Event Lectures and Symposia A Gift to Be Simple: Japanese American Influence in 'Appalachian Spring'

Date and Location

  • When: Wednesday, May 19, 2021

    10:00 am - 11:00 am EDT

  • This event will be livestreamed on YouTube External. It will be available for viewing afterwards in the Library's Event Videos collection.

  • Where: Online Only

Part of Concerts from the Library of Congress

Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at (202) 707-6362 or ADA@loc.gov.

“A Gift to Be Simple: Japanese American Influence in 'Appalachian Spring',” Marta Robertson, PhD, Professor of Music, Gettysburg College

Professor Marta Robertson looks at the iconic ballet "Appalachian Spring" (1944) through the lens of Japanese-American influences on the initial production, especially via the dancing of Yuriko [Kikuchi] and set design of Isamu Noguchi. Having been detained in incarceration camps, Yuriko and Noguchi offer political and cultural perspectives on the frontier and Americana that contrast with those of choreographer Martha Graham and composer Aaron Copland.

These lectures are presented as part of the ongoing American Musicological Society lecture series at the Library of Congress.