This celebration of women percussionists features performances and conversations with five UW-affiliated women artists who represent diverse experiences and traditions. They will discuss the challenges and opportunities that have faced them as women in their respective art forms, and the ways they engage with communities on and off campus through music. Refreshments will be served. Free and open to the public.
SCHEDULE
- UW Steelband performance with featured soloists
- Zapateado performance and discussion with Iris Viveros and Monica Rojas
- Bomba demonstration and discussion with Amarilys Rios
- Marimba performance and discussion Miho Takekawa
- Performance by Bonnie Whiting and the UW Percussion Ensemble: "Solutions to the 38 Questions of Hildegard von Bingen"
- Panel with Q&A
- Son jarocho fandango style (participatory)
- Bomba workshop led by Amarilys Rios (participatory)
FEATURED ARTISTS
Amarilys Rios is a Visiting Artist in Ethnomusicology at the University of Washington, where she teaches Afro-Puerto Rican bomba music and dance. Rios has recorded and performed with prominent Puerto Rican artists artists, including Paoli Mejias and Tego Calderón, and leads her own all-female band, Emina.
Monica Rojas is the Assistant Director of Latin American and Caribbean Studies and African Studies at the University of Washington. Rojas holds a PhD in anthropology from UW, is a founder of Movimiento Afrolatino de Seattle (MAS), and directs the DE CAJóN Project, an Afro-Peruvian ensemble.
Miho Takekawa teaches percussion at Pacific Lutheran University, where she directs the percussion and steel pan ensembles. She is cofounder of “Miho and Diego Duo,” which performs a blend of Japanese and Latin America music with support from King County libraries and local school districts. She is also the founder of TY Music Exchange, a Japan-US Music Exchange Program, and has performed as an artist in residence internationally.
Iris Viveros is a PhD candidate in Gender Women and Sexuality Studies at the University of Washington. Viveros is a founding member of the Seattle Fandango Project, and has collaborated with artivistas (arts activists) in Veracruz, Mexico, including Colectivo Altepee.
Bonnie Whiting is Chair of Percussion Studies and an Artist in Residence at the University of Washington. She specializes in experimental music that involves interdisciplinary performance, improvisation, and the speaking percussionist.
This event is co-sponsored by the School of Music and the Washington State Percussive Arts Society.