Photo by Cal Hsiao
Think!Chinatown presents a special night of song, storytelling, and poetry. We’ll premiere a new short film from the series, Ode to the Generations: Remembering the Music and Memories of Yellow Pearl and Basement Workshop. This year’s piece features Nobuko Miyamoto, a musician and “artivist” whose voice has inspired so many. The screening will be followed by a special musical performance by treya lam and Taiyo Na who will interpret songs from the Yellow Pearl (1972) publication and the Grain of Sand (1973) album by Chris Kando Iijima, Joanne Nobuko Miyamoto, and "Charlie" Chin. George Chew will read poetry of Francis Chung, and share from his own collection.
This event is free with RSVP required! A small donation is appreciated. All proceeds will directly go to making these community events possible. If you are unable to contribute financially, please don’t hesitate to reach out to programs@thinkchinatown.org – we would still love to have you there!
Think!Chinatown is committed to hosting accessible events for our Chinatown neighbors. As we continue to present free, public events throughout the neighborhood, we invite you to support us with your contribution or ask us about options to volunteer with us.
treya lam is a multi-instrumentalist and composer whose expansive and intersecting identities inform but do not define their work, whether solo or when collaborating with ensembles across a variety of disciplines. their atmospheric voice, liberation oriented songwriting and fluency on guitar, piano and looped viola recalls Nina Simone and Andrew Bird. treya’s debut Good News was created entirely by womxn and genderqueer collaborators and released via Kaki King’s label. Smithsonian Magazine states lam’s work “perfectly captures the mixture of love, loss and hope”. lam is currently developing otherland - an audiovisual chamber-folk album on radical self acceptance, intersecting identities and healing in the wake of grief and loss.
Taiyo Na (Taiyo Ebato) is a writer of poems, songs, stories and curricula who lives on unceded Lenape land (Queens, NY). The 2010/2011 collaboration album Home:Word under the outfit Magnetic North & Taiyo Na (MNTN) included a number of chart-topping songs in Asia, and his “Artist Takeovers” playlist was featured on Spotify in 2017. His writing has appeared in Aperture, Poets House and Unmargin.
George Chew is a poet and former US Immigration Judge. Born and raised in Manhattan’s Chinatown, George had a short lived career as a poet as "[he] did not earn a cent”. His poem was included in Yellow Pearl. George went to law school and practiced law for 14 years in Chinatown. Now George is happily retired and indulge in fishing, cooking and eating.