36 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • MAY 13, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
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Jihye Lee Quintet to dedicate Flushing Town Hall
performance to victims of anti-Asian hate crimes
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
For Asian Pacifi c American Heritage
Month, Flushing Town Hall is presenting
a special concert honoring the victims of
recent anti-Asian hate crimes.
On Friday, May 21, New York-based
jazz composer and band leader Jihye
Lee will perform live from the stage at
Flushing Town for an all-virtual audience.
Th e livestream event honors AAPI
Month and includes a special dedication
to the women who were killed
in the Atlanta, GA, spa shootings in
March.Th e concert, “Rest in the Arms
of Motherlands,” will feature Lee’s original
compositions, as well as her arrangements
of well-known songs. Th e quintet
features Lee’s vocals alongside Hayoung
Lyou (keys), Haeun Joo (piano), Jeonglim
Yang (bass) and Dayeon Seok (drums).
“Among the eight victims of the recent
tragedy in Atlanta, six of them were
Asian women, including four Koreans
— immigrants who courageously came
to America for better lives. Th ey innocently
got killed, and left their loved ones
behind,” Lee said. “Motherland was the
word that came to my mind. Aft er many
struggles and defeats, burdened lives are
resting now. Th e souls are comforted in
the loving arms of their motherlands.”
Ellen Kodadek, executive and artistic
director of Flushing Town Hall, said
they’re responding to the recent rise in
hate crimes as best as they know how —
through the arts.
“Our mission is to bring people
together by presenting arts and culture
from around the world. Th e
Atlanta killings were widely understood
to be driven by racism and
misogyny,” Kodadek said. “We
are proud to present Jihye Lee’s
all-female, Korean jazz quintet
to share their message and
music with our diverse audience.
Flushing Town Hall
will continue to bring people together
through the arts and ensure that artists
of all backgrounds and traditions have a
home on our stage.”
Flushing Town Hall’s event will be presented
free of charge with a suggested,
pay-what-you-can donation. According
to Kodadek, 50 percent of the funds
raised will support the nonprofi t, global
arts presenter, and 50 percent will be
donated to the Korean American Family
Service Center (KAFSC) in support of
their Rainbow House Shelter, which provides
comprehensive and culturallycompetent
services to women and children
in crisis.
Jeehae Fischer, executive director
of KAFSC, said they are grateful to
Flushing Town Hall and the Jihye Lee
Quintet for providing a
space to honor
the victims in the Atlanta shooting,
while also highlighting the rise of anti-
Asian violence and attacks against Asian
Americans, particularly against the
elderly and women, calling it “unacceptable
and alarming.”
“While COVID-19 has aff ected us
all, Asians and Asian Americans have
been disproportionately impacted by the
ongoing public health and economic
crises. Th ese unwarranted hate crimes
against the members of our community
add another layer of trauma for a people
— especially the elderly among them
— who already carry intergenerational
trauma from collective histories of war,
oppression and uprootedness,” Fischer
said. “KAFSC is the Chinjung (Mother’s
home) for hundreds of immigrant survivors
of domestic violence, sexual assault
and child abuse that KAFSC serves every
year. We join Flushing Town Hall, the
Jihye Lee Quintet, and all the viewers
in dedicating this performance to all
those lost in recent tragedies. May
they rest in power.”
Lee is highly regarded for her
personal and adventurous storytelling
approach to largeensemble
jazz. Th e Village Voice praised
her fi rst album, “April,” for its “chamber
like textures, involving harmony
and sectional counterpoint, and persistent
rhythmic drive.” Her 2021 release,
“Daring Mind” (on Motema Music), was
produced by the innovative composer
and Secret Society bandleader Darcy
James Argue, with renowned trumpeter
Sean Jones appearing as a special guest.
It presents compositions from Lee’s
Mind Series, including her BMI Charlie
Parker Jazz Composition Prize-winning
“Unshakable Mind.” Th e music refl ects
her struggles, doubts and hopes while
living in the amazing city of New York.
A native of South Korea, Lee had no
jazz or classical training growing up,
though she found success in Korea performing
as an indie pop singer. She
discovered her love of large-ensemble
jazz only aft er beginning her studies
at Boston’s Berklee College of Music
in 2011. Aft er Berklee, she moved to
New York in 2015 and earned a master’s
degree at Manhattan School of Music
under the guidance of the great Jim
McNeely.
In addition to the BMI Foundation’s
Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize
and Manny Albam Commission in
2018, Lee has received the 2020 ASCAP
Foundation/Symphonic Jazz Orchestra
Commissioning Prize. She has written
music for the Jazz at Lincoln Center
Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis as
well as Carnegie Hall’s NYO Jazz.
Photo by Hyemi Kim
New York-based jazz composer
and band leader Jihye Lee will
perform live from the stage
at Flushing Town for an allvirtual
audience.
2022
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