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Jen Shyu playing Song of Silver Geese live at Vision Festival 21 at Judson Memorial Church in New York City on June 8 , 2016. Featuring Jade Tongue, Satoshi Haga, and Mivos Quartet.

Jen Shyu – co-director, composition, vocals, gayageum, Taiwanese moon lute, piano
Satoshi Haga – co-director, choreography, dance
Jade Tongue: Chris Dingman – vibraphone, Mat Maneri – viola, Thomas Morgan – bass, Anna Webber – flute & alto flute, Dan Weiss – drums
Mivos Quartet: Olivia De Prato – 1st violin, Erica Dicker – 2nd violin, Victor Lowrie – viola, Mariel Roberts – cello

This is the second performance of a new full-length composition, Song of Silver Geese, a multilingual, ritual music drama, composed for dancer-improviser Satoshi Haga, Jen Shyu’s core ensemble Jade Tongue, and the Mivos Quartet, with Shyu on vocals, dance, gayageum, Taiwanese (Shyu’s father’s birthplace) moon lute, and East Timorese (mother’s birthplace) lakadou. The work is inspired by Shyu’s 12-plus years of study of traditional music from four specific countries: epic storytelling (Pansori) and East Coast shaman music (DongHaeAhnByeolShinGut), both from Korea; music from subdistricts Aileu and Ataúro from East Timor; Hengchun Folk Song with moon lute from Taiwan; Ledhekan, which combines Javanese dance with improvisational singing (Sindhenan) from Indonesia.

Shyu sings in 7 languages (Indonesian, Javanese, Taiwanese, Mandarin, Tetum, Korean, English), rendering ancient text from the Wehali Kingdom of Timor, as well her original texts and modern poetry by the late Taiwanese poet and mentor of Jen, Edward Cheng, and also Javanese poetry by the late Javanese wayang kulit puppeteer and friend, Sri Joko “Cilik” Raharjo.

Dancer Satoshi Haga is Shyu’s foil, as they switch and blur the roles of male and female in their portrayal of four main characters: the Timorese female warrior Ho’a Nahak Samane Oan, who disguises herself as a man to defeat a rival king; “Baridegi” from Korean folklore, known as the first shaman, whose journey story is strikingly similar to that of of Ho’a Nahak Samane Oan; the half-blind, nomadic Taiwanese moon lute virtuoso Chen Da, who defined Hengchun Folk Song, becoming a national icon for Taiwanese independence from China; a universal character, who cannot accept death and begs for rebirth, based on Javanese shadow puppeteer master and friend who, at the age of 30 in 2014, died in a car crash with his wife and 11-month old baby. Through both narrative and abstract, integrative music-movement methodologies, these four characters will interact as a microcosm of the parallels that exist in the universe and the great necessity for empathy among cultures, thereby defying assumptions that currently divide humanity.

The premiere of this work was supported by [GENERATE] and presented with Asia Society New York.

With generous support from Chamber Music America New Jazz Works, New Music USA, Roulette’s [GENERATE] Fund, Jerome Foundation, Doris Duke Foundation, and Exploring the Metropolis Choreographer + Composer Residency at Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning.

[GENERATE] Jen Shyu: Song of Silver Geese with MIVOS Quartet, Jade Tongue, & Satoshi Haga is made possible, in part, with funds from GENERATE: The Frances Richard Fund for Innovative Artists of Promise.

GENERATE, instituted in celebration of Roulette’s 35th Anniversary in 2013, aims to present ambitious, complex and often large-scale works of experimental performing art by supporting emerging and established artists with commissions, residencies, and additional production and presentation financial underwriting

To learn more about GENERATE and to make a contribution, visit our webpage: http://roulette.org/support/generate/