Crossing the boundaries: image and reception of Chinese musicians playing with the Shanghai Municipal Orchestra, 1924-42

Abstract

Development of Shanghai into a cosmopolitan city in the early twentieth century made it a place filled with opportunities not only for the Westerners, but also for the Chinese. The city became more opened and allowed freer movements of people both geographically and socially. At the time when the Municipal Orchestra was flourishing as a cosmopolitan construct, Chinese gradually emerged on the concert stage and made themselves seen and heard. The first Chinese soloist performing with the orchestra was the 17-year-old violinist, Sitson Ma, in 1929. Since then, Chinese slowly participated in various activities of the orchestra. This paper focuses on the Chinese musicians performing with the Municipal Orchestra during 1929-42, including Sitson Ma, Mary Shen, Lois Woo, Leonora Liao, Wei Zhongle, and Zhao Meibo. We shall examine their repertories, their images as depicted in the newspaper, how the concerts were promoted, as well as the reception of their performances in both English and Chinese media. An attempt will be made to suggest possible reasons behind their endeavors. Here, they probably accepted Western music as a universal standard and strived to attain that level, thus gaining recognition of the Western audience. Some others also sought to introduce Chinese music and instruments in these collaborations. From the contrasts between how the English and Chinese press approached the concerts, we shall see the diverse attitudes between and within the two communities. While Chinese were generally supportive, the Italian conductor’s enthusiasm in bringing Chinese soloists seems to be diluted by the indifference of Western audience. Promotion of the concerts in these papers also shows that a concert appealing to one group failed to draw comparable attention from the other. The collaboration between the Chinese soloists and the Municipal Orchestra actually failed to achieve the blending of the East and West as it appeared.