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Second Row (left to right): NOMON (Nava and Shayna Dunkelman), yuniya edi kwon
Join us for Morning Mist Night Thunder: an exciting interplay of sound and storytelling. This 5-member musical ensemble has been brought together by award-winning vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and "indie pop diva with an avant-garde edge"Du Yun (the New York Times), with accomplished violinistLun Li, powerhouse percussion duo NOMON (Shayna Dunkelman andNava Dunkelman) and "strange and brilliantly captivating" interdisciplinary performance maker, violinist and composer yuniya edi kwon (Jazz Pages Germany)
Behind-the-scenes sneek peek preview:
Morning Mist Night Thunder is part of theAsia Electric series: eclectic and electrifying, these performances foreground innovators who combine electronica with elements of traditional practice from Asia.
Du Yun, born and raised in Shanghai, China, currently based in New York City, is a composer, performer, advocator, working at the intersection of orchestral, opera, theatre, chamber music, cabaret, oral tradition, public performances, sound installation, electronics and noise. She has been hailed by the New York Times as a groundbreaking artist, listed by the Washington Post as one of their Top 35 female composers, and selected by Rolling Stone Italia in its decade review as one of the composers who defined the 2010s. Her body of work is championed by some of today’s finest performing groups and organizations around the world. Known for her “relentless originality and unflinching social conscience” (The New Yorker), Du Yun’s second opera, Angel’s Bone won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize (libretto by Royce Vavrek). Her collaborative opera with Raven Chacon Sweet Land won the 2020 Best New Opera by the Music Critics Association of North America. Other notable recognitions include Guggenheim, American Academy Berlin Prize, Creative Capital, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Grammys nomination in Best Classical Music Composition (Air Glow), Moscow’s BraVo Award (best classical composition, The Veronica), shortlist for UK’s Royal Philharmonic Society’s 2021 Best Small Chamber Works (Every Grass a Spring). Her four studio albums were a New Yorker Notable Recording of Year in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021 respectively. Her latest monodrama opera In Our Daughter’s Eyes was a 2022 Notable Performance of the Year.
As an educator, Du Yun is Professor of Composition at Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University and a distinguished visiting professor at Shanghai Conservatory of Music. She was Artist of the Year at the Beijing Music Festival in 2019, and the Asia Society in Hong Kong has honored her for her continued contributions to performing arts. The Carnegie Foundation and the Vilcek Prize in Music honored her as an immigrant who has made lasting contributions to the American society. In 2023 Harvard University awarded her the centennial medalist, the highest recognition for its alumni. Du Yun was inducted to the American Academy of Arts & Science in 2024.
Du Yun also leads her band Ok Miss, which exists as both rock band and chamber ensemble—from post-punk, metal, to trip-hop, from electronica to improvisation—all while fostering all that exists in-between. Her onstage persona has been described by the New York Times as “an indie pop diva with an avant-garde edge.” Some of the most rewarding projects with the band include a multi-year initiative (FutureTradition) with the regional school children in different parts of China, where collaborations with the local musicians see the fruitions of education, re-imagination of the local oral traditions.
Lun Li
A native of Shanghai, violinist Lun Li won First Prize in the 2021 YCA Susan Wadsworth International Auditions, The Paul A. Fish Memorial Prize, the Buffalo Chamber Music Society Prize, and was named John French Violin Chair at YCA. Lun is a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program. He has appeared at venues including Konzerthaus Berlin, Kulturpalast Dresden, Wiener Konzerthaus, Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, The Kennedy Center, 92Y, and the Kimmel Center. He has appeared as soloist with the Brevard Philharmonic, Aiken Symphony, Salisbury Symphony Orchestra, and the Riverside Symphony. In 24-25 Lun will appear as soloist with the Bangor Symphony, Kennett Square Symphony, Colgate University Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of the Spring, Meridian Symphony, and the Salina Symphony. He will make multiple appearances with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and will appear on tour with YCA on Tour in March 2025.
Lun holds degrees from Curtis Institute of Music (BM’20) and The Juilliard School (MM’22). His mentors include Ida Kavafian, Catherine Cho, and Joseph Lin. He is currently pursuing an Artistic Diploma at The Juilliard School where he serves as teaching assistant to Catherine Cho.
yuniya edi kwon
Headshot by Hannah Turner Harts
yuniya edi kwon is a composer-improviser, violinist, and interdisciplinary performance maker based in Brooklyn, New York. She is inspired by Korean folk timbres & inflections, textures & movement from natural environments, and American experimentalism as shaped by the AACM. In addition to an evolving, interdisciplinary solo practice, she performs and collaborates with artists of diverse disciplines, including The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Senga Nengudi, Holland Andrews, Tomeka Reid, International Contemporary Ensemble, Kenneth Tam, and Degenerate Art Ensemble. She is a Lecturer & Arts Fellow at Princeton University, a Civitella Ranieri Fellow, United States Artists Ford Fellow, and a recipient of the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Robert Rauschenberg Award in Music/Sound and the Creative Capital Award. www.edikwon.net
NOMON
Shayna and Nava Dunkelman, based in Brooklyn, NY, founded NOMON in 2018, uniting their diverse musical backgrounds.
Raised in Tokyo with roots in Japan, Indonesia, and the US, the sisters began performing alongside their mother, an accomplished composer in Asia and the Middle East. Their percussion style is a choreographed interplay of hands, bodies, and a diverse array of instruments, merging visual and auditory elements seamlessly.
NOMON's music merges electronic landscapes with intricate percussion. Drawing inspiration from industrial and avant-garde percussion, as well as their cultural heritage, their compositions also incorporate contemporary electronic influences. They combine drum machines, vocal samples, synth melodies, and modular synthesizers triggered by analog sensors with carefully selected percussion tones, creating a cohesive fusion of electronic and acoustic elements.
NOMON has performed at prestigious venues and festivals including Whitney Museum of American Art, MoMA, Brooklyn Museum's First Saturday, Grey Area (hosted by CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts), and The Green Space (WNYC, NY). Their innovative approach earned them the NYFA Women's Fund in 2023.
Shayna and Nava continue to push boundaries in their exploration of sound, forging a unique artistic identity that resonates across genres and cultures.
Shayna Dunkelman is a musician, percussionist, and composer based in New York, recognized for her versatile techniques and innovative use of electronics. She performs and tours internationally with acclaimed artists, including Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Du Yun, Puerto Rican band Balún, Grammy-winning Attacca Quartet, and Pakistani singer Ali Sethi. Dunkelman is also one half of the percussion duo NOMON with her sister, Nava Dunkelman. Born in Tokyo to an Indonesian mother and an American father, she became a multi-instrumentalist performing alongside her mother. Throughout her career, Dunkelman has collaborated with avant-garde luminaries such as Yoko Ono and Thurston Moore, further solidifying her reputation in the experimental music scene.
Nava Dunkelman
Nava Dunkelman is a percussionist and improviser based in Brooklyn, NY. Born in Tokyo, Japan and raised in a multi-cultural environment by an American father and Indonesian mother. Her musical approach is innovative and dynamic, combining virtuosity and intuition. Meticulous in an intrinsic way, she uses her distinctive sound palette to explore and give life to a vast spectrum of musical possibilities. Nava's current projects are electro-percussion experimental noise duo IMA with Amma Ateria, and percussion duo NOMON with her sister Shayna Dunkelman. She also has performed and collaborated with Angélica Negrón, Brandon Seabrook, Du Yun, ÉMU, Fred Frith, gabby fluke-mogul, Ikue Mori, John Zorn, Pauchi Sasaki, William Winant, yuniya edi kwon, and many others. She has performed classical and contemporary pieces with the William Winant Percussion Group, Joan Jeanrenaud, Raven Chacon, San Francisco Girls Chorus, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players and others.
