INSPIRED BY PJ AND ROY HIRABAYASHI BY BYRON AU YONG AND AARON JAFFERIS FEATURING ALI EWOLDT AND FRANCIS JUE
Activist Songbook honors organizers and organizing through collective music-making. Material emerges from interviews with individual organizers to engage communities. Activist Songbook Virtual Choirs, made up of musicians and non-musicians, record songs from the songbook repertoire and perform together from the safety of their own homes. With a single Zoom rehearsal under their belts, performers use guide tracks to record their parts separately, singing along and improvising.
There Will Be Joy is inspired by the words and actions of PJ and Roy Hirabayashi, pioneers of North American taiko and founders of San José Taiko. The song pays tribute to the Asian American activists who inspired PJ and Roy, and celebrates the intersection of movement, liberation and joy that infuses their organizing and their music.
To support One Village Healing, a local New Haven organization at the intersection of arts, healing and justice, check out: https://www.onevillagehealing.org/
To learn more about San José Taiko where PJ and Roy inspire joyful community building through taiko, check out: https://taiko.org/
Want to get involved with Activist Songbook? Join our next Virtual Choir by registering below.
Questions? Email activistsongbook@gmail.com.
PROGRAM
Featuring: Ali Ewoldt (@aliewoldt) and Francis Jue (@juefrancis)
Guitar: Christopher Thomas Pow (@christopherthomaspow)
Featured Taiko Drummers:
Franco Imperial | San Jose Taiko
Michelle Fujii | Unit Souzou (@unitsouzou)
PJ Hirabayashi | Co-Founder San Jose Taiko
Roy Hirabayashi | Co-Founder San Jose Taiko
Toru Watanabe | Unit Souzou (@unitsouzou)
Yuta Kato | Los Angeles Taiko Institute (@yuta.kato.353)
Performers:
Aaron “Coach Hawk” Hawkins (@iamcoachhawk)
Amelia Allen Sherwood (@hood_montessorian)
Anne Rhodes(@rainbownoisy)
Anthony DeQuattro
Audrey Patterson
Brianna Chance (@briannachance)
Briana Williams (@obamamamma)
Britney Arias (@i_am_britney15)
Cliff Schloss - (@i_am_sarcasm)
Darnell Charles
Dezirae Pollard
Elaine Kolb
Emmanuel Pollard
Fi Schroth-Douma (@figuratively_fi)
Gabriela Diaz
Gloria Yin (@gloriouspencils)
Harriett Alfred
Jaminda Blackmon
Jeffrey Douma
Jennifer Heikkila Diaz
Lisa Patterson (@lisapattersonbcp)
Magdalena Diaz
Marnielle Charles
NicDaniel Charles
Nesta Allen II
Paul Davies (@paul.evan)
Saleena Holder
Sara Culver (@spcfromscratch)
Shiloh Allen
Tahj Galberth (@big_boi_tahj)
Will Myers (@activegoodwill)
Will Schroth-Douma
Music Director/Audio & Video Editor: Stephanie Tubiolo (@stephanietubiolo)
Produced by Octopus Theatricals (@octopustheatricals) in partnership with The International Festival of Arts & Ideas
Activist Songbook was created as a part of (ex)CHANGE: History Place Presence, a project of Asian Arts Initiative, www.asianartsinitiative.org. Original support for (ex)CHANGE: History Place Presence was provided by the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, Philadelphia. Additional support from Montalvo Arts Center Lucas Artists Residency Program.
Funded in part by the New England States Touring program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the six New England state arts agencies.
GET SOCIAL
www.activistsongbook.org
Email: activistsongbook@gmail.com
Instagram: @activistsongbook
Twitter: @activistsongbk