A Study of the Choral Music of Selected Asian Women Composers: Chen-Yi (China), Makito Kinoshita (Japan), And Hyo-Won Woo (Korea)

Over the thousands of years of musical development, countless composers have contributed to its evolution. However, women composers have generally remained less recognized and celebrated than male composers. Some of the most remarkable female composers, including Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn, are frequently remembered in the context of their relationships with their more famous male counterparts, such as their husbands and brothers. This tendency has, unfortunately, overshadowed their unique artistic contributions and minimized their independent legacies in the musical canon. With the beginning of the women's movement in Europe and the U.S. during the 1960s, more and more female composers became active on the international stage. In contrast, this trend did not emerge in Asia. East Asia, particularly China, Japan, and Korea, were influenced by Confucian principles—which traditionally emphasized women's roles within the family and restricted their participation in the public artistic domain. Despite this, in the past thirty years, a growing number of East Asian women composers have emerged. Among these underrepresented voices, the creative contributions of Asian women composers remain largely unexamined, leaving a significant gap in the global musical narrative. This research project studies and analyzes the works of Asian women composers in the field of choral music to further expose their works to the international choral world, with a particular focus on how their cultural traditions, gender identities, and social backgrounds have influenced their compositional styles and musical themes. At the same time, it provides a comprehensive understanding of the significance of their works and their impact on the evolution of choral traditions. This dissertation adopts a qualitative research method to explore the status of choral works by three selected East Asian female composers through the analysis of their choral works. Additionally, interviews were conducted with these three female composers, representing China, Japan, and Korea: Chen Yi (China), Hyo-Won Woo (Korea), and Makiko Kinoshita (Japan).