AMPLIFY! A Festival of Asian American Music, Sound, and Scholarship 2026
Organized by the Music of Asian America Research Center
in partnership with Asian Improv aRts Midwest and Elastic Arts
In-Person Component: Chicago, September 24-26, 2026 (virtual participation TBA)
Virtual Component: Second Wednesdays at 7pm ET starting in July
Call for Proposals | Schedule | Registration | Invited Artists | Presentation Abstracts & Bios
Chicago Festival Schedule, Sept. 24-26, 2026. All times listed at CDT. Unless otherwise noted, events will occur at Asian Improv aRts Midwest. Please look through the schedule to see which sessions are livestreamed.
Thursday, September 24
Time
10:00am
10:30am
12:00pm
2:00pm
3:00pm
3:30pm
5:00pm
7:30pm
Session
Coffee, Pastries and Welcome
Session #1: Reimagining Asian Traditions (Chair: Peng Liu)–Livestreamed
Angelina Gibson, “The Underwater Orient of John Neumeier’s The Little Mermaid: A Choreomusicological Analysis of Yuan Yuan Tan and the Racialized Body”
Craig Parker, “Unification of Indian and Western Musical Idioms in Reena Esmail’s Meri Sakhi Ki Avaaz (My Sister’s Voice)
- Koeun Grace Lee, “Pansori Fantasy: Intersections of Korean Identity and Pianistic Innovation”
Lunch on Own
Session #2: Asian Improv aRts Midwest (Chair: Putu Tangkas Adi Hiranmayena)
Tatsu Aoki and Kioto Aoki: A Conversation about the Legacy and Continuing Practice of AIRMW with Eric Hung
- Eric Zheng and Kioto Aoki, “Don! A Language of Asian American Performance”
Snack and Beverage Break
Session #3: Activism (Chair: Byron Au Yong)–Livestreamed
Hippocrates Cheng, “All of US: An Anti-Asian Hate Chamber Opera: Performance and Discussion”
- Cast: Ho Eui Holly Bewlay (soprano), Madelyn Deininger (mezzo-soprano), Esther Yi-An Tien Shield (mezzo-soprano)
Ensemble: Gabriel Roethle (violin), Keira Specht (violin), Trevor Bitner (viola), Kacee duGas (cello), Rui Jin (piano), Hyunchae Kim (gayageum)
- Joyce Kwon, Lecture-Demonstration of “Going Home to the Moon”
Dinner on Own
Concert #1: Evolving Traditions in the Diaspora
The Reduction Quartet from the MIYUMI Project (Tatsu Aoki, Edward Wilkerson Jr., Jamie Kempkers and Kioto Aoki)
Craig Parker, Liliya Ugay, “Prayer”
Cynthia Lucia: Reena Esmail, Selections from The Crystal Preludes
The SamaSama Project: “The Great Filipino Songbook”
Friday, September 25
Time
9:00am
9:15am
10:15am
10:30am
12:00pm
2:00pm
3:00pm
3:15pm
5:00pm
7:30pm
Session
Coffee and Pastries
Session #4: Music Education (Chair: Eric Hung)–Livestreamed
Jonathan Sang-Joon Lee, “Critical Implementation of K-Pop in School Music Education”
Angela Chong, Tina Huynh and Joyce Kwon, “Three West Coast Asian Americans Bring Their Heritage Music to Rural Midwest Children”
Coffee Break
Session #5: Beyond Assimilation (Chair: Nic Vigilante)–Livestreamed
Naomi Niskala and An-Lin Bardin, “Adaptation and Identity as Asian Americans: Stories through Yiheng Yvonne Wu’s Three Adaptations for Cello and Piano”
Chao Tian, “Relationality: Improvisation, Jamming, and Grassroots Diplomacy in From China to Appalachia”
- Micah Huang and Michele Cheng, “Chasing Shadows: Resurrecting YingXi Shadow Puppetry at the L.A. Hungry Ghost Festival”
Lunch on Own
Session #6: Asians and Black Creative Music (Chair: Bess Xintong Liu)–Livestreamed
- Daniel Lin, Taylor Ho Bynum and Jeffrey Song, “Black Creative Music: Interrogating Categories toward Transcendence”
Snack and Beverage Break
Session #7: Activism II (Chair: Nancy Yunhwa Rao)–Livestreamed
Lei X. Ouyang, “Asian American Artists in Action”
Putu Tangkas Adi Hiranmayena, “(Re)Fusing Cultural Keramaian: Social Activism in Reflexive Improvisations of Balinese American Noise”
Paul Cosme, Kaelyn Howard and Lorelei Harrel, “By Gongs and Songs: Constructing Filipino American Subjectivities through Philippine Traditional Performing Arts”
Dinner on Own
Concert #2: Old and New
Nick Hwang, “You Are the Product”
Craig Parker, Young Jo Lee: “Sori”
Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer with Chao Tian, FROM CHINA TO APPALACHIA
Micah Huang & Michele Cheng, Free Improvisation
Joyce Kwon, “Folk Music for Folks of the Diaspora”