In celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage month and, of course, Mother’s Day, A-Squared Theatre Workshop, Chicago’s only pan-Asian dramatic theater company, presents My Asian Mom, an evening of eight 10-minute one-act plays directed by Joe Yau at Stage 773, 1225 W Belmont, May 4 – 26. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $15 general admission, $13 for students and groups of 10 or more, and may be purchased by calling 773.327.5252 or visiting www.stage773.com. For more information on the performance go to www.a-stw.org.

From saving the meat of a deer hit in the road to forcing piano lessons onto small children, Asian mothers are weird, funny, and nurturing in their own inexplicable ways.  With the Confucian command to honor and obey elders in their upbringing, it is often culturally taboo for Asians to divulge public emotion and opinion about their mothers. As artists, the mostly Asian American cast members and writers of My Asian Mom are compelled to express their truths about their families and mothers.

When A-Squared Theatre Workshop founding member, Mia Park (www.miapark.com), conceived My Asian Mom in 2011, she was surprised by the reactions from her community. Some Asian actors felt threatened by the overwhelmingly complicated emotions they have towards their mothers. She was told, “This is too close to home. I can’t do it.” From the other end of the spectrum, Asians who’ve never performed before wanted to be a part of the show, excited about the rare opportunity to share stories about their moms with an audience. Park knew that My Asian Mom would provide a special forum for these eager and emotional voices to be heard.

Of the eight acts, three are about Korean moms, three about Filipino moms, one about Chinese moms, and one about every Asian mom. Some of the works are devised by the performers, some are excerpts from longer plays and some were chosen from a nationwide call for submissions. The cast includes an adoptee, a hapa (person of half Asian descent), and artists from Burmese, Korean, Japanese, Filipino, Caucasian and Chinese backgrounds. This multi-ethnic collaboration of talents fully express the humorous, touching and aggravating experiences they’ve had with their Asian moms. Expect complex comedy, poignant drama and total honesty from the collaborative efforts from Second City directors and instructors, Mia Park of “The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow” and Chic-A-Go-Go fame, Helen Young (u/s Steppenwolf, Goodman) and other seasoned cast and crew.

The eight one-act plays are:

·      “Autumn Moon” by Marie Yuen. Directed by Masami Maggard and Miriam Solon. Featuring Ginger Leopoldo, Arvin Jalandoon, RJ Silva, Ramona Kywe, Amy Shi, Ben Albovias. A mother struggles with the loss of her husband only to realise the Autumn Moon links them eternally.

·      “Eight Turkey Sandwiches” written and performed by Mia Park. Directed by Helen Young. A daughter dreams of her Korean family lineage and contemplates how she’s supposed to fit in when she doesn’t eat turkey or mayonnaise.

·      “MamaSiHero” by Conrad A. Panganiban. Directed by Jin Kim. Featuring Aimee Algas Alker, Lovien “Joey” Flores (5/11-5/26), Ben Albovias, Ginger Leopoldo (5/4 & 5/5). A comic book artist is under pressure to deliver a new superhero and draws her inspiration from her mom.

·      “Organic Meatballs” by Damon Chua. Directed by John Hildreth. Featuring Rio Shigeta, Noelle Lynn, Ramona Kywe. A brother and sister check in with one another only to realize that the meeting is guided by the invisible hand of mom.

·      “Piano” by Hope Kim. Directed by Joe Yau. Featuring Hope Kim. A Korean woman tells of her time growing up with piano lessons and how that’s affected her life and her mom’s.

·      “TAB” by Susan H. Pak. Directed by Marc Rita. Featuring Aimee Algas Alker, Hope Kim, Noelle Lynn. A mother relates her last meeting with her older daughter while trying to reestablish her relationship with her younger one.

·      “This Is Why I Don’t Drink” by Neal Ryan Shaw. Directed by Neil Jacobsen. Featuring Ginger Leopoldo, Alex Wu. A son visiting his mom share a drink and catch up on what’s most important to her, the lives of fictional characters on a Filipino soap opera.

·      “Tiger Mom” by Colleen Dilts and Mike Gillespie. Directed by Jay Sukow. Featuring Colleen Dilts, Patrick Woods. A Caucasian mom decides to raise her child in the tradition of a Tiger Mom.

A-Squared Theatre Workshop (www.a-stw.org) is a Chicago based collective that creates an artistic environment of risk taking and growth for Asian American theater artists by dynamically bringing Asian American stories to the stage for general theater-going audiences. A-Squared is a 501c3, non-profit organization, dedicated to: (1) Sharing Asian American stories and experiences to the Chicago community through live theatre; (2) Expanding perceptions and contexts about Asian Americans of all generations and their part in the history of America and (3) Creating a safe, artistic environment for Asian American theater artists to explore, express and grow in traditional and non-traditional roles both on and off the stage in Chicago.

My Asian Mom, an evening of eight 10-minute one-act plays directed byJoe Yau at Stage 773, 1225 W Belmont, May 4 – 26. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. The press performance is Saturday, May 5 at 8 p.m. followed by a reception hosted by Angel Island Theatre Company and presented by ENERI Communications. Tickets are $15 general admission, $13 for students and groups of 10 or more, and may be purchased by calling 773.327.5252 or visiting www.stage773.com. For more information on the performance go to www.a-stw.org.

Genre bending group performs original works rooted in jazz, classical, tango, & rock for violin, cello, voice, keyboards, and percussion.

The Steve Hudson Chamber Ensemble, led by composer Steve Hudson – piano/melodica, and featuring Zach Brock – violin, Jody Redhage – cello/voice, and Martin Urbach – cajon/ percussion, returns to play a live show backing their critically acclaimed album “Galactic Diamonds” – on Saturday, May 19th, 2012 at 8pm, at the Hudson Opera House, 327 Warren St., Hudson, NY. Tickets are $20, ($18 for members) and can be purchased at the door. Call (518) 822-1438 for more information.

Praised by Keyboard Magazine for his “exquisite compositions” and for “a quest for beauty in his lines that evoke the masters,” Steve Hudson has worked with Steven Bernstein, James Zollar, Marcus Rojas, and Claire Daly. Zach Brock has performed and recorded with Stanley Clarke, Joel Harrison, and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, while Jody Redhage currently tours with bassist Esperanza Spalding and has performed with the Tokyo String Quartet, and Bang on a Can.  Martin Urbach has shared the stage with Lee Konitz and Dave Liebman. In 2011, the ensemble performed at Chamber Music America’s national conference in New York and toured Italy and Austria to promote “Galactic Diamonds.”

Their newest recording, Galactic Diamonds has been called “a collection of little gems” by All About Jazz; “so disarmingly fun that it’s impossible to resist…a good-naturedly eclectic mix of third stream jazz with a catchy, quirky pop edge” by Lucid Culture;  and “consistently engaging” by Christian Carey, Signal To Noise.

A Kite’s Tale, created by Chicago’s Blair Thomas & Company is the story of a little girl who sets out to fly her kite and takes a magical journey through her own imagination.  Employing hand puppets, bunraku puppets and giant costumed characters, this wordless narrative is accompanied by a live performance of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, performed on solo piano by Kathryn Goodson.

The performance will take place at the Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave. in Detroit, on Saturday and Sunday May 12 and 13, 2012 at 2pm as part of Family Sundays at Rivera Court. The event is free with museum admission (which is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $4 for youth ages 6-17). For more information, call 313-833-7900.

This delightful 40 minute long family show has been seen at venues such as Sherwood Conservatory of Music, the Chicago Cultural Center, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park in Chicago, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Music Institute of Chicago, and at the National Puppetry Festival, in Atlanta.

A Kite’s Tale was conceived, directed and designed by Blair Thomas. The story is by Blair Thomas in collaboration with the puppeteers: Sam Deutsch, Sarah Fornace, Dan Kerr-Hobert, and Julia Miller.

Blair Thomas & Company is a Chicago-based company that creates and performs contemporary puppetry and visual theater locally, nationally, and internationally. They are dedicated to the art of the puppet and its relationship to live music as an expressive form, in addition to the art as a spectacle form. They create unique, artistic experiences that are vital to the cultural life of Chicago and influential to the field of contemporary performance nationally and internationally. BT&C have twice received the UNIMA award for excellence in puppetry, and Mr. Thomas was also the first artist to be awarded the Jim Henson Artist-In-Residence position at the University of Maryland. Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune says: “very few cities have a native theater company such as Blair Thomas and Company, where visual delicacy and an open heart are at the core of the art.”

Pianist Kathryn Goodson is an international performer, teacher and coach, and has appeared in recital throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan with leading wind instrumental and vocal artists. At the University of Michigan School of Music in Ann Arbor since 2005 she has served as collaborative pianist-coach; in 2008 her position expanded to include musical direction for Robert Swedberg’s opera studio. Recordings of Goodson’s work include Barn Burner and Melodrama (Albany) with Randall Hawes, Voices of the Holocaust (Block M-University of Michigan) with Caroline Helton, In Transit (Innova) with saxophonist Timothy McAllister, as well as international radio and television broadcasts. At schools such as Stanford University, the Conservatoire de Genève and the Musashino Music School in Tokyo, Goodson has taught classes in solo and collaborative repertoire, returning often to the Karlsruhe Music School in Germany to teach American Art Song. Educational outreach also involves concerto soloist appearances for Detroit Symphony Orchestra youth concerts, and, since 2005, musical coordination of a children’s series for the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. As artistic director Goodson has served in Stuttgart for the Internationale-Hugo-Wolf-Akademie, in Ann Arbor for two Charles Ives festivals with the Phoenix Ensemble and currently for Concerts4aCause of Northside Community Church. Goodson received a doctorate and master of collaborative piano with Martin Katz at the University of Michigan, studying also with Eckart Sellheim. As a Fulbright Scholar to Germany 1992-1994, she received the Konzertexam in Art Song with highest honors with Hartmut Höll at the Karlsruhe Music School. Her bachelor of music in piano performance was earned with Robert Shannon at Oberlin Conservatory.

Performing a program entitled Dialogue between the Traditional and the Modern, including folk and Chinese Opera works as well as contemporary works by both Chinese and Western composers such as Xie Wenhui and Victoria Bond, the Chinese Hua Xia Chamber Ensemble (pronounced HWA SHA) makes their Lincoln Center Debut at Alice Tully Hall on Monday, May 7 at 7:30pm. Tickets are $20 and are available at www.lincolncenter.org and at Alice Tully Hall, 1941 Broadway (65th Street between Broadway & Amsterdam Avenue); For more information, call 212 671 4050.

Founded in 1995, and currently touring the United States with performances in New York and Boston, the Chinese Hua Xia Chamber Ensemble of the China Conservatory has become one of the most dynamic and technically impressive chamber ensembles of China. Under the strong leadership of Professor Zhang Weiliang and Maestro Tsung Yeh, the ensemble has achieved international acclaim. Its musicians, who are mainly young conservatory teachers, have won numerous instrumental competition awards in China and abroad. Their repertoire ranges from traditional Chinese folk music and Chinese opera music to contemporary Chinese and international classical music. The ensemble has recorded several CDs and has performed in the United States, France, Portugal, Australia, and in Asia and Africa. For this performance, the program will feature six world premieres commissioned by the ensemble for this US tour.

The Program includes:
Lang Tao Sha (Traditional)
Feng Qiu Huang, by Liu Qing (World Premiere)
Five Impressions, by Gao Ping (World Premiere)
Wild Geese in the Sandbank (Traditional)
Graceful, by Wang Dan Hong (World Premiere)
Nodes, by John Mallia (World Premiere)
Deep Night (Traditional Chinese Opera)
Less, but More, by Xie Wen Hui (World Premiere)
Bridge, by Victoria Bond (World Premiere arrangement for this ensemble)

Performers include: Huang Mei (guqin); Wang Yidong (Chinese percussion); Mark Baekbum Yee (cello); Chai Shuai (erxian & erhu); Qiu Ji (zheng); Ge Yong (pipa); Chen Yue (flute); Wu Huanghuang (yangqin); Huang Mei (ruan); Chen Yue (flute); Tomoya Aomori, Justin Doute (western percussion); Zhang Weiliang (xiao); Han Shi (violin), Eric Umble (clarinet), Sun Pei (piano). Tsung Yeh, conductor, Zhang Weiliang Artistic Director. Zhao Talimu, President of China Conservatory, serves as leader of this delegation.

Music/Words (www.musicwordsnyc.com), an interdisciplinary series founded and curated by NYC- based pianist Inna Faliks (www.innafaliks.com), continues its fourth season on April 23 and 30 on WFMT at 8pm CST. Faliks will play CPE Bach, Eric Satie, Schubert, Chopin. L.B. Thompson, Whiting Award winner, is the poet.

The series MUSIC/WORDS was recently praised by Lucid Culture as being “surreal, impactful, and relevant” and was described as “a throwback to the Paris salons of the late 1800s.” It celebrates links between poetry and music by presenting collaborations between exciting solo performers and acclaimed contemporary poets in the form of a live recital/reading.

Inna Faliks created the series in order to foster a chance for poets and musicians to work together and inspire each other, as well as to allow different audiences to come together for these musical-literary events. New published and unpublished works are read alongside performances of music old and new and connected by content, intuition, and inspiration.

According to Faliks, “I pair performers together based on their personalities and styles, and encourage them to choose the poems and music in varied ways that are strongly and intuitively connected.”