East Asian Music and Stories in the Contemporary US
The East Asian Music in the Contemporary World (EAMCW) Initiave is a creative-research initiative founded in 2025 by Dr. Hippocrates Cheng 鄭靖楠 and fellow colleagues, in collaboration with North America–based musicians specializing in East Asian instruments and scholars focusing on East Asian music and its contemporary expressions.
As part of the EAMCW Initiative’s New York tour, Dr. Hong-Da Chin 陈宏达, Junghwa Lee 이정화, and Thomas Piercyトーマス・ピアシー will present a talk and performance on Friday, 17 April 2026 at 5:00 p.m. at New York University. During the event, the artists will perform excerpts from traditional and contemporary repertoires and share their experiences as musicians working in the United States.
Thomas Piercy, a hichiriki artist and new music advocate based in New York City and Tokyo, will discuss his training and performance experiences in Japan and the United States. Jung Hwa Lee, a gayageum artist and lecturer originally from Korea and now based in Los Angeles, will speak about her work performing traditional and cross-cultural music in the United States. Dr. Hong-Da Chin, a dizi artist and composer originally from Malaysia and now based in the United States, will share insights into his performance and compositional practice in both traditional and contemporary contexts in the United States. Dr. Hippocrates Cheng, composer and artistic director of the EAMCW Initiative, will moderate the event and introduce selected compositions of his to be performed by the participating musicians.
Attendees will have the opportunity to receive complimentary tickets to EAMCW Initiative’s contemporary East Asian music concert at Marc A. Scorca Hall at the National Opera Center to be held on Saturday, 18 April 2026.
Registered event participants will also receive a complimentary ticket to the EAMCW Initiative’s “Re/sonic – New Music for East Asian Instruments” concert on Friday, 18 April at 5:00 p.m. at Marc A. Scorca Hall at the National Opera Center, presented by Random Access Music (RAM). The concert will feature new compositions by Hippocrates Cheng performed by nine distinguished artists specializing in East Asian instruments.
Admission is free, but registration is required.
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