Nancy Yunhwa Rao, distinguished professor and head of music theory, is one of five scholars named 2024 honorary members of the American Musicological Society.
The 90-year-old nonprofit boasts approximately 3,000 members from 40 nations. Its mission: to advance research in the field of music.
Rao’s own research has centered on examining American modern music of the 1930s, as well as the transpacific history of American music. She has also engaged in examining contemporary composers of East Asian heritage. Her 2017 book, Chinatown Opera Theater in North America, chronicled the untold journey of Cantonese opera performers to North America, beginning in San Francisco and Seattle. With innovative stage productions that combined western aesthetics with grand Chinese customs, these troupes became a significant 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.
The AMS says Rao has been made an honorary member of the organization “for her contributions to musicology, in particular her achievements in fostering cross-cultural dialogue between Anglophone music studies and music research in Chinese-speaking lands, as well as her efforts to bridge the divide between musicology and her home discipline of music theory.” Read the full citation.
Earlier this year, Rao was one of three Rutgers professors elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS). 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. She also serves as editor-in-chief of American Music and is a co-editor for the University of Chicago Press Big Issues in Music book series.
Photo: Lynne DeLade