Jon Jang and James Newton

Project Titles:  When Sorrow Turns to Joy
Recipient Organization:  Cal Performances, University of California, Berkeley
Lead Artist: Jon Jang
Genre and Date Awarded:  Performing Arts, July 1998
Premiered:  June 1-3, 2000

Lead artist Jon Jang collaborated with composer/musician James Newton, poet/playwright Genny Lim, stage director Ellen Sebastian Chang, and Cal Performances to create a new evening-length staged vocal and instrumental work, When Sorrow Turns to Joy, a tribute to Paul Robeson and Mai Lanfang.  The piece was premiered as part of Cal Performances’ annual season in 1999-2000.  Cal Performances not only co-commissioned (with the Walker Art Center) and presented this complex work, it developed related residency activities with the community that allowed the artists to have a deeper relationship with their audience for the piece.

At the height of his career, Paul Robeson was one of the best-known Americans in the world.  Mei Lanfang was the first to stage Beijing Opera in a foreign land and was instrumental in its gaining worldwide popularity by his highly successful performances to international audiences in China and in tours of Japan, the United States, and the Soviet Union.  Both were cultural giants of the first half of the 20th Century, and both were ahead of their time in their desires to build a shared appreciation and understanding within the rest of the world of the “soul music” of their respective culture. Moved by the deep commitment of Robeson and Mei to their art and their people, the collaborating artists sought to give recognition to their artistic and historical stature and contextualize the meaning of their accomplishments in today’s world.   

The piece paid tribute to works made famous by Paul Robeson and Mei Lanfang—African American spirituals, work songs and freedom songs as well as Chinese sorrow songs and “arias” from such Beijing operas as Beauty Defies Tyranny and Drunken Beauty.  The musical settings of both the source materials and the newly composed sections by Jon Jang and James Newton illustrated the connections between African music, African American music and Chinese music, based on pentatonic scales employed in both forms.  Genny Lim’s libretto combined English and Mandarin and brought to light the striking parallels between the lives of Mei and Robeson, particularly with respect to their attitudes toward their own cultures, their openness to other cultures, and their ground-breaking artistic and social achievements. 

The production also provided an opportunity for a diverse public to hear and see Chinese art forms that are rarely experienced by U.S. audiences.  The ensemble performing the work included the collaborators along with Timothy Robert Blevins (bass-baritone), Li Hongmei (Chinese opera singer, Beijing), Pan Yongling (jing hu, Beijing), Jibing Chen (er hu), Albert “Tootie” Heath (jazz percussion), Marcus Shelby (bass), and stage direction/scenic design by Ellen Sebastian Chang. 

This major project was underway at the time the Creative Work Fund grant was awarded with commissioning funds for the composers awarded by Meet the Composer.  The Creative Work Fund enabled the two composers to continue their research through archival studies and interviews, to commission the libretto from Genny Lim, and to support the collaborative efforts of stage director and set designer Ellen Sebastian Chang.  Some of the Fund's grant also supported the rehearsal period among all of the U.S. and Chinese artists.

When Sorrow Turns to Joy was built on the foundation of strong, prior artistic relationships.  Lead artists, composers Jon Jang and James Newton wrote, “As composers and musicians, we have a very long history of collaborating on fusions of jazz, traditional Asian music, and Western European classical music.  Each of us feels a deep affinity with the other, not only musically, but politically and spiritually.  We both see this project as a way to further the growth of our ongoing artistic partnership, a partnership we are committed to for the long haul.”  Jang and Genny Lim also had worked together on projects over a twelve year period prior to When Sorrow Turns to Joy.

The origins of Cal Performances, University of California, Berkeley, date from 1906, when Sarah Bernhardt appeared in the William Randolph Hearst Greek Theater to help rebuild morale after the earthquake and fire.  Since that time the organization has been steadily growing in the quality of quantity of its programming and the number of people it serves.  Today, Cal Performances is the largest presenter in Northern California.  Its mission is to present, produce, and commission outstanding artists in performances and community programs that expose audiences, students, and other members of the community to excellence, innovation, and diversity.  The relationship between Jon Jang and Cal Performances began in 1993 when the organization commissioned and presented Jang’s The Color of Reality, performed by his African Chinese Sextet.

Jon Jang

Jon Jang (born 1954) has followed his own path of creating music which has become "two flowers on a stem," a metaphor expressing the symbiotic relationship of his cultural identity and musical aesthetics as an American born Chinese.  For two decades, Jon Jang’s works chronicles and brings to life the Chinese immigration experience in the United States.  His works also pays homage to the legacy of African American music and social justice.

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Great Earthquake in San Francisco that destroyed Chinatown and immigration records, Jang has composed a new work, Paper Son, Paper Songs, that will premiere April 2006.  Commissioned by the Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra and Oakland East Bay Symphony, Jang will compose The Chinese American Symphony, a work that pays tribute to the Chinese who built the first transcontinental railroad in United States and will premiere in 2007.

Jon Jang gives a musical voice to a history that has been silent.  A majority of his works represents a chronology of Chinese American history in San Francisco that includes Island: the Immigrant Suite No. 2 for the Kronos Quartet and Cantonese Opera singer (1995) inspired by the poetry carved on the walls of Angel Island Immigration Station in San Francisco, as well as Tiananmen! (1992) and When Sorrow Turns to Joy – A Musical Tribute to Paul Robeson (2002) inspired by the collaboration between Robeson and a Chinese choir recorded in 1941. Jang also composed the score for the dramatic adaptation of Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Women Warrior (1994).

As a composer, Jon Jang has received commissions and major grants from Kronos Quartet (1995), Chanticleer (1999), The Library of Congress (1999), Rockefeller MAP Fund (1997, 2002), Creative Capital (2000-2003), Meet The Composer (1995), Meet The Composer New Residencies (2000-2002) and NEA Jazz Composition Fellowship award (1995).

Jang has recorded with Max Roach, James Newton and David Murray.  His ensembles have toured at major concert halls and music festivals in China, South Africa (1994), Europe, Canada and the United States. In 2001, Jon toured with Max Roach as part of a trio in Zurich, Berlin, Milan, and the Royal Festival Hall in London. Jon Jang and Dr. Billy Taylor served as curators and artistic advisors for the Asia Society of New York’s Crossover series featuring the collaboration of Asian music in jazz giving performances and presentations at the Studio Museum of Harlem, Hunter College and the Asia Society auditorium in June 1995.

James Newton

Teaching Positions

• Professor of Music, University of California, Irvine, California (1992-present)
• Professor of Music, Composition, Flute, Ensemble, Jazz History, California Institute of the Arts (CALARTS) (1985-1992)
• Visiting Professor, Bennington College, Vermont (1982)
• Visiting Professor, University of Southern California (1988)

Fellowships and Grants

• Fellowship Commission for Symphony No. 1, Guggenheim Foundation (1992-93)
• Individual Artist Composition and Performance Grant, Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department (1990, 1991)
• Performance Grant, California Arts Council (1990, 1991)
• Fellowship for Composition and Performance, National Endowment for the Arts (1980, 1991)

Awards

• “Best Jazz Flutist,” Downbeat Magazine International Readers’ Poll (1983-1995)
• Winner, 1996 Jazz Times Reader’s Poll
• “Best Jazz Flutist,” Downbeat Magazine International Critics’ Poll, (1982-1996)
• Winner, Flute, 1990 Jazz Times Readers’ Poll
• Winner, Flute, 1989 New York City Jazz Awards
• Winner, Jazz Press Critics’ Poll, Amsterdam, Holland (1978)
• Distinguished Alumnus Award, California State University, Los Angeles (1990)

Commissions

• Cantata for Paul Robeson and Mei Lanfang, commissioned by Meet the Composer for Cal Performances, California and the Walker Art Center, Minnesota (1997)
• The Songs of Freedom, two-act opera, commissioned by the Virginia Opera (1995-98)
• String Quartet #2, commissioned by Helena Presents for the Colorado String Quartet (1995)
• Violet, commissioned by Meet the Composer and the Reader’s Digest Commissioning Fund in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest Fund.  Tri-commissioned for the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, The Ear Unit, and the New York New Music Ensemble (1994-95)
• Gumbo Ya Ya, commissioned by the Kennedy Center and National Endowment for the Arts for the San Francisco Ballet (1993)
• The Line of Immortality, commissioned by the Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest Fund’s Meet the Composer program for the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players (1992)
• Suite for Frida Kahlo, commissioned by the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department (1991)
• The Lake of Resolution for flute and chamber orchestra with the Moscow Virtuosi, conducted by Vladimir Spivakov, commissioned by the Freiburg Festival, Freiberg, Germany (1990)
• Mandela Returns to Azania, commissioned by Max Roach for the Uptown String Quartet
• The Suffering Servant, premiere, Los Angeles Philharmonic “Green Umbrella Series,” commissioned by California Institute of the Arts (1990)
• Across the River Jordan for flute and chamber orchestra, commissioned by Ann Mumford and the Freiburg International Jazz Festival, Freiburg, Germany (1988)

Selected Discography

• Axum, ECM 1214-1
• Echo Canyon, Celestial Harmonies CEL 012
• James Newton, Gramavision GR 8205
• Luella, Gramavision GR 8304
• African Flower, Blue Note BT 85109
• From Inside, Bvhaast 0018
• Water Mystery, Gramavision GR 8407
• James Newton in Venice, Celestial Harmonies CEL 030
• Romance and Revolution, Blue Note BT 85134
• Trio 2 with Anthony Davis, Abdul Wadud, Gramavision
• If Love, Jazz Line 20-844
• Russian Collection, Angel Records
• Suite for Frida Kahlo, Audioquest Records AQ 1023
• David Murray, James Newton, DIW Records, Donnie’s Song
• James Newton Above is Above All, Contour Records (1996)

Selected Classical Performances

• Soloist with the Brooklyn Philharmonic
• Soloist with the New York Philharmonic, Avery Fisher Hall, Larry Newland, conductor
• Brooklyn Academy of Music, Lukas Foss, conductor
• Stuttgart Festival, Stuttgart, Germany
• Zelt Music Festival and Ludwigsburg Festival, Moscow Virtuosi, Vladimir Spivakov, conductor, Freiberg, Germany
• Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group, Japan America Theatre, Los Angeles
• San Francisco Ballet, Opera House, San Francisco and Kennedy Center, Washington, DC
• San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco
• EAR Unit, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
• Chicago Contemporary Chamber Players, Chicago, Illinois
• Ensemble für Neue Musik, Kunsthaus, Zurich, Switzerland

Selected Jazz Performances

• The Whitney Museum, New York, New York
• Carnegie Hall, New York, New York
• Montreal International Jazz Festival
• Parco Concert Hall, Tokyo, Japan
• L’Espace Cardin, Paris, France
• Cleveland Institute of Music, Cleveland, Ohio
• Montreaux Jazz Festival, Switzerland
• North Sea Jazz Festival, Den Haag, Netherlands
• San Francisco Jazz Festival, San Francisco, California
• 8th International Jazz Festival, Milan, Italy
• Saltzburg Jazz Festival, Austria
• Theatre de la Ville, Paris, France
• Pori Jazz Festival, Pori, Finland
• Berlin Jazz Festival, Berlin, Germany
• Monterey Jazz Festival, California

Artist-in-Residence

• Carver Cultural Center, San Antonio, Texas (1996)
• University of Hawaii, Manoa, Hawaii (1994)
• University of Nevada, Las Vegas (1992)
• Jazz Conservatory Workshop, Helsinki, Finland (1989, 1991)
• Jazz Clinic, Leverkusener, Germany (1989)
• Viitasaari, Finland (1988)
• University of California, San Diego (1988)
• Portland State University, Portland, Oregon (1988, 1989)
• Santa Fe Jazz Workshop (1985, 1986, 1987)

Genny Lim

Teaching

• Core Faculty in Humanities, Coordinator of Art and Social Change Program, New College of California (1989-     )
• Co-Chair, Undergraduate Humanities Program, New College of California (1993-94)
• Poet-in-Residence, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Curator of Poets-in-the-Galleries, a rotating exhibition of student poetry combined with art (1989-93)
• Writer-in-Residence, Visitacion Valley Middle School, sponsored by the California Arts Council (1986-89)
• Poetry instructor, Golden Gate Elementary School, San Francisco and Lafayette Elementary School, Oakland, sponsored by California Poets-in-the-Schools Program and California Heritage Program (1986)
• Visiting Lecturer in Creative Writing, Department of Ethnic Studies, University of California, Berkeley (1983-84)
• Artist-in-Residence, Kearny Street Workshop, San Francisco, sponsored by the California Arts Council (1981-82)

Theater

• Producing Artistic Director, XX Theatre (1987-91)
• Artistic Director, Paper Angels Productions (1982-87)
• Performing member, Unbound Feet, a collective of six Chinese American women writers who staged their own work

Selected Awards

• Artist fee award for creation of When Sorrow Turns to Joy from the Zellerbach Family Fund (1997)
• Distinguished Award for Culture, San Francisco Cultural Center (1996)
• Sansei Live! Salute to Asian American Writers Award, Kimochi, Inc. (1994)
• ImprovisAsians Award for artistic excellence and community service, Asian Improv aRts (1993)

Selected Bibliography

Theater Productions and Collaborations

• Bitter Cane, Produced at West Coast Ensemble, Hollywood, California (1993)
• Pins and Noodles, writer and narrator of Persona Grata’s premiere multimedia collaboration at the Forum, Center for the Arts, Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco (1993)
• La China Poblana, premiere of multi-media performance collaboration with Guadalupe Garcia, Victor Mario Zaballa and Herbie Lewis, Intersection for the Arts (1991)
• SensUs:  Rainbow AnthemS, poetry and music collaboration with Max Roach and Jon Jang, Festival 2000, Davies Symphony Hall (1990)
• Winter Place, interdisciplinary performance collaboration with Jon Jang, Donna Nomura Dobkin and Cassandra Light, Hatley-Martin Gallery, San Francisco (1988)
• The Pumpkin Girl, Bay Area Playwrights Festival X Premiere, Artists of Marin, San Rafael (1987)
• XX, interdisciplinary performance piece with Koichi Tamano and Brenda Wong Aoki, The Lab (1987)
• Paper Angels, play, premiered Asian American Theater Company (1980); New Federal Theater (1982); Chinese Cultural Center (1982); Asian Theater Group at the Ethnic Cultural Center, Seattle (1983); Theater Mu, Minneapolis, Minnesota (1995)

Video/Film

• The United States of Poetry, featured poet in two-part PBS documentary, Washington Square Films (1995)
• Paper Angels, video broadcast adaptation of play on PBS’s “American Playhouse” (1985)
• The Only Language She Knows, dramatic featurette, produced by Ishmael Reed Productions (1992)
• The Only Language She Knows, 20 minutes feature portrait of Genny Lim, produced by Steven Okasaki and Amy Hill, PBS’s “Silk Screen” series (1987)

Recordings

• Arkaeology, poetry and music collaboration with Herbie Lewis and Francis Wong, Asian Improv Records (1993)
• “The Sea that Carried Me,” and “Winter Place,” on America Fears the Drum – Rebel Poets II, Don Paul Productions (1992)
• “A People’s Prayer,” on Who Sane, Who Sane, live recording at New College of California in protest of the Gulf War, Onda Cultural (1992)

Books

• Child of War, poetry, Kalamaku Press (2003)
• Winter Place, poetry, Kearny Street Workshop Press, San Francisco (1989)
• Island:  Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island, 1910-1940 with Him Mark Lai and Judy Yung, Hoc-Doi, San Francisco (1980)
• Wings for Lai Ho, by Genny Lim, translated by Gordon Lew, illustrated by Andrea Ja, East West, San Francisco (1982)
• The Chinese American Experience, papers from the 1980 National Conference on Chinese American Studies, edited by Genny Lim, Chinese Historical Society of America (1984)

Anthologies

• “Bitter Cane” in The Oxford Book of Women’s Writing in the United States, eds. Wagner-Martin & Davidson, Oxford University Press (1995)
• “On Weaning in America,” in Mother Journeys:  Feminists Write about Mothering, eds. Reddy, Roth, Sheldon, spinsters ink (1994)
• “The Wildness of Women,” in Skin Deep:  Women Writing on Race and Color in America, ed. Elena Featherston, The Crossing Press (1994)
• “Children are Colorblind,” in On Prejudice:  A Global Perspective, ed. D. Gioseffi, Anchor Books (1993)
• Unbroken Thread:  Anthology of Plays by Asian American Women, ed. Uno, University of Massachusetts (1993)
• The Politics of Experience:  Four Plays by Asian American Women, ed. Houston, Temple (1993)
• Chinese American Poetry:  An Anthology, eds. L. Ling-Chi Wang and Henry Zhao, University of Washington (1991)

Ellen Sebastian Chang

Ellen Sebastian Chang is a director, writer, and creative consultant.  She began her career as a lighting designer and technician and served as the technical director and lighting designer for The Blake Street Hawkeyes from 1979-1983.  Her directorial work is highly influenced by her love of and affinity with the movement, color, and temperature of light and shadow.  Chang was the co-founder and artistic director of Life on the Water, a nationally and internationally known presenting and producing organization at San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center from 1986 through 1995.  She has had successful working relationships with many solo performers, including Awela Makeba, Anne Galjour, Whoopi Goldberg, Holly Hughes, Leonard Pitt, Bill Talen, and Charlie Varon.

Currently, Chang is a directing and producing consultant with the Zellerbach Family Foundation’s Technical Assistance Program.  She is one of a handful of artists to receive two Creative Work Fund grants:  in her second project she collaborated with Kitka, a women’s vocal ensemble, to create a new work based on Eastern European folk culture.  She also has contributed to projects with Jon Jang, Michael Chih Ming Hornbuckle, and others.

RESUME HIGHLIGHTS

Directing Credits

• Thieves in the Temple of Hip Hop, solo performance by Aya de Leon (2004)

• Invisible Lines:  The Healing and The Welcoming, a collaboration with Lauren Elder and the Oakland Housing Authority, a neighborhood theater and dance performance in the Peralta District of Oakland, California (2001, 2003)

• The Gentleman Caller, soundscape location and radio production created for the front and back porch of a private home (2001)

• KAWIT LEGONG:  Prince Karna’s Dream, with Gamelon Sekar Jeya and Shadowlight Productions, Cal Performances, University of California, Berkeley, California (2001, 2003)

• When Sorrow Turns to Joy, with Jon Jang and James Newton and members of the Bejing Opera, Cal Performances, University of California, Berkeley, California and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota (2000)

• Game of Life, Suz Takeda  (2000)

• Close Encounters of the Third World, 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors, Latina Theatre Lab, Asian American Theatre Company, and Culture Clash (2000)

• Don’t You Ever Call Me Anything But Mother, John O’Keefe, performed by Helen Shumaker (2000)

• Walkin-Talkin’ Bill Hawkins, William Allen Taylor for the stage and as a documentary for “Lost and Found Sound,” the Millennium Radio Project for National Public Radio (1999)

• Lily Daw and the Three Ladies, Word for Word, Magic Theater (1998)

• Teatro Armonia, Brava! For Women in the Arts (1998)

• Mr. Backlash, Allison Wright, at Venue 9 (1998)

• Dark Passages, Miya Masaoka, Asian Art Museum (1998)

• Klezmer Mania!, Cal Performances, University of California, Berkeley, California (1998)

• The Blues I’m Playing, Langston Hughes, Word for Word, touring production in Frances (1998)

• Solo Pieces of the Quilt, monologues by Danny Hoch, Octavio Solis, and Erin Cressida Wilson for Sean San Jose Blackman (1997)

• Second Skins, environmental fashion show, The Exploratorium, San Francisco, California (1997)

• STUFF, Coco Fusco and Nao Bustamante (1997)

• Mission Possible, Brava! Youth Theater, Brava! For Women in the Arts (1997)

• G-O-to the D, adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s The Adventures of the Black Girl in Search of God, broadcast on “Sound Print,” National Public Radio (1997)

• Sanctified, based on the writings of Zora Neale Hurston, San Francisco premiere followed by tour to Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Miami, and Texas (1988)

• Your Place is No Longer With Us (writer and director), created in a Victorian mansion (1982)

Awards

• San Francisco Bay Guardian second place fiction award for “Little Miss Echo” (1997)

• Bay Area Theater Critics Circle Award for New Directions in Theater, Your Place is No Longer With Us (1982)

LINKS

• http://www.kqed.org/w/baywindow/othercolors/ellen/
• http://www.foolsradio.com/gentlemancaller.html
• http://www.communityarts.net/readingroom/archive/48elder.php
• http://www.npr.org/programs/lnfsound/stories/991217.credits.html
• http://www.gaj.org/Home/index.cfm?fuseaction+Home.DisplayDoc&thisFilename=uctvgsj.htm
• http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/3302238.htm