Patterns of Repertoire amongst Toronto Chinese Orchestras

Toronto, among the most diverse cities in the world, is home to a massive Chinese diaspora and hosts no fewer than five Chinese orchestras. Varying in size from 20 to 60 members, and in status from professional to amateur, these orchestras have been providing a home for Chinese instrumentalists and exposing Torontonians to Chinese music since 1993. In this article, I analyze the repertoire choices of three of these orchestras since 1993 to consider how their repertoire relates to their members’ identities and the organizations’ goals. In particular, I argue that the repertoire represents complex negotiations of diasporic communities, both with their audiences and among the orchestra members themselves; for instance, these orchestras’ directors seek the balance between new repertoire and old repertoire without losing audiences. Moreover, these negotiations demonstrate the impact of transnationalism (Zheng Su, 2010) and hybridity (Ang Ien, 2003) on diasporic Chinese communities in Toronto. The city’s multicultural environment enables these Chinese orchestras to collaborate with musicians and music groups from different cultural backgrounds. This article provides insights into how the history of Chinese orchestras in Toronto contributes to our understanding of how Chinese diaspora music history is actually Canadian music history.