In celebration of Asian Heritage Month, we present an evening of music and storytelling spanning many different cultures and countries. Artists include Asian Riffing Trio (pop/R&B), Janice Jo Lee (live looping artist and storyteller), Two.H (champion beatboxer from South Korea). Diana Tso (storyteller), the Chinese Canadian Choir of Toronto, and more!
Generously sponsored by Dr. Victoria Lee and Dr. Philip Hebért
Artist Bios:
Janice Jo Lee (she/they) 이승혜 is an award-winning queer interdisciplinary artist based in Tkaronto, Ontario. She is a second generation Canadian settler and twenty-seventh generation Korean. She is a contemporary folk-jazz singer, songwriter, composer, sound designer, spoken word poet, actor, clown, satirist, educator and equity consultant. She is a nationally-touring independent musician and bandleader. Her latest album Ancestor Song is a testament to healing and remembering your roots.
In 2024 Janice was the sound designer for Donna-Michelle St Bernard’s Three Fingers Back (Tarragon), and Jordan Tannahill’s Late Company (Green Light Arts.) Currently she performs with her band, composes for stage and film, is recording her next album Lullabyes for End Times, and directs a weekly physical theatre workshop at Sweet Action Theatre called Play Play. As an educator, she conducts workshops on anti-oppression, performance, and poetry. Janice is a member of the League of Canadian Poets, Associated Designers of Canada and ACTRA. Follow her work at janicejolee.ca @janjolee
janicejolee.ca
www.instagram.com/janjolee/
Asian Riffing Trio - Chris Tsujiuchi, Kevin Wong, and Colin Asuncion. Separately, they are 3 prominent powers. Together, they unite to form 1 superpower; Asian Riffing Trio - or ART for short. These three multi-talented queer Asian artists subvert the boyband format simply by existing as a group. With their characteristic soulful vocals and innovative musical arrangements, ART has established itself as a true artistic force and one of Toronto’s best kept secrets.
@asianriffintrio
DIANA TSO 楓
Diana Tso is a theatre artist, playwright, storyteller and Dora award winning actor. She's a theatre faculty member at George Brown College. She graduated from the University of Toronto in English Literature and of Ecole Internationale de Théâtre de Jacques Lecoq in France. She’s worked with diverse theatres internationally for over 25 years. Recent performances include: Modern Times Stage Company’s The Cherry Orchard, Theatre Smith-Gilmour’s Les Misérables and at the 2017 Stratford Festival in Bakkhai and The Komagata Maru Incident.
As artistic director of Red Snow Collective, which creates compelling theatre drawn from eastern and western storytelling aesthetics, her productions focus on empowering the voices of women: www.redsnowcollective.ca Her plays, Red Snow (2012) and Comfort (2016) bring to light the resilience of women in war and her Monkey Queen stories are a re-imagining of mythologies from the female perspective. Her plays are available at Canadian Play Outlet
Two.H is a Korean beatboxer and the 2010 Korean Beatbox Champion. Two.H is considered a legendary beatboxer for his creatively original style and use of difficult techniques.
In 2017, Two.H completed his mandated military service and made his way back into the beatbox scene. He was invited to the Grand Beatbox Battle that year and made it through the elimination rounds.
IG: @youngheonha
NeoVoce Philharmonic Choir, officially established in Canada since early 2023, is a federally registered non-profit choral art group composed of vocal enthusiasts from various professions who love choral singing and pursue their musical goals.The choir shares one common mission: to demand singers with professionalism in rehearsals, to treat audiences with professionalism in concerts. NeoVoce has rich performance experiences covering a variety of Western traditional choral works, contemporary choral arrangements and compositions in diverse cultures and numerous languages.Since 2020, under the baton of the Artistic Director and Conductor Leo Li (Choral Canada board member), NeoVoce has undergone a series of systematic and rigorous choral trainings; the choristers’ choral literacy and skills have improved dramatically.The choir was selected in the open rehearsal at PODIUM2022, Canada’s national biennial bilingual choral conference, in Toronto. NeoVoce hosted its inaugural choral concert “Hearing the East” in 2023 and its second choral concert “Hearing the East” in 2024.NeoVoce has also participated in PODIUM2024’s the Digital Horizons Series in Montreal.
https://www.npchoir.com/
https://www.youtube.com/@jingc8609