Nancy Yunhwa Rao, Distinguished Professor and head of music theory, is one of three Rutgers professors elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) this year. Rao is included in the Humanities and Arts in the Field of Performing Arts category for her work in preserving the history of Chinese operatic performers in America.
Rao teaches music theory, but she also sees herself as a historian who is recording the influence of Chinese opera on American life.
Her 2017 book, Chinatown Opera Theater in North America, chronicled the untold journey of Cantonese opera performers to North America, beginning at the western shores in San Francisco and Seattle. With innovative stage productions that combined western aesthetics with grand Chinese customs, these troupes became an important part of the community, she said. Yet, they have disappeared into historical obscurity, she said, adding that much of entertainment history in America has focused on the transatlantic migration.
“I expand the notion of American music history by bringing into the dialogue the transpacific influences in terms of history building, of Asian American as part of Americanness,” said Rao, who was named the editor-in-chief of the journal American Music in 2023 and coedits the book series Big Issues in Music.
“It’s not a recognition of me alone, it’s the recognition of the community, this history. It’s the recognition of Asian Americans, of people before me and their history,” she said. “What makes this particularly special is that it’s beyond just one institution’s recognition. The academy is a community of people who work to advance society in many ways, and to become a part of that larger community is truly an honor.”
Read the full story at Rutgers Today.
Photo: Lynne DeLade