Sounding Russian Manchuria: Musical Circulation and Imperial Imagination

Dissertation in Ethnomusicology, UC Berkeley

Northeast Asia was once a pivotal frontier of Russian imperialism and musical innovation. This dissertation explores the ways that touring operatic vocalists, migrating musicians, and popular recordings shaped the Russian imperial imagination of Manchuria in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Drawing on archival documents, ethnographic interviews, and 78 rpm recordings digitized for the first time, the project paints a vibrant picture of Russian musical activity in the colonial dependency of Manchuria amidst near constant violent upheaval and regime change. It underscores how opera intervened in war, revolution, and insurrection, examining the ways that musicians, impresarios, early record labels, and audiences helped territorialize Manchuria. In conversation with urgent discussions of war, migration, and colonialism taking place across the humanities, the project demonstrates how music disrupts conventional notions of borders, belonging, propaganda, and imperial subjectivity.