Filipino American Music (ft. Christine Balance, Jessica Hagedorn, Patrick Rosal)

In 2016, we hosted the New York launch of Scholar Christine Bacareza Balance’s book Tropical Renditions: Making Musical Scenes in Filipino America, a vital exploration of post-WWII Filipinx literary and musical culture. In this episode of AAWW Radio, we’ll hear Christine read from her book as she asks, “How do Filipinos make music? And what else do these acts of music making do?” Opening for Christine is former AAWW Literary Award winner and Guggenheim Fellowship-winning poet Patrick Rosal, whose poetry and essays channel DJ culture, family history, and community to explore vital questions about race in America. Afterwards, they have a conversation moderated by novelist Jessica Hagedorn, author of Toxicology and former bandleader of The Gangster Choir. Together they discuss Pinoy DJs and turntabling (Shout out to DJ Qbert), the act of disobedient listening, and how immigrant parents remix their lives in order to survive.