ASCAP, The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, has announced its next ASCAP Experience session for later this week: “Metamorphosis: David Henry Hwang & Huang Ruo in Conversation.” The session will be the second event of ASCAP’s Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month celebration, and premieres Thursday, May 19 at 3PM ET / 12PM PT on @ASCAP YouTube. In this conversation between three-time Pulitzer Prize-finalist playwright and librettist David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly), and composer and librettist Huang Ruo (Paradise Interrupted, American Soldier, M. Butterfly with Hwang), the two titans of their fields will discuss incorporating themes of the Asian-American experience into theater, opera and concert music.
Nancy Yao Maasbach, President of the Museum of Chinese in America, is set to moderate. Hwang and Ruo’s opera version of M. Butterfly will have its world premiere at the Santa Fe Opera on July 30.
ASCAP launched its AAPI Heritage Month appreciation earlier this month with its first event, “Seoul Music: Amber Liu & Justin Park in Conversation” featuring the two K-pop songwriters on Instagram Live. The session is available to stream on @ASCAP YouTube at youtu.be/XPzaoLzJLmU.
ASCAP also curated a special playlist featuring music from ASCAP members in the AAPI community such as Mitski, Olivia Rodrigo, Bella Poarch, TOKiMONSTA, Vijay Iyer, Steve Aoki, Hayley Kiyoko, Yo-Yo Ma, Toro y Moi and more. And ASCAP social media is sharing exclusive videos from up-and-coming AAPI music creators Alice Longyu Gao, Brooke Alexx, DJ Flict, Ella Jay Basco, Mad Tsai, Natania Lalwani, Ralph Torrefranca of post-punk band Cuffed Up and Will Jay talking about how their heritage has affected their careers, songwriting and other topics relevant to the Asian-American experience.
More information about ASCAP Experience is at www.ascapexperience.com.
