SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2026 || 2:00 PM
Alberta Rose Theatre | 3000 NE Alberta Street | Portland, OR 97211
CONDUCTED AND CURATED BY
Paolo Debuque
Visiting Instructor of Music, St. Olaf College; Founding Artistic Director, A Thousand Tongues
Adrianna Tam
Assistant Professor of Music; Director of Collegiate Chorale & Aurora, Luther College
Shohei Kobayashi
Assistant Professor of Music, Director of Choral Studies, Reed College; Associate Conductor, Resonance Ensemble
ABOUT THE CONCERT
Join us for an afternoon where historic protest songs meet contemporary choral works in a collaboration with A Thousand Tongues.
In 1973, activist-musicians Chris Iijima, Nobuko Miyamoto, and Charlie Chin released A Grain of Sand: Music for the Struggle by Asians in America and helped define a then-nascent Asian American political identity.
Resonance is proud to partner with Minneapolis-based arts organization A Thousand Tongues to present A Grain of Sand, Revisited, a concert weaving songs from the original album with new choral works by Asian diaspora composers, solo voices, storytelling, and archival photos to explore how identity, memory, and community evolve across generations.
The program is co-curated and conducted by ATT Artistic Director Paolo Debuque, Adrianna Tam, and Resonance Associate Conductor Shohei Kobayashi.
PRESS & MEDIA
Smithsonian Folkways — A Grain of Sand: Music for the Struggle by Asians in America
Densho Encyclopedia — A Grain of Sand (album)
ResearchGate — The Construction of Asian American Identity in A Grain of Sand’s Music for the Struggle by Asians in America (1973)
Pitchfork — What Is Asian American Music, Really?
THIS PERFORMANCE IS GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY The Dinah Dodds Fund for New Art, Ronni Lacroute, The Oregon Arts Commission, Oregon Cultural Trust, Regional Arts & Culture Council, The City of Portland– the Office of Arts & Culture, and the Oregon Community Foundation