Sound Check! A Festival of Asian American Music, Sound, and Scholarship
Organized by the Music of Asian America Research Center
In partnership with Wing Luke Museum
Onsite at Wing Luke Museum, Seattle, WA & On Zoom, April 27-29, 2024
On Zoom on May 11, 2024
Schedule | Registration & Tickets | Invited Artists | Presentation Abstracts & Bios
Sound Check! A Festival of Asian American Music, Sound and Scholarship
is a celebration of Asian American music and dance.
The two concerts showcase everything from traditional Cambodian dance to ambient music and rap, and from reimagined Filipino kundiman songs to music that combines Western Classical and Korean traditional instruments.
The festival also allows us to take stock of the current state of research on Asian American music and dance. Our call for research presentations generated 34 submissions, which exceeded the number we received at our 2018 festival as well as our expectations. This shows the tremendous growth in research in this emerging field over the past five years. By adding a day of virtual presentations on May 11, we were able to accept 23 of these submissions. Our speakers will explore everything from taiko to Asian Americans in Western classical music, from music in Asian American churches to electronic dance music, and from musical memorializations to the use of music to create a sense of belonging. We will also have a conversation with Theo-dric Feng, who has indefatigably promoted the work of Asian American musicians since the 1970s.
Additionally, the festival encourages more dialogue between performers and scholars. For this reason, we have asked the invited performers to give presentations about their work. We hope that you can join us in Seattle and on Zoom.
The Sound Check! Festival is taking place alongside Wing Luke Museum’s Sound Check! The Music We Make exhibit. The Music of Asian America Research thanks Wing Luke Museum for hosting and supporting this event. We particularly thank Vivian Chan, Director of Community Programs, for providing the bulk of logistical planning. Vivian also served on the Program Committee with Elaine Andres, Ami Dang, Eric Hung and Brian V. Sengdala.