About In the Green Room

In the Green Room, is a dynamic music performance conceived by composer/vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Jen Shyu, "an extraordinary voice" (The New York Times) and composer/pianist Sumi Tonooka, "provocative and compelling" (The New York Times). Shyu and Tonooka are joined by drummer/composer Terri Lyne Carrington and bassist/composer Linda May Han Oh.

Harnessing the power of music and storytelling, this group of acclaimed artists draws upon their own personal stories as well as those of important women in jazz, to reclaim and amplify their legacies. The weaving of these extraordinary stories creates an intimate portal into the living histories passed down through music and relationships across generations.Concert followed by reception.

Funding for In the Green Room: Layering Legacies of Asian and Black American Women in Jazz is provided by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Additional funding has been provided by the Asia Society Performing Arts Fund and Helen and Will Little.

In the Green Room: Layering Legacies of Asian and Black American Women in Jazz comprises performances, a series of video interviews with women in jazz who have inspired Shyu and Tonooka, and interactive workshops with a cohort of millennial women jazz musicians.

This project is part of Creative Inflections, a first-of-its-kind initiative of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation that supports leading jazz artists to partner with presenting organizations in innovative collaborations that enable artists to take creative risks and expand the genre’s listenership by attracting younger and more diverse audiences. 

Concept and composition: Jen Shyu and Sumi Tonooka 
Performers: Jen Shyu (vocals, Taiwanese moon lute, Japanese biwa, Korean gayageum), Sumi Tonooka (piano), Terri Lyne Carrington (drums), Linda May Han Oh (bass)
Lighting and stage design: Clifton Taylor