A Tale Of Two Cultures:The Development Of Piano Education In China And The United States

The realm of piano education,even though cultivated originally in Europe,has become so integrated into the musical fabric of the world's cultures that it becomes easy to forget the differences of histories and cultures that shaped its direction.This paper explores how piano education has developed in the United States and China through comparing the histories of the oldest continually-operating conservatories in the United States and China: Oberlin Conservatory(founded in 1865)and Shanghai Conservatory(founded in 1927).Piano education in China,such as in the Shanghai Conservatory,received significant government influence that caused spontaneous changes from the top down.However,piano education in the United States,such as in the Oberlin Conservatory,received significant Christian community influence that caused gradual changes from the bottom up.The political momentum versus community momentum affected piano education in each respective country in aspects such as: the rates of change,funding sources,leadership decisions,educational philosophies,curriculum for piano majors,and piano education's foreign versus ingrown cultivation.How these factors have affected the current state of piano education in each country will be discussed.The main sources used include The Music of Oberlin and Some who Made It(1968)and ????????????(Chinese Piano Culture and Development)(1996).