Book cover of Instruments of Empire (University Press of Mississippi, 2021), cropped

Musicians of the Philippine Constabulary Band, a musical organization formed under US colonial rule and sent to the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, played European classical pieces and patriotic marches to the delight of American audiences who heard their performance as validation of American intervention. Despite the way that the band was represented as highlighting the success of benevolent assimilation by emphasizing Filipinos' so-called natural musicality and willingness to embrace American culture, the musicians maintained their Filipino identity and resisted their role as "instruments of empire" by continuing indigenous practices in their own banda tradition. Mary Talusan Lacanlale, assistant professor of Asian-Pacific Studies at California State University, Dominguez Hills, uncovers several instances in which the band musicians compelled American audiences, who listened with an "imperial ear," to hear their ingenuity and individuality.

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