The Well-Tempered Ear

Why are Asians dominating Western classical music?

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By Jacob Stockinger

The month of May is Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage month in the U.S.

And here is a perfect story to provide questions and raise issues that pertain to that theme as it figures in classical music.

We have not seen many of them booked for concerts locally, but perhaps you have noticed how so many Asian musicians, particularly pianists, have been winning major competitions.

Those competitions include the Van Cliburn (Korean Yunchan Lim, below top), the Chopin (Chinese-Canadian Bruce Liu, below bottom), the Tchaikovsky, the Arthur Rubinstein, the Queen Elizabeth of Belgium, the Leeds Competition, the Geneva Competition and many others that are less famous.

Perhaps you have also noticed how we hear more Asian opera singers at the Met and more Asian string players in orchestras around the world.

More Asians also seem to be studying and performing in lower and higher educational institutions and organizations. 

And perhaps you, like The Ear, have wondered what is behind that trend?

Here is a terrific first-person story — with research, details, photos and performance videos – written by a Canadian musician of Japanese descent that appeared on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

But The Ear thinks it could easily apply to the United States, Australia and other non-Asian places and cultures.

Here is a link:

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbc.ca%2Fmusic%2Fwhat-s-behind-the-predominance-of-asians-in-classical-music-1.6846375&data=05%7C01%7C%7C852fdf58ce64492a4c6008db5e04e9c4%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638207147418451193%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=JNR5H4OH26QHqKlknDNTeQtjzcqfO%2BCKcMpLfvNuzUE%3D&reserved=0

Do you think this story applies to Asians and Asian-Americans in the U.S.?

If you yourself are an Asian or Asian-American musician or music student, do the observations and analysis in the story ring true to you own experience?

Do you have other thoughts to add about the cultural reasons for the surge of Western classical music in Asia and among Asians elsewhere?

Are there important lessons here for non-Asian people and places?

The Ear wants to hear.