AAPI Cooperative Concert: Taiwanese and Carnatic 亞裔聯合音樂會

AAPI Cooperative Concert: When Taiwanese Tradition Meets Carnatic Tradition

Date/time: Saturday, May 25, 2 pm

Location: United Church of Hyde Park (1448 E. 53rd Street, Chicago, IL 60615)

Free Admission. Refreshments and Q&A follow.

A suggested $10 donation at the door.

Performers:

Saraswathi Ranganathan (instrument: Veena)

Press
“Saraswathi played with as much savagery as dreaminess in a rivetingly dynamic (Carnatic) set” – New York Music Daily 2019
“unique and enthralling…” CMA review 2018
“Chicago’s most versatile Veena artiste and cross cultural ambassador – Tribune, 2015

Saraswathi brings with her a legacy of firsts. She is the first Indian woman and Veena artiste to win a Chicago Music Award in its 35-year history, the first Veena artiste to perform as an orchestra member of Disney’s Jungle Book production and the first Veena artiste to receive a $10,000 grant from the Logan Foundation in Chicago. She attributes her path-carving success to the inclusive energy in her music and in her life. Her goal? Bring artists and listeners together as one community united in music and understanding. – worded by Stephanie Jones, Jazzspeak.org

Saraswathi constantly endeavors for sounds of the Veena to reach a cross cultural global audience. She learned Veena from her mother Shantha Ranganathan and from Karnataka Kalashree EP Alamelu in Bangalore. She has been performing and teaching for over three decades now.

Saraswathi also has the distinction as being the first Veena artiste whose original multi-lingual song “Ennai Azhaithaen – I embraced me” was commissioned by the Chicago Humanities Fest.

Saraswathi is the first Veena artiste to perform live music for Chicago International Moves & Music Fest with original score for screening of the movie Buster Keaton’s Seven Chances.

Tzu-Tsen Wu (instrument: Zhong Ruan)

A native of Taiwan, Tzu-Tsen Wu is a Chicago based plucked-string multi-instrumentalist specializing in Zhong Ruan. Her playing style is informed through her Taiwanese roots but also heavily influenced through her studies of various world music styles and ensembles, including as well - western jazz and classical music.

She is an active world music specialist touring around Asia and the United States as solo virtuoso. She is a musician of a duet band, Ruan and Hide, and music of the Chicago Immigrant Orchestra (Chicago Reader’s “Best World Music Act” of 2021) and serves as the current Artistic Program Coordinator for The Chinese Fine Arts Society of Chicago. As a music educator, she presently serves as Adjunct Professor of Music at Oakton Community College in addition to running the Chinese Music Ensemble at several Universities and Chinese schools of Chicago. She performs and collaborates regularly and has co-authored a children’s music textbook commissioned by the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Education.

Concert Content:

Taiwanese folk songs, Taiwanese famous tunes, South Indian Carnatic tunes, the premier of Taiwanese and Carnatic pieces

This concert is co-hosted by the United Church of Hyde Park, the Taiwanese Association of America the Greater Chicago Chapter, and the Chicago Fine Arts Society. It is sponsored by the Culture Center of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago.

ENJOY FOR FREE; DONATION ENCOURAGED