There Will Be Joy
Channel: Byron Au Yong
Date: 2020-05-29

inspired by PJ and Roy Hirabayashi 
by Byron Au Yong and Aaron Jafferis

featuring Ali Ewoldt and Francis Jue (voice)
with Christopher Thomas Pow (guitar)

50 years ago, the Asian American movement started alongside Black, Latinx, and Native American organizers. PJ and Roy Hirabayashi (founders of San Jose Taiko in 1973) were inspired by the anti-war movement, student organizing in the 1960s and 1970s, and "A Grain of Sand: Music for the Struggle by Asians in America," by Chris Kando Iijima, Joanne Nobuko Miyamoto, and Charlie Chin.

"There Will Be Joy" comes from an interview of the Hirabayashi's celebration of movement and liberation that infuses their activism and music.

Music by Byron Au Yong
Words by Aaron Jafferis
Music Direction by Stephanie Tubiolo
Audio and Video Editing by Stephanie Tubiolo

Taiko Drummers:
Yuta Kato (Los Angeles Taiko Institute, principal)
Franco Imperial (San Jose Taiko, artistic director)
PJ Hirabayashi (San Jose Taiko, co-founder)
Roy Hirabayashi (San Jose Taiko, co-founder)
Michelle Fujii (Unit Souzou, co-director)
Toru Watanabe (Unit Souzou, co-director)

Choir:
Aaron “Coach Hawk” Hawkins, Amelia Allen Sherwood, Anne Rhodes, Anthony DeQuattro, Audrey Patterson, Brianna Chance, Briana Williams, Britney Arias, Cliff Schloss, Darnell Charles, Dezirae Pollard, Elaine Kolb, Emmanuel Pollard, Fi Schroth-Douma, Gabriela Diaz, Gloria Yin, Harriett Alfred, Jaminda Blackmon, Jeffrey Douma, Jennifer Heikkila Diaz, Lisa Patterson, Magdalena Diaz, Marnielle Charles, NicDaniel Charles, Nesta Allen II, Paul Davies, Saleena Holder, Sara Culver, Shiloh Allen, Tahj Galberth, Will Myers, and Will Schroth-Douma

Activist Songbook honors organizers and organizing through collective music-making. Material emerges from interviews with individual organizers to engage communities. The Virtual Choirs include musicians and non-musicians who record songs from the Activist Songbook repertoire. After a single remote rehearsal, participants follow guide tracks to record their parts separately, performing and improvising.

Produced by Octopus Theatricals in partnership with The International Festival of Arts & Ideas (https://www.artidea.org/activistsongbook).

Activist Songbook was created as a part of (ex)CHANGE: History Place Presence, a project of Asian Arts Initiative (www.asianartsinitiative.org). Original support for (ex)CHANGE: History Place Presence was provided by the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, Philadelphia. Additional support from Montalvo Arts Center Lucas Artists Residency Program (https://blog.montalvoarts.org/activist-songbook.html)

Funded in part by the New England States Touring program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the six New England state arts agencies.

More about San Jose Taiko at https://taiko.org

More about Activist Songbook at:
Facebook · https://www.facebook.com/activistsongbook
Instagram · https://www.instagram.com/activistsongbook
Twitter · https://www.twitter.com/activistsongbk
Website · http://www.activistsongbook.org

More about my music at:
Bandcamp · https://hearbyron.bandcamp.com
Facebook · https://www.facebook.com/hearbyron
LinkedIn · https://www.linkedin.com/in/auyong
Twitter · https://www.twitter.com/hearbyron
Website · http://www.hearbyron.com