Asian Americans in Classical Music
According to Mari Yoshihara there are different classifications for Asian American Classical musicians:
Asian American
Merely a descriptive rather than political/social identity
Many are sheltered in conservatories
International
“discovered” by American teachers
Immigrant Geniuses
Midori
Migrant Performers
Transnational Offspring
“Hybrid” Asians
Asian American Classical Musicians
Akira Tana
Born March 14, 1952 in San Jose California
Self taught drummer
Studied Jazz drumming
Has worked with Al Cohn, Tete Montoliu, Spike Robinson, James moody, Dizzy Gillespie
Yo Yo Ma
Born October 7, 1955 in Paris, France
Took up cello at age 4
Performed for JFK, with Leonard Bernstein by age 15
Plays in Silk Road Ensemble
Known for his smooth, rich tones and well considered for his virtuosity
Has won several Grammys for various works on albums
Midori Goto
Born October 25, 1971 in Osaka, Japan
Taught violin by her mother
Moved to New York to study at Juilliard
Legendary performance at Tanglewood at 14
Sarah Chang
Born December 10, 1980 in Philadelphia, PA
Admitted to Juilliard School at 6
By 8 was accepted to play with New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra
Kyung-wha Chung
Born Mrach 26, 1948 in Seoul, South Korea
Fame peaked in 70s when she was performing with Zukerman and Perlman
By age 9 was playing with Seoul Philharmonic
Moved to US at 13 to study at Juilliard
Margaret Leung Tan
Born in 1945 in Singapore
Studied at Juilliard at 16
Most famous for performing on toy pianos and other unconventional instruments
Pioneer in prepared piano playing
Met John Cage in 1981 and worked together for 11 years
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Definitely use our book "musicians from a different shore" to help get their opinions and insights into being Asian Americans in this genre.
ReplyDeleteLang Lang and Vanessa Mae could also go here.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lang_Lang_(pianist)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanessa_Mae
You could also talk about Classical music that has Asian themes such as Puccini's Turandot and Madama Butterfly. Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado would fit.