OBSERVACIÓN NO ESTRUCTURADA

These people became the key informants of my study, as a result of purposive sampling and intersubjective relationship building during my fieldwork. The commonality and diversity of their age, educational background, profession, path in diaspora, role in CC and the community, and main perspectives, vividly manifested the daily practice and narratives of the diasporic Chinese singers under study. They were the people who I had most conversations with, and closest observations of. I had interviewed some of them multiple times, to know the history, the other people, the contexts, their own stories and sense-making, and for member checking.

C. Shi, female, at her 40s. She came to the United States in 1990s and received a Master’s degree in finance. She was “dragged” to CC by a coworker, and later she was “dragged” to a dance theater. Claiming that she was not a good singer or dancer, she stayed in the groups because of the stage opportunities offered to her and the friends that she made there.

F. Zhou, female, at her 50s, was the vocal coach and artistic director of CC. She was invited to involve in CC by its members several months after she moved here with her husband from Canada. She was the only vocalist who had professional background, who received her master’s degree in Canada. As more and more people intended to learn singing from her, she opened a vocal studio that received many CC members. She was the primary contributor of designing the 2009 APC “Music Across Oceans”, with the ideas of connecting people with Chinese and American cultural backgrounds with music. Her musical accomplishment was recognized by several grants in Canada and the United States.

G. Nie, F. Zhou’s husband, one of the earliest Chinese Ph.D. holders in food science, was a high-ranked executive of a large multinational manufacturing company, participated in

CC while I was doing the fieldwork. Not only participated in CC’s APC performance, he gave out tickets to his colleagues to invite them to watch the shows.

H. Qu, H. Yao’s husband, received his master’s and Ph.D. degrees in engineering and worked for a large multinational hardware company. Along with his wife, H. Qu was also a member who joined CC from the beginning and is still actively engaged.

H. Yao, female, at her 60s. was the founding president of CC. She was at her thirties when she came to the United States for graduate study in 1980s, funded by the Chinese government. A few years later, her husband and young daughter came to join her. Both of them received Ph.D. degrees from a local university, and changed their visas after the Chinese Student Protection Act 1992 was issued. H. Yao began to work for local government agencies to date, and was in charge of educational development programs for public school systems. She was one of those early mainland comers to the Midwestern state, and had been there for over 30 years. Similar to L. Chang, she had witnessed the growth of the local Chinese community, and expressed her concerns about the “solidarity” of CC and the Chinese community in the interviews.

J. Chou, male, at his 40s. Received master’s degree in finance and worked for a big national bank. Relocated here from Canada in 2008. Was “dragged” by a co-worker to CC, and then elected the president of the group. Met his wife, who was a teacher of a local dance theater, during preparation for CC’s APC. Becoming the president enlarged his social network and influence to a great sense. The large attendance of his wedding was a good example. Such connections, however, had brought him mixed feelings. L. Chang, male, at his 60s, the president of CC for the longest time. He came to the United States in 1980s and received a Ph.D. degree in biochemistry. He worked at the same multinational company with P. Tan as an advanced scientist and had a number of patents. His wife had also been a committed CC member too. During the years of stay, he had been actively engaged in several Chinese organizations, such as CC, a dance theater, a professional association, and had developed wide networks. Despite officially granted

titles, he was regarded as an “influential” person in the Chinese community. He was one of the main organizers of the disaster relief campaign, the 2005 WWII commemoration, and several other events.

L. Sun, at his 70s. He spent half a year every year to maintain the effectiveness of his permanent residency, which was sponsored by his daughter who received her Ph.D. and stayed with her husband and children. During his stay in the other half-year in China, he was a member of a senior choir composed of all retirees. But he found the group dynamics there rather different from CC. Lao Chen joined CC, instead of senior centers that most senior parents joined, because he was attracted by the group dynamics: lively, well organized, and “had ideas”.

M. Sun, Lao Chen’s daughter, epitomized younger generations of the education diaspora, who were born near the end of the Cultural Revolution and grown up during China’s fundamental transformations. When she and her husband came to the United States to pursue graduate study, they were at their 20s, and received help from her relatives who had finished their degrees and already settled down. Other contextualization included a much more developed local Chinese community, more flexible policies concerning the Chinese education diaspora in China and the United States. M. Sun believed that the diasporic Chinese should negotiate their good more aggressively and more strategically. Every year, M. Sun and her family went to watch CC’s APC to support her father onstage, though they did not have strong resonance of the “red music” that CC mostly produced.

P. Tan, female, at her 50s, received her Ph.D. degree in France and came to the Midwestern state for postdoc in late 1980s. After relocating in several places in the United States, she came back to the Midwest and began working for a large multinational conglomerate company as an advanced specialist for years. In 2000, P. Tan and her husband were “dragged” to CC by L. Chang, when CC was in a membership crisis. Her husband quit in a couple of years, and became a loyal supporter of CC, who made donation and volunteered for backstage help for its APC every year. P. Tan stayed in the

group since then, and became one of the most distinguished “red flowers” of the group. She was even known as the “best (amateur) soprano” in the local Chinese community and had frequent stage exposure at community events. Despite professional training, joking that she had “irritating voice”, P. Tan improved her singing skills by learning from F. Zhou, who was the vocal coach and artistic director of CC, and by watching videos online.

S. Wei, female, at her 60s. She and her husband were at their thirties and professors at a distinguished university before they came to the United States in the early 1990s. They both received Ph.D. degrees in humanities and taught at a renowned public university here. The couple had been in CC for over 20 years. A talented amateur singer, S. Wei was one of CC’s “red flowers”, and was selected for xiaojiemu almost at every APC. Besides CC, she was also actively involved in a local Chinese opera club. Both she and her husband took vocal lessons from F. Zhou.

S. Zuang, male, at his 60s, was an advanced natural science researcher of a top national research institute of China before he came to the United States as a visiting scholar in the 1990s. After he decided to stay, S. Zuang changed several jobs and had been teaching at a local community college for years. In his spare time, he taught Taichi and Chinese kung fu for several local public schools and dance theaters. Unlike other CC members who made time commitment to participate in the regular singing practice, S. Zuang only cared about APC stage opportunities, and had been chosen for xiaojiemu many times, owing to his connection with the group leaders.

W. Bing, at his 50s. He was an outstanding scientist who received national funding and directed a lab of a renowned university in China prior to becoming a visiting scholar in the United States in the early 1990s. He and his wife were “dragged” by L. Chang to CC while the group was during membership crisis. Admitting himself to be a “terrible singer”, he had remained actively engaged in CC for fundraising, promoting, and coordinating things. In addition to CC, W. Bing had been actively involved in several other voluntary groups in the local Chinese community, and had played important roles in

community events, such as the WWII commemoration, the disaster relief campaign, and the spring festival celebrations.

W. Xie, male, were at his late thirties when he came to the United States for engineering Ph.D. degree in 1980s. His wife and children came to join him a few years after he arrived, due to the rigid policy of the Chinese university that he worked for. He believed he would have been much more successful had he stayed in China, and always talked about his past. After completing his Ph.D. degree, he was employed by a local construction company. W. Xie joined CC near the beginning. Though involvement in CC was “too time-consuming”, he and his wife were actively involved in CC’s performances and logistics. They took part in xiaojiemu at CC’s APC almost every year. Having lived here for over 30 years, W. Xie had a large social network locally. He was also a founding member of the oldest regional fellowship associations.

X. Deng, male, at his 70s, was the conductor of CC for many years. Before he came to the United States, he had been an exceptionally accomplished musician in China with a number of incredible achievements. His accomplishment was greatly restricted by his English proficiency that was very basic. But with his American ex-wife’s help in communication, he received several grants to compose and perform. Despite the honors, his income mainly came from selling instruments at local bazaars. He had been the main contributor of designing CC’s APCs in recent years. X. Deng strongly advocated for making “real Chinese music” and CC’s own branded music. Unlike F. Zhou, whose music style was more western, X. Deng stressed Chinese folk music. To maintain freshness of music making, X. Deng went to areas densely resided by ethnic minority groups in China for inspirations.

Z. Chen, L. Chang’s wife. She had been a committed CC member along with her husband, and supported his dedicated engagement and leadership over the years. Besides her job as a lab staff, involvement in CC had been an important part of her life. Despite no professional background, she had taken efforts to refresh her repertories and music

knowledge by watching popular Chinese musical entertainment shows online, and had remained a “red flower” on CC’s stage for years.

Z. Hua, S. Wei’s husband, came to the United States a couple years before his wife did. He had been a CC member for over 20 years. He went to college the first year after the Cultural Revolution was over. As a dedicated CC member, Z. Hua carefully kept record of CC’s past APC programs and loaned them to me for my data collection. He was elected the president of CC when it was preparing for its 20th anniversary celebration. Being the president involved huge amount of work, and he felt “very relieved” when he finished his term. For success of the 20th anniversary celebration, Z. Hua took great efforts to “drag” many people to CC. From our conversations, I noticed that he was very concerned about the “solidarity” of the group and the local Chinese community. In order to add “bicultural” component to CC’s APCs, he had brought in several of white American students who learned Chinese from him at the university he taught.