Sound Check! A Festival of Asian American Music, Sound, and Scholarship
Organized by the Music of Asian America Research Center
Onsite at Wing Luke Museum, Seattle, WA & On Zoom, April 27-29, 2024
On Zoom on May 11, 2024
Festival Registration is now open!
Opening Concert: Saturday, April 27, 7:30pm PDT, Ford Foundation Community Hall at Wing Luke Museum
- The concert opens with Sophiline Cheam-Shapiro (master dancer, vocalist, teacher and choreographer in the Cambodian classical dance tradition) performing two dances: the first is an original Khmer classical dance about a female serpent goddess who doesn’t like her own tail, and the second is a scene from a dance drama about the origin of rain.
- Ami Dang creates music that blend elements of North Indian classical, noise/ambient electronics, beat-driven psych and experimental dance pop. Her works reference 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.
- Rapper and activist jason chu will close the concert with a set that matches hard-hitting lyricism with an energetic stage presence. His songs speak honestly about Asian American history, racial justice, and mental health.
- $35 Admission (in-person only), includes access to the Sound Check! The Music We Make exhibit from 6:30 to 7:20pm and small bites/non-alcoholic drinks.
- To purchase tickets, visit: https://25646p.blackbaudhosting.com/25646p/Saturday-Opening-Concert—Sound-Check-Festival
Centerpiece Concert: Sunday, April 28, 7:30pm PDT, Ford Foundation Community Hall at Wing Luke Museum
- The Leslie Damaso trio will open the concert by performing excerpts from SIRENA, a work that blends a personal story, family secrets, a mythic love triangle ending in the beginning of a nation, the displacement of its people, and an individual’s search for identity and belonging,
- Two musicians from the ensemble Interwoven–violinist Sean Wang and Korean wind multi-instrumentalist gamin–will perform works that celebrate and integrate traditional Asian music and Western classical music. Their set will include a new work by Ki Young Kim.
- A virtuoso on the Vietnamese one-string instrument “đàn bầu,” Jason Nguyen will close the concert with music for đàn bầu and electronics that blurs the lines between traditional/contemporary, old/new, and Vietnamese/non-Vietnamese.
- $25 Admission (in-person only)
- To purchase tickets, visit: https://25646p.blackbaudhosting.com/25646p/Sunday-Centerpiece-Concert—Sound-Check-Festival
Research Presentations and Artist Talks (Hybrid): Sunday, April 28 (10am-5:40pm PDT) and Monday, April 29 (10am-4:45pm PDT)
Research Presentations (Virtual only): Saturday, May 11 28 (9:20am-2:15pm PDT)
