An Exploration of Multicultural Musicianship through Composition and Performance

“In what ways can I engage an audience of primarily western musicians in experiencing a new musical world in dialogue with the one they know?” The author begins by asking himself this question. He describes a project which will answer this question, then selects and focuses on a single aspect of this project: the arranging of three pieces from Kenzou Hatanaka’s Iyonokuni Matsuyama Suigun Daiko for woodwind quintet and taiko from its original orchestration for band and taiko. Emphasis is placed on creating an enticing multicultural work that equally presents western and Japanese influences, and the author’s compositional process and considerations are explained. A discussion of what the author learned about multiculturalism and himself concludes.