Mayuka Otsuki ‘26

Summer 2024

Mayuka traveled to Mongolia in the Summer of 2024, where she spent time learning the Morin khuur (horsehead fiddle), a Mongolian traditional instrument made from horse hair. Given her experience playing both European and Japanese instruments, Mayuka was excited to engage with Mongolian instruments, spending her time away exploring how the instrument itself and traditional music is perceived in modern society. She also conducted interviews with local morin khuur players, as a way to explore the role traditional instruments play. Furthermore, she explored how recent dramatic social change in the landscape surrounding morin khuur learners has shaped and will continue to shape the future of traditional music. This experience helped inspire Mayuka to launch a traditional musical instrument group at Oberlin.