The Michigan Taiwanese American Organization (MITAI) and the Ann Arbor District Library (AADL) will launch a series of events on Hengchun music called "Sounds of Music: From Taiwan's Hengchun Peninsula" in April. The events will be held in conjunction with Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May and the 200th anniversary of the founding of Ann Arbor.
密西根人文協會聯手安娜堡公共圖書館將於四月份推出恆春音樂《半島風聲 相放伴》系列活動,共同慶祝五月亞太傳統月與安娜堡建市二百週年紀念。
密西根人文協會聯手安娜堡公共圖書館將於四月份推出恆春音樂《半島風聲 相放伴》系列活動,共同慶祝五月亞太傳統月與安娜堡建市二百週年紀念。
April 7 (Sunday), 2 pm: Music Lecture & DIY
Part I - Empowerment Through Hengchun Folk Song Musicals: Women's Narratives on the Global Stage (從恆春半島到國際舞臺:阿嬤唱給世界聽)
Part II: Yueqin (月琴) Introduction and Miniature Making Workshop
Part I: Wang Yuhan is a PhD student at the University of Michigan, studying under ethnomusicology master Joseph Lam. She will explore the following three topics from an interdisciplinary research perspective of sociology, history, musicology, folklore, anthropology, aesthetics, acoustics, and psychology: (1) Empowerment in Performance: Female Narratives in Hengchun Folk Song Culture. (2) Multiple Participation and Revitalization in Hengchun Folk Song Culture. (3) From Local to World Stage: Hengchun Folk Songs Are Being Sung to the World. 王雨涵是密西根大學博士班研究生,師從民族音樂學大師林萃青(Joseph Lam)教授。她將從社會學、史學、音樂學、民俗學、人類學、美學、聲學、心理學等跨領域研究之學術視角,探討下列三主題:(1) 在展演中賦權:恆春民謠文化中的女性敘事。(2) 恆春民謠文化中的多元參與及活化。(3) 從地方走向世界舞台:恆春民謠正在唱給世界聽。
Part II: Assemble a delicate and exquisite miniature wooden yueqin to take home! 組裝精緻細膩的迷你版原木月琴帶回家!
Part II: Assemble a delicate and exquisite miniature wooden yueqin to take home! 組裝精緻細膩的迷你版原木月琴帶回家!
April 20 (Saturday), 2pm: Movie Screening
"Cape No. 7" (海角七號) by Wei, Te-Sheng (魏德聖)
Get ready for a wave of laughter, love, and music! Cape No. 7 is a heartwarming Taiwanese film that blends a modern-day story of misfit musicians with a beautiful historical romance. This award-winning crowd-pleaser, including 3 Golden Horse awards, will have you tapping your toes and reaching for the tissues. Dive into Cape No. 7 and discover a cinematic gem! 準備迎接笑聲、愛與音樂的浪潮吧!《海角七號》是一部令人心靈溫暖的台灣電影,將現代落魄樂團的故事與淒美的歷史愛情巧妙融合。這部屢獲殊榮(三項金馬獎)的口碑佳作將讓您既拍手叫絕,又忍不住淚灑當。 來一起觀賞《海角七號》,發現這顆銀幕上的寶藏吧!
April 27 (Saturday, 2 pm): Music Theater, Lecture & Instrument Workshop
Part I: Music Theater - "The Chants of Motherland Sagas" (半島風聲 相放伴)
Part II: Lecture "When Folk Music Meets Yueqin" (民謠與月琴的相遇)
Part III: Instrument Workshop (月琴教學)
Part I: Music Theater
"The Chants of Motherland Sagas" is themed on "Women Who Sing Folk Songs". It takes the local female Yueqin (moon lute) masters of Hengchun as the core of the whole play and uses the yueqin as a clue to deeply understand how the yueqin is intertwined with their lives. Through the simple and pure singing and melodies of the elderly and the younger generations, their personal life experiences, and the folk song culture that conveys Taiwanese humanistic characteristics are told. 《半島風聲 相放伴》以「唱民謠的女人」為主題,以恆春在地的女性月琴傳人作為整齣戲的發展核心,以月琴作為引子,深入理解月琴如何與她們的生活互相交織。藉著阿公阿嬤及年輕世代們質樸純粹的歌聲與曲調、切身的人生經驗、傳遞具臺灣人文特色的民謠文化。
"The Chants of Motherland Sagas" is themed on "Women Who Sing Folk Songs". It takes the local female Yueqin (moon lute) masters of Hengchun as the core of the whole play and uses the yueqin as a clue to deeply understand how the yueqin is intertwined with their lives. Through the simple and pure singing and melodies of the elderly and the younger generations, their personal life experiences, and the folk song culture that conveys Taiwanese humanistic characteristics are told. 《半島風聲 相放伴》以「唱民謠的女人」為主題,以恆春在地的女性月琴傳人作為整齣戲的發展核心,以月琴作為引子,深入理解月琴如何與她們的生活互相交織。藉著阿公阿嬤及年輕世代們質樸純粹的歌聲與曲調、切身的人生經驗、傳遞具臺灣人文特色的民謠文化。
May 25 (Saturday) Ann Arbor Bicentennial
Asian American Contribution in Ann Arbor
Compiled by Amy D. Seetoo
In the last 200 years, Asian Americans have thrived in this magnificent and diverse city in academic, art, engineering, and scientific advances and in city landmarks. This list covers only a small sample of their contributions.
Compiled by Amy D. Seetoo
In the last 200 years, Asian Americans have thrived in this magnificent and diverse city in academic, art, engineering, and scientific advances and in city landmarks. This list covers only a small sample of their contributions.
- Samuel Ting, born in 1936 in Ann Arbor, received his Ph.D. in physics in 1962 at the University of Michigan. He received the Nobel Prize in 1976, which he shared with Burton Richter, for the discovery of the J/ψ meson nuclear particle.
- In 1962, James P. Wong, born in Buffalo, NY, graduated from the University of Michigan in Architecture and designed Lamp Post Plaza on E. Stadium Blvd as Ann Arbor’s second unenclosed shopping mall, after Arborland Center. It is where Trader Joe’s Ann Arbor is.
- James P. Wong designed many of Ann Arbor’s landmark buildings, including the St. Francis of Assisi Church on Stadium Blvd in 1969, Westminster Presbyterian Church in 1969, the Glazier Way United Methodist Church, currently called the Green Wood United Methodist Church at 1001 Green Road, in 1975, etc.
- In 1969, Joseph TA Lee, Canadian Chinese American professor of architecture at the University of Michigan, joined attorney Arthur Capenter and ten other Ann Arborites to form Arbor-A to revitalize the area around the Farmers’ Market. Professor Lee was the chief architect and planner for the project, responsible for designing the Farmers’ Market and turning the vacant warehouse buildings of the Washtenaw Farm Bureau into a well-known Ann Arbor landmark, the Kerrytown Markets and Shops.
- In 1978, Cynthia Yao, who hailed from Jamaica, West Indies, initiated the idea of a hands-on museum and became the first Executive Director of the Ann Arbor Hands-on Museum in 1982. She was one of the Inductees of the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame in 2005.
- In 1990?, Lucy Alexis Liu, graduated from the University of Michigan, and is now an award winning film and television actress, director, as well as an artist.
- In 1992, M. S. Wu Manufacturing Research Center at the University of Michigan was named in honor of Professor Shien-Ming Wu, Anderson Professor of Manufacturing Technology.
- In 1993, Michigan Chinese American News (密西根新聞), a Chinese language weekly newspaper in Michigan, began publication in Ann Arbor.
- In 1993, Dr. Theresa Chang formed Citizens for Quality Care Co. headquartered in Ann for long term care and assisted living services.
- In 1993, Wei and Lisa Bee founded the first Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea coffeehouse in Ann Arbor. More than 30 years later, Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea has around 40 locations across 12 states.
- In 1994, the Chinese American Society of Ann Arbor (CASAA) was founded.
- In 1995, Jimmy Hsiao, a University of Michigan graduate in Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering, founded Logic Solutions to provide comprehensive range of technology solutions and services to business across the U.S. The company now has offices in Ann Arbor, Irvine, Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and Taipei.
- In 2002, Michigan Taiwanese American Organization (MITAI) was founded to promote cultural exchange between residents of Michigan and those of Taiwan.
- In 2006, Dr. Cheng-Yang Chang, a resident of Ann Arbor, donated $1 million in honor of his wife Shirley to be recognized in the naming of The Shirley Chang Gallery of Chinese Art in the new addition of UMMA (The UM Museum of Art). Dr. Chang also gifted more than 30 traditional Chinese paintings by his father, noted artist Ku-Nien Chang.
- In 2010, the Nam Center for Korean Studies at the UM, the first named Korean studies center in the U.S., was established in honor of Elder Sang-Yong Nam and Mrs. Moon-Sook Nam. Elder Nam, a UM graduate in 1966, was the founder and CEO of Nam Building Management Co.
- Since 2013, Grace Meng, a UM graduate, has been the Congresswoman from New York, being the first Asian American elected to Congress from New York.
- In 2022, the Ann Arbor District Library began receiving annual gifts of 16 award winning art prints for the Lunar New Year from the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, through the introduction of MITAI. These gifts have helped diversify the art appreciation of the library patrons.
- In 2022, Dr. Santa Ono began his five-year term as the 15th president of the University of Michigan and its first Asian American president.
- In 2022, Dr. Jiu-Hwa Lo Upshur, a retired Eastern Michigan University professor and resident of Ann Arbor, and her family members, Jiu-Fong Lo Chang and Kuei-sheng Chang, gifted the Lo Chia-Lun Calligraphy Collection of 72 important works of art from six centuries of Chinese history to UMMA. It was the single most valuable gift of art in the University of Michigan’s history.
- In 2024, it was announced that the Song Foundation and Linh Song, and Dug Song donated a total of $300,000 to renovate the only museum dedicated to Washtenaw County’s Black history. Dug Song is the co-founder and general manager of Duo Security, a cybersecurity providers. In 2018, Duo was acquired by Cisco for $2.35 billion, making it the largest exit ever for a Michigan-based software company. Linh Song is the first female Asian American City Council member of Ann Arbor.
- 22.Frances Kai-Hwa Wang is journalist, poet, scholar based in Ann Arbor and Hawaii, focusing on issues of race, justice, culture, and Asian America. She was a 2019 Knight Arts Challenge winner receiving $25,000 for her project "Beyond Vincent Chin: Legacies in Action and Art" addressing a key case in Asian American history and its impacts since his murder in 1982. She is a PBS NewsHour reporter on Michigan.