From East Asia - Unforgotten Song 

"this is our song; we still have to remember her songs and pray for her" – gamin

Final Concert, Slosberg Recital Hall
Preconcert Talk 7:00 pm

 Please join us for an unforgettable evening.  As artistic performance becomes ritual, we remember and honor the Comfort Women of occupied countries in East Asia, who were forced into sexual slavery between 1932-1945.  

Korean master musician gamin (piri, saenghwang, taepyungso) – who transforms the concert hall into “a place of deep enchantment, transcending time and space” – has curated this remarkable ritual performance.  Joining gamin, the sounds of the shakuhachi (bamboo flute, once the province of the Fuke sect of Zen Buddhist monks), Chinese sheng, and the Lydian String Quartet suffuse a soundscape that includes traditional Korean music, improvisations based on East Asian folk music, and contemporary expressions.  Composers Ki Young Kim and Yoon Ji Lee have written new works for this collaborative concert, and framing the program, visual artist Chang-Jin Lee’s poignant and powerful video asks us to contemplate the experiences of Comfort Women survivors through a visual poetry based on words, images and expressive visual abstractions. 

At its heart, Unforgotten Song is a story of resilience, courage and strength in the face of suffering and injustice.  Archived songs sung by surviving comfort women are transformed into a ritual as beautiful as it is heart-breaking - that is for not only for victims in the past, but also for all women who are suffering from injustice in the world.

Throughout the residency week of November 11-16, residency artists will visit classes throughout the university for performances and discussions.  See residency schedule.