photos: Jill Guillermo Togawa, Nikiko Masumoto, Michael Matsuno, Rey Fukuda (not available), traci kato-kiriyama

Perspectives in the Arts

Sunday, April 18, 4 pm

Speaker Bios

Jill Guillermo-Togawa (she/they), a yonsei, is a choreographer, dancer, and teacher of the Alexander Technique. In 1992 she founded Purple Moon Dance Project, the first dance company committed to increasing visibility for lesbians and women of color while incorporating AAPI traditions in American dance – in a groundbreaking vision that explored the continuum of intimacy between women. In 2009, Purple Moon premiered its seminal work, “When Dreams Are Interrupted,” a site-specific multi-disciplinary piece threading personal stories from the mass Japanese removal during WWII. Jill has offered their work and programs for women with no formal dance training, across the U.S., China and Canada, partnering with many artists and organizations serving LGBTQ+ and Women of Color communities, using the arts as a vehicle for social change, healing and peace.  Jill teaches in the Dept. of Theatre and Dance at the University of Hawai’i and lives with her wife, child, cat and dog, on the island of O‘ahu, where she is from.

traci kato-kiriyama (they+she) is an award-winning artist, community organizer and cultural producer; Performer/Principal Writer of PULLproject Ensemble (TALES OF CLAMOR world premiere in 2019 at the Aratani Black Box); Director/Co-Founder of Tuesday Night Project (presenter of Tuesday Night Cafe -in its 23rd year- the longest-running Asian American-produced, public arts series in the country), founding member of Vigilant Love, organizer with Nikkei Progressives.  traci has been presented in hundreds of venues throughout the country as an author, theatre deviser/performer, storyteller, actor, lecturer, facilitator, artist organizer, and arts & culture consultant.  tkk’s writing, commentary, and work have been presented by a wide swath of media and literary publications (incl. NPR, PBS, C-SPAN, Elle.com, The Hollywood Reporter, Regent Press, Heyday Books, Bamboo Ridge Press, Chaparral Canyon Press, Tia Chucha Press, Entropy).  traci’s forthcoming book is being published this year by Writ Large Press/The Accomplices.  traciakemi.com

IG:  traciakemi1 / https://www.instagram.com/traciakemi1/

Nikiko Masumoto (she/her) is an organic farmer, memory keeper, and artist. She is Yonsei, a fourth generation Japanese American, and gets to touch the same soil her great-grandparents worked in California where Masumoto Family Farm grows organic nectarines, apricots, peaches and grapes for raisins. She activates her facilitation, leadership, and creative skills as a performer and leader in the following organizations: co-founder of Yonsei Memory Project, team member of Center for Performance and Civic Practice re-imagining group, member of University Advisory Board (CSU Fresno) board of Trustees of Western States Arts Federation, board of directors of Art of the Rural, and perennial volunteer change-worker. In 2021, she was named one of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 100. Her most cherished value is courage and most important practice is listening.  Profound Grief and Radical Joy, published by Alliance for California Traditional Arts, June 2020.

Michael Matsuno is a flutist based in Los Angeles, CA. His versatility as a performer encompasses work in classical, experimental and improvised music. He has collaborated with established musicians and composers on new music for the flute, often dealing specifically with issues of tuning, timbre and physicality. He has been featured on festivals of contemporary music including La Rara Noche, June in Buffalo, Harvard Group for New Music, and LA’s Monday Evening Concerts. Michael is currently a doctoral candidate in contemporary music performance at UC San Diego. His research follows various paths towards understanding how music shapes contemporary life. His original study published in Psychology of Music engaged a group of autistic programmers and creatives working in video game design. The piece highlights the importance of everyday music-listening in constituting identity and subjectivity among autistic adults.