The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, Department of Ethnomusicology will present a concert by the Jon Jangtet on Wednesday, Jan. 17, from 8 to 10 p.m. at the Jan Popper Theater, SMB Room 1200 on the UCLA campus.
Bay Area-based musician Jon Jang, who has a residency at UCLA, will perform his compositions on solo piano and with the Jon Jangtet, featuring Hitomi Oba, tenor sax; Trevor Ware, bass; Nick DePinna, trombone; and Mils Senzaki, multiple percussion.
“Traditions in Transformation: The Musical Language of Jon Jang” will be presented on Thursday, Jan. 18, from 1 to 2:50 p.m. in SMB Room 1440. Jang will talk about exploring heterogeneity in music through the creation of his works that are a hybrid of Chinese folk songs, black music, and European classical music.
Also on Jan. 18, a workshop with Oba’s ensemble will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. in SMB 1439. Oba will be interpreting Jang’s “Reparations Now! Concerto for Large Music Ensemble and Taiko” in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which provided redress and an apology for Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II.
Jang’s other epic works include “The Chinese American Symphony,” “Tiananmen!” and “When Sorrow Turns to Joy,” co-composed with James Newton, which pays tribute to Paul Robeson and Mei Lanfang. Jang’s history of collaboration ranges from Max Roach to the Kronos Quartet. He has presented lectures on “The Sounds of Struggle: Music from the Black Liberation Movement of the 1960s to the Asian American Movement of the 1980s” and “One Day American, One Day Alien: Black and Brown Artists Who Made the National Anthem Their Own” at Columbia University and other colleges nationally.
Events are open to the public and free of charge. Parking available in Lot 2 (Hilgard and Westholme avenues) for $12. For information and updates, call (310) 825-5947 or visit www.ethnomusic.ucla.edu.