Join us as we celebrate the resilient and tenacious stories of Asian and Pacific Islander (API) communities through song. Together, through the celebration of API composers and communal vocal legacies— choral ensembles will step into meaningful intercultural exchange with collaborations from community elders, culture bearers, and cultural practitioners. This experience is centered on the premiere of a new work by composer-in-residence, Saunder Choi whose work will reference texts from Filipino poets - - and all at the world-famous Carnegie Hall!
An acclaimed guest conductor, a world-premiere commission from an outstanding composer-in-residence, and choirs from all over the country come together to create an unforgettable performance filled with musical artistry and visual projections. Audiences have never seen a choral concert like this before. A performance at Carnegie Hall made even more inimitable in this one-time collaboration!
ABOUT THE GUEST CONDUCTOR
Dr. Jace Kaholokula Saplan serves as the Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. Dr. Saplan received his Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, his Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Concordia University-Portland, his Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of Oregon, and his Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting with cognates in Music Education and Ethnomusicology from the University of Miami Frost School of Music.
Known for his work in celebrating the intersection between Hawaiian music and choral performance, he is the artistic director of Nā Wai Chamber Choir, a professional vocal ensemble based in Hawaiʻi dedicated to the preservation and propagation of Hawaiian choral music. Under his direction, Nā Wai has commissioned and mentored emerging Native Hawaiian composers and conductors, toured throughout rural Hawaiian communities, and led workshops on the performance of Hawaiian choral music at schools and universities throughout the country.
ABOUT THE COMPOSER-IN-RESIDENCE
Saunder Choi is a Los Angeles-based Filipino composer and choral artist. His works have also been performed by the Philippine Madrigal Singers, the Crossing Choir, the LA Master Chorale Chamber Singers, Sacra Profana, Tonality, Indianapolis Symphonic Choir, World Youth Choir, Asia Pacific Youth Choir and many others. He has been commissioned by the L.A. Choral Lab, Andrea Veneracion International Choral Festival, SYC Ensemble Singers (Singapore), Choral Arts Initiative, the Earth Choir (Taiwan), Taipei Philharmonic Choir and Women’s Choir, Archipelago Singers (Indonesia), Los Angeles Master Chorale, and many others. As an arranger and orchestrator, Saunder has written for Tony-Award winner Lea Salonga, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Filarmónica Portuguesa, ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra, Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, the New York Gay Men’s Chorus, Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, the Tim Janis Christmas Shows at Carnegie Hall, Ballet Philippines, etc.
He won the 2017 Indianapolis Symphonic Choir Carol Commission competition and awarded the 1st prize in the 2014 American Prize for Choral Composition (student division). He was also a finalist for the 2012 and 2015 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award and was one of the five composition fellows at the 2016 Big Sky Choral Initiative, where he worked with the Grammy-award winning choir, The Crossing. More recently, he was one of three composers chosen to participate in Pacific Chorale’s Choral Sketches Workshop, with renowned composer Tarik O’Regan.
Tickets for this performance will go on sale through the Carnegie Hall box office on March 14 through the link below.
