The Boston Festival Orchestra returns to the Cambridge Public Library for the second year of its AAPI Heritage Concert, celebrating the extraordinary breadth of musical voices from Asian American and Pacific Islander composers. This program brings together works that reflect personal history, cultural inheritance, and bold contemporary expression — offering a powerful snapshot of the many ways identity and artistry intersect.
The BFO is excited to be joined by playwright Hortense Gerardo, whose original spoken word creations respond to each musical selection. Her contributions add a beautiful layer of commentary that elevates AAPI voices with contemporary art.
Join BFO Artistic Director Alyssa Wang, BFO musicians, and guest artists for an intimate chamber music experience that pairs performance with conversation, inviting audiences to engage with the cultural, historical, and human stories behind the music. This concert continues the BFO’s commitment to amplifying AAPI voices and creating space for meaningful artistic exchange.
This concert is free and open to the public, with registration required.
PROGRAM
Leilehua Lanzilotti, the water in your body is just visiting
Chinary Ung, Spiral III (String Quartet No. 1)
Paul Wiancko, American Haiku
Vijay Iyer, dig the say
Harvest Celebration arr. Yi-Wen Jiang
Jae Cosmos Lee, violin
Alyssa Wang, violin
Anna Griffis, viola
Johnny Mok, cello
With Special Guest, Hortense Gerardo, Ph.D.
Hortense Gerardo, Ph.D., is a playwright, screenwriter, and Director of the Anthropology,
Performance, and Technology (APT) Program at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Her works have been performed widely including: LaMama Experimental Theatre, Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) Boston, International Performance Art Festival, Nuit Blanche Festival, Toronto, and the Without Walls Festival, La Jolla Playhouse. She received a Fellowship from Mass Cultural Council in Dramatic Writing, and an Elliot Norton Award nomination for Outstanding New Script for her play Middleton Heights. She is a co-founder of the Asian American Playwright Collective (AAPC) and serves as Head of Screenwriting on the Board of the Woods Hole Film Festival. Her latest play Olympic Hopefuls will be presented at the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival on August 10 – 15 at the Royal Scots Club. Current work addresses issues of identity, power, and the existential poetics of human and machine
learning interaction. For more information go to: www.hortensegerardo.com.
Cambridge Public Library
Lecture Hall
449 Broadway
Cambridge, MA 02138
For Parking and Directions, click here.