The Asian American Pioneers in Music Awards Banquet and Gala
The Asian American Pioneers in Music will showcase their talents together for the first time on Oct. 16 at the China Harbor Restaurant from 6 to 9 p.m. Ten Asian American Pioneers in music will be honored.
The pioneers being honored are:
Marcus Tsutakawa, Garfield High School Orchestra Director
Deems Tsutakawa, jazz pianist and singer
Angelo Pizarro, guitarist and composer
Warren Chang, Music Director and founder of the Chinese Arts & Music Association
Buyun Zhao, Founder of the Chinese Youth Orchestra
Dieter Cui, opera singer and teacher
Young Hee Kim, co-founder of the Korean Music Association
Kyung-ah Oh, co-founder of the Korean Music Association
Sharad Gadre, Classical Indian Music performer
Ngo Thuy Mien, songwriter.
“These honorees are the top in our community,” said Assunta Ng, organizer of the event and publisher of the Northwest Asian Weekly. “But they have not worked together before. By honoring them together, we provide an exciting opportunity for collaboration, creating something amazing, blending the East and West in music. The program will inspire us for a long time. This isn’t just about music, but showing cultural richness and diversity we have in the Asian community. We’d like the mainstream community to know that they are great performers and as teachers.”
Program highlights include musicians using Chinese instruments to play the Titanic theme song, Korean and Chinese opera singers melding their voices together, and two famous brothers improvising a jazz piece.
These pioneers have been selected because they were one of the first in their field to open doors for other people in Washington state. They introduce and have preserved Asian cultures through their roles as performers and teachers for a long time. Many have had hundreds of students over the years.
This event is organized by Northwest Asian Weekly Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the Northwest Asian Weekly. Proceeds benefit the foundation’s diversity scholarship program, summer youth leadership program, literacy, and arts program.
Sponsors include Nordstrom, State Farm, PEMCO, KING-TV, and Key Bank. Tickets are $60 per person, which includes the performances and dinner. Tickets for students with I.D. cost $30 each.
