. It is beautifully written, extremely lucid, and well researched." Timothy D. Taylor "A comprehensive cultural, historical and ethnographic study of Asians and Asian-Americans who pursue Western classical music in the United States...a probing authoritative survey." Publishers Weekly "Ms. Yoshihara excels at sketching out the biographies of these musicians, who also speak for themselves in large chunks of interviews reproduced verbatim...Their accounts of navigating professional and cultural pitfalls in Asia, Europe, and North America make Musicians a worthwhile purchase for anyone who's struggled with similar issues of identity, authenticity, and achievement." The Far East Review "An excellent and thoroughly realized new book...what is most remarkable about Yoshihara's study is the precise layering she finds...superbly researched, Yoshihara adds vital resonance to this subject." Philadelphia City Paper "This enlightening and informative book studies music in a social and subjective context. The art of music is here regarded as expression and communication. This multicultural study is highly recommended for students and general readers." Multicultural Review "Invaluable... Yoshihara's book illuminates the often-ignored and hidden dimensions of classical music's political economy through extensive interviews with musicians and will be of interest to scholars of oral history eager to understand how unwritten narratives unfold at angles oblique to the written canon of classical music scholarship... Oral historians will find many parts of this book noteworthy." - The Oral History Review
"It provides an excellent overview of the role that Asians have come to play in the world of western classical music. It is beautifully written, extremely lucid, and well researched." Timothy D. Taylor "A comprehensive cultural, historical and ethnographic study of Asians and Asian-Americans who pursue Western classical music in the United States...a probing authoritative survey." Publishers Weekly "Ms. Yoshihara excels at sketching out the biographies of these musicians, who also speak for themselves in large chunks of interviews reproduced verbatim...Their accounts of navigating professional and cultural pitfalls in Asia, Europe, and North America make Musicians a worthwhile purchase for anyone who's struggled with similar issues of identity, authenticity, and achievement." The Far East Review "An excellent and thoroughly realized new book...what is most remarkable about Yoshihara's study is the precise layering she finds...superbly researched, Yoshihara adds vital resonance to this subject." Philadelphia City Paper "This enlightening and informative book studies music in a social and subjective context. The art of music is here regarded as expression and communication. This multicultural study is highly recommended for students and general readers." Multicultural Review "Invaluable... Yoshihara's book illuminates the often-ignored and hidden dimensions of classical music's political economy through extensive interviews with musicians and will be of interest to scholars of oral history eager to understand how unwritten narratives unfold at angles oblique to the written canon of classical music scholarship... Oral historians will find many parts of this book noteworthy." - The Oral History Review
An associate professor at the University of Hawaii, Yoshihara (Embracing the East: White Women and American Orientalism) delivers a comprehensive cultural, historical and ethnographic study of Asians and Asian-Americans who pursue Western classical music in the United States. At age three, she began piano lessons in Japan. After moving to California at 11, she started more rigorous musical training. Passing up the conservatory, she chose to major in American studies at the University of Tokyo, eventually returning to the U.S. as an academic. This study is the result of her in-depth interviews with 70 orchestra members, soloists and university and conservatory faculty, as well as her own experiences of master classes, auditions, a recording session, workshops and some 100 concerts. Describing Asian musicians' personal histories, roots, gender dynamics, experiences and goals, she dispels common misconceptions, such as the assumption that Asians have a natural affinity for Asian music. Yoshihara's scholarly background and musicianship merge in this probing, authoritative survey. The extensive bibliography lists sources in both English and Japanese. 18 b&w illus. not seen by PW. (Oct. 28) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
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