Jen Shyu – Projecting Tradition Into the Future in Three Solo Works

Jen Shyu will offer an inside look into her process behind research, composition, and improvisation that led to her three of her solo ritual-theater-music works: Solo Rites: Seven Breaths (2014) directed by Garin Nugroho; and Nine Doors (2017) and Zero Grasses: Ritual for the Losses (2019), both directed by Alexandru Mihail. These works were inspired by 20+ years of study of traditional music and dance from five countries, including epic storytelling and East Coast shaman music from South Korea; music from East and West Timor; Hengchun Folk Song with moon lute from Taiwan; Ledhekan, which combines Javanese dance with improvisational singing from Indonesia; and the “speaking-the-song” or “katari” with Japanese biwa, the rare 4-stringed instrument originally used by monks and priests.

Event Speaker

Jen Shyu, Composer

Event Information

Free and open to the public; RSVP required via Eventbrite.

Please contact the group organizer, Jessie Cox at jc5036@columbia.edu with any questions. The Comparing Domains of Improvisation series is sponsored by the Presidential Scholars in Society and Neuroscience program at Columbia University.

The Center for Science and Society makes every reasonable effort to accommodate individuals with disabilities. If you require disability accommodations to attend a Center for Science and Society event, please contact us at scienceandsociety@columbia.edu or (212) 853-1612 at least 10 days in advance of the event. For more information, please visit the campus accessibility webpage.