This well researched volume tells the story of music education in Japan and of the wind band contest organized by the All-Japan Band Association. Identified here for the first time as the world's largest musical competition, it attracts 14,000 bands and well over 500,000 competitors. The book's insightful contribution to our understanding of both music and education chronicles music learning in Japanese schools and communities. It examines the contest from a range of perspectives, including those of policy makers, adjudicators, conductors and young musicians. The book is an illuminating window on the world of Japanese wind bands, a unique hybrid tradition that comingles contemporary western idioms with traditional Japanese influences. In addition to its social history of Japanese school music programs, it shows how participation in Japanese school bands contributes to students' sense of identity, and sheds new light on the process of learning to play European orchestral instruments.
- ISBN10 6613456233
- ISBN13 9786613456236
- Publish Date 1 January 2012 (first published 22 October 2011)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 29 May 2012
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Springer
- Format eBook
- Pages 302
- Language English