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Migration Music

Changed, Unchanged, a Puerto Rican on the Mainland

Changed, Unchanged, a Puerto Rican on the Mainland

Han Chen talks with Iván Enrique Rodriguez about his music focused on human experiences, social justice, and activism, and imbued with his Puerto Rican musical heritage.

Light

Light

Han Chen talks with Gity Razaz about the compositional process she’s developed throughout her career, including how she wrote a piece like Light and how her Middle Eastern roots subtly color her works.

Classical Composition, Folk Traditions, and Combining the Two

Classical Composition, Folk Traditions, and Combining the Two

Han Chen speaks with composer Hsu Chiayu, whose work blends Chinese and western techniques and bond over their shared experience as Taiwanese immigrants.

Transitioning Out from a Period of Grief and Healing

Transitioning Out from a Period of Grief and Healing

Han Chen speaks with composer, improviser, and pianist Jonah Haven about the process of writing a new solo piano work co-commissioned by Han Chen and Metropolis Ensemble.

Archetypes are the Universal Language

Archetypes are the Universal Language

Han Chen speaks with composer, pianist, and vocalist Clarice Assad about her Archetypes project, which illustrates types of characters that pop up in cultures all around the world.

Understanding of Eastern and Western Influences

Understanding of Eastern and Western Influences

Han Chen speaks with composer Huang Ruo about how he weaves his own personal understanding of Eastern and Western influences into his compositions.

Discovering Identity Through Music, Rejecting Categorization

Discovering Identity Through Music, Rejecting Categorization

Han Chen talks with composer Vivian Fung about how she discovered her own identity through listening to music outside the Western music canon, and why she rejects the idea of being categorized.

On Self-Reliance and the Power of Reading

On Self-Reliance and the Power of Reading

Han Chen talks with Chinese-American composer Lei Liang about his immigrant story and how he looks up to the artistic giants who have inspired his composition.

Composing with Disbelief in Fairy Tales

Composing with Disbelief in Fairy Tales

Han Chen talks with composer Jihyun Kim about her musical background and studying in America.

On the Life of a Mexican-American

On the Life of a Mexican-American

In the debut episode of Migration Music, Han Chen talks with composer Reinaldo Moya about his opera Tienda and his immigrant story.