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.
"Important and unique." - Professor Richard Colwell, Ethnomusicology
Review.
"A major contribution to studies of international music education and of
music in Japan." - Professor Bonnie Wade (Foreword to the book).
"The definitive book on Japanese wind music . . . should be in every
library" - Maestro Tim Reynish (timreynish.com/)
"A comprehensive, stunning account of wind bands in Japan . . . the most
comprehensive information about concert (wind) band participation in any
country" - Peter Gouzouasis and Alan Henderson, Music Education
Research.
"Hebert's study should be highly lauded. Seeing extracurricular club
activities in the light of Japanese studies is a perspective that I
intend to employ in my own research in the future . . . this publication
can serve as an important reference and inform the decisions of those
attempting to advance changes to the educational system." - Professor
Hiroshi Nishijima of Tokyo Metropolitan University, Social Science
Japan Journal.
"It provides an interesting insight into the successful pedagogical
techniques and methods required to cultivate collective notions of
identity and ultimately musical achievement. This book is a valuable
resource to those with interests in a number of musical and academic
fields, in particular music education, ethnomusicology and band studies.
Throughout the book the author successfully connects these different
strands and produces an accurate and engaging picture . . ." - Richard
Jones, PhD, The World of Music.
