By Cathy Barbash
Many people ask me, “Why do so many Chinese youth study western instruments?”
I knew that students who study a musical instrument are awarded automatic extra points on the national university entrance exam. However, I was still mystified by the accordion episode, so went in search of other answers. A Chinese friend who works in the music field told me that for the last 10 years, traditional wisdom held that anyone who wanted to go abroad to study or get a job with a western company must play a western classical instrument. This belief arose from the following supposedly true story, which had circulated widely.
A young Chinese man interviewed for a job with a multinational corporation. The interviewer asked the man what abilities and skills he had in addition to those necessary to do the job. The job-hunter said he could play piano. The foreign executive happened to have a piano in the adjoining conference room, made the applicant prove it, and subsequently offered him the position. The young man was convinced that his piano-playing won him the job, and spread the story of his success. Urban legend? I’d love to hear whether my Chinese colleagues have heard the same story.