Dearest Lenny: Letters from Japan

and the Making of the World Maestro

October 17, 2019
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM

East Asian Studies Lounge, 14th floor, Robarts Library, University of Toronto,
130 St. George Street

Mari Yoshihara will speak about her new book, Dearest Lenny: Letters from Japan
and the Making of the World Maestro, which interweaves the history of Leonard
Bernstein’s transformation from an American icon to a world maestro with an intimate
story of his relationships with two Japanese individuals: Amano Kazuko, a loyal fan who
began writing letters to Bernstein in 1947, and Kunihiko Hashimoto, a young man
who fell deeply in love with Bernstein in 1979 and later became his business
representative. During the period in which these two relationships unfolded, Japan’s
place in the world and its relationship vis-à-vis the United States changed
dramatically, which in turn shaped Bernstein’s connection to the country. Yoshihara
will trace the making of a global Bernstein amidst the shifting change of classical
music that made this American celebrity turn increasingly to Europe and Japan.

Mari Yoshihara is Professor and Chair of American Studies at the University
of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and the editor of American Quarterly. Her publications
include Embracing the East: White Women and American Orientalism (2003)
and Musicians from a Different Shore: Asians and Asian Americans in Classical
Music (2007).

Register online at:

Speaker: Mari Yoshihara
American Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa

Chair: Takashi Fujitani
Director, Dr. David Chu Program in Asia-Pacific Studies
Asian Institute

Location
The lounge is located on the 14th floor of the Robarts Library. Take the P4 elevator
from the 2nd floor of Robarts to the 14th floor. On exiting the elevator, head LEFT and
follow signs to EAS.

Sponsored by Dr. David Chu Program in Asia-Pacific Studies
Department of East Asian Studies, Centre for the Study of the
United States