Performing the Other: Racialization and Legitimization in the Early Career of Fou Ts’ong

This article examines the early Western reception of the Chinese pianist Fou Ts’ong to reconsider the relationship between performer biography and public reception in the historiography of classical music performance. Although recent scholarship has increasingly explored performer-centered history and racialized reception, these areas have rarely been considered together in historical contexts. Focusing on one of the first Asian pianists to gain sustained international recognition, the study investigates how racialized perceptions shaped the construction of his professional identity.