Schedule
HostsWays to Give
HomePlaylistSchedule
HostsEventsOn DemandOur StoryOur TeamWays to Give Become a Sponsor
How to ListenVisit Help CenterContact Us

Find Us on Social Media:

Logo image

Find Us on Social Media:

Download Our Mobile App:

google play icon

About

HomePlaylistSchedule
HostsOn DemandOur StoryOur Team

Community

EventsWays to Give Become a SponsorPressDiversity StatementCareersAnnual EEO ReportDigital Accessibility

Help

Visit Help CenterContact UsHow to Listen

©2025 Classical California

Sweepstakes RulesFCC ComplianceLocal Public FilesCPB ComplianceAnnual EEO ReportPrivacy PolicyCode of Integrity

articles / Pop Culture

A Musical Reminder of Injustices

Pop CultureThe State of the Arts

Anthony Brown has been leading the Asian American Orchestra for 20 years, with the mission of educating the public about the Internment of Japanese-Americans during the time of the Second World War. This year is the 75th anniversary of Executive Order 9066, which ordered that internment, and in commemoration, he’s written a work called Go For Broke: A Salute to Nisei Veterans, the second-generation (American-born) soldiers who served in the U.S. armed forces.

A Musical Reminder of Injustices
00:00

There’s more information about the concert this weekend at the Presidio Trust website – the concert is sold out, but the historical exhibit there called Exclusion runs through March of next year.

Anthony Brown says the Asian American Orchestra first brought together the strands of Asian-American Jazz and traditional Asian instruments with an important purpose: “To educate the American public about the internment experience. This was in 1997, and here we are 20 years later, and still fulfilling that mission.” And one of the starkest examples of the unfairness of the Internment Executive Order was this. “When I first found out about the fact that Nisei soldiers were sent overseas to defend our country, and meanwhile their families were imprisoned, that injustice I think inspired me to want to address that specifically.” A previous work, called EO9066 (which will also be on the program this Friday) focused on life in the camps, but this one deals with the soldiers and the families left behind, and in captivity. Janice Mirikitani, former San Francisco Poet Laureate, incorporated historical texts with her own: “Letters that were written between soldiers serving overseas and their mothers, in camp. And she also found oral histories of people who were interviewed much later in life in reflection on their experience in camp.”

 

Pop CultureThe State of the Arts
Written by:
Jeffrey Freymann
Jeffrey Freymann
Published on 05.11.2018
Loading...

MORE LIKE THIS

A Pair of Iconoclasts

A Pair of Iconoclasts

Music Director Michael Morgan programs Oakland Symphony's opening concert with Beethoven and Shostakovich symphonies, reflecting on life's stages and his recent 60th birthday.

05/11/2018
A Pairing of Early “Mini-Operas”

A Pairing of Early “Mini-Operas”

Les Arts Florissants ensemble performs Marc-Antoine Charpentier's Actéon and Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas in Berkeley and Rohnert Park. The staging stays true to the 17th-century originals.

05/11/2018
A Decades-Long Musical Pairing

A Decades-Long Musical Pairing

Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and pianist Lambert Orkis discuss their 30-year musical partnership, attributing their success to a strong foundation and constant exploration of new ideas.

05/11/2018
A Delicate Arrangement of Sounds

A Delicate Arrangement of Sounds

Earplay's 33rd season begins with a program featuring works by founder Richard Festinger. The season celebrates Festinger's 70th birthday with pieces inspired by poetry and art.

05/11/2018
A Musical Recollection of Mao’s Cultural Revolution

A Musical Recollection of Mao’s Cultural Revolution

The Golden Gate Symphony Orchestra presents "Ask The Sky & The Earth," a musical reflection of Mao's Cultural Revolution, composed by 'sent down youth' Tony Fok and Wei Su.

04/14/2017
A Musical Pilgrimage Begins

A Musical Pilgrimage Begins

Volti ensemble premieres a meditation-themed program, featuring works by various composers. The highlight is the first part of Joby Talbot's Path of Miracles, to be fully performed next year.

03/28/2017