Violinist and singer Kishi Bashi is Japanese American. His most recent musical project, Omoiyari, takes a look at the history of Japanese internment, when 120,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated, fueled by xenophobia during World War II.
This hour, we sit down with Kishi Bashi to talk about why he’s turning to history to better understand our present, and we ask him about his unique musical style.
Kishi Bashi will be performing in the Wall Street Theater in Norwalk, Connecticut on November 1 at 8 pm.
Later in the hour, we talk with two Connecticut musicians about a choral project that aims to highlight underappreciated composers whose work has traditionally been relegated to the footnotes.
Kishi Bashi performs the song "Manchester" for NPR Music's All Songs Considered Sweet Sixteen concert in 2016.
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GUESTS:
- Kaoru Ishibashi - Multi-instrumentalist and singer who performs as Kishi Bashi; his newest album is called Omoiyari. Kishi Bashi will perform at the Wall Street Theater in Norwalk, CT on Friday, November 1 at 8 pm (@Kishi_bashi)
- Sarah Kaufold - Artistic director of the Voices of Concinnity choir and the Consonare Choral Community in eastern Connecticut (@choral_sarah)
- Liz Bologna - Professional singer and music and art advocate; she is the executive director of the Women Composers Festival of Hartford, and a member of Voices of Concinnity (@BolognaE)
Chion Wolf contributed to this show.
