Sound Check! Festival 2024 Invited Artists

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

 

Festival Home | Registration & Tickets | Schedule | Presentation Abstracts & Bios

 

Invited Artists

Sophiline Cheam-Shapiro

Choreographer, Dancer and Director of the Sophiline Arts Ensemble (formerly Khmer Arts Ensemble), Sophiline Cheam-Shapiro’s performances are distinguished by their impeccable technique, their capacity to expand the Cambodian classical vocabulary and realize new works, and their collaborations across disciplines. Sophiline’s choreography has been commissioned by and toured to venues on four continents, including Vienna’s New Crowned Hope Festival, the Venice Biennale, Hong Kong Arts Festival, Los Angeles’ Disney Hall, Amsterdam’s Muziektheater, New York’s Joyce Theater and Guggenheim Museum, the China Conservatory & Singapore’s Esplanade.

Cheam-Shapiro is a 2013 McKnight International Fellow, a 2009 recipient of the National Heritage Fellowship—a lifetime honor awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts—and a USA Knight Fellowship. She was awarded the Nikkei Asia Prize for Culture in 2006 and has received Creative Capital, Durfee, Guggenheim and Irvine Dance Fellowships.

jason chu

Rapper and activist jason chu is a prominent voice in the national Asian American scene.

A prolific live performer, jason’s shows match hard-hitting lyricism with an energetic stage presence. His music has been heard on film, TV, and in video games, including Joy Ride, American Born Chinese, Warrior, Valorant, and more.

As an activist educator, jason is a sought-after voice on Asian American history, racial justice, and mental health. He speaks nationwide, including keynotes, workshops, and panel appearances.

Leslie Damaso’s SIRENA Project

Photo of Leslie Damaso

SIRENA: A multimedia project created by Madison, Wisconsin area artists Leslie Damaso, Ben Ferris, Mike Koszewski and Jason Kutz, featuring Chicago based Jon Irabagon, Janice Lee and Jose Guzman. Along with art and poetry, SIRENA blends a personal story, family secrets, a mythic love triangle ending in the beginning of a nation, the displacement of its people, an individual’s perspective of belonging and a spectacular celebration of community. The music includes traditional Filipino kundiman songs, kulintang, with new compositions combined with jazz and classical influences. The album release will be in June. 
 
The performance at Wing Luke will be a trio featuring Leslie Damaso (vocals), Jason Kutz (piano) and Ben Ferris (bass). Leslie Damaso is based in the artist community of Mineral Point, WI where she owns and operates Buttonhill Music Studio and Republic of Letters Books. 

 

Ami Dang

Amrita “Ami” Kaur Dang is a South Asian-American vocalist, sitarist, composer and producer from Baltimore. Her sound blends elements of North Indian classical, noise/ambient electronics, beat-driven psych and experimental dance pop. The work references her hybrid identity as a first-generation South Asian-American, Sikh upbringing, musical education, as well as the chaos and spirituality of the landscapes of both Baltimore and urban India.

Picking up her first sitar when she was twelve years old, Dang has studied North Indian classical music (voice and sitar) in both New Delhi and Maryland, and she also holds a degree in music technology & composition from Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. Following in the footsteps of artists like Ravi Shankar and Philip Glass, she seeks to advance the sound of contemporary experimental, pop, and electronic music with the sounds of South Asia—through vocals and sitar, ragas, and sampling. And vice versa, she aims to bring a broader sound palette to the legacy of South Asian music. These goals are a lifelong mission. To that end, she has collaborated with Animal Collective, William Cashion (of Future Islands), James Acaster, Thor Harris—to name a few. She has provided tour support for Beach House, black midi, Grimes, Lower Dens, Florist and more.

 

Musicians from INTERWOVEN

INTERWOVEN is an intercultural ensemble that celebrates and integrates traditional Asian and Western art music through performing, commissioning, and recording contemporary works. Exploring the time-honored soundscapes of Asia and Europe, the ensemble weaves together musical and artistic threads that represent diverse origins, traditions, and materials to create something holistic. By intertwining unique Asian perspectives and aesthetics into its artistic and organizational work, INTERWOVEN encourages union between various American communities through the Asian culture’s emphasis on organic inclusion and harmony – principles needed in this time of division. (https://www.interwovenmusic.org)
Taiwanese-American violinist Sean Wang is a versatile musician whose career includes professional activities as a conductor, violist, and musicologist. American Record Guide has called him “a brilliant violinist” whose “quality [of] playing is exceedingly high.” Based in Toronto, Canada, he is Director of Academics at the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Glenn Gould School and Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music. Prior to his current appointments, he was Chair of Strings and Director of Orchestra at the Longy School of Music of Bard College in Cambridge, MA. He studied at the Curtis Institute (BM), The Juilliard School (MM), and Stanford University (PhD).
Gamin Kang is a Korean-born multi-instrumentalist who specializes in traditional Korean wind instruments known as the piri (double-reed Korean oboe), taepyongso (double-reed horn), and saenghwang (mouth organ). She tours the world performing traditional Korean music and engages in numerous cross-disciplinary collaborations. She holds a doctorate in Korean traditional music from Seoul National University and is a designated Yisuja, an official holder of South Korea’s Important Intangible Cultural Asset No. 46. She’s on the faculty at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.

Jason Nguyen

Jason R. Nguyễn has performed Vietnamese traditional music for over two decades. An expert on the one-string instrument known as “đàn bầu,” he creates music that blurs the lines between traditional/contemporary, old/new, and Vietnamese/non-Vietnamese. His compositions blend đàn bầu with digital music production and guitar-style effects, and the results span from lush, meditative soundscapes to thumping pop-influenced grooves.

Nguyễn holds dual-PhDs in Ethnomusicology and Communication & Culture from Indiana University. His research focuses on diasporic Vietnamese identity and cultural performance.