History
First Voice is unique in the range of work it does, which includes symphonic work, plays, storytelling, jazz ensemble, chamber music, large-scale pageant performances with ethnic dancers, solo monodramas and silent film. The artistic directors collaborate not only across disciplines, but also across cultures. First Voice was founded in 1995 to provide an organizational structure for the collaborations of Mark Izu and Brenda Wong Aoki, two prominent Asian American artists whose work since the 1970’s has centered on creating contemporary American art by adapting non-Western theatrical, musical, and spoken word traditions. First Voice’s goal is to inspire the hearts and minds of its audience by creating great art that honors the ancient and the now – work that can stand the test of time and will one day become classic, preserving and passing on our history, memories and aspirations to the future.
First Voice’s creative work is drawn from a number of different influences, including the founders’ history of social, political, and cultural activism in San Francisco’s Japantown and Chinatown; relationship to the Hapa (mixed-race) community; traditional training in Noh, Kyogen, and Gagaku; lifelong dedication to working with artists of all cultures whose hearts connect deeply with theirs; and the wonderfully diverse community of the Bay Area, in which they reside.
The organization creates and produces original multi-disciplinary work; presents performances at home in the Bay Area and on tour around the world; conducts educational and community outreach to schools, churches, and social service agencies; and records and publishes.First Voice is grounded in its community through the roots of its artistic directors. Brenda’s grandfather was one of the founders of San Francisco Japantown in the 1800’s; Mark’s family was among the pioneering families of San Jose J-Town, Brenda’s grandmother was a Cameron House girl under Donaldina Cameron and a leader of the first San Francisco Chinatown Garment Union in the 1920’s, Brenda’s mother grew up in the Ming Quong Orphanage for Chinese girls in Oakland 1930’s, and her cousin Richard Aoki was a founding member of the Black Panthers in the 1960’s. Brenda and Mark were active in the Re-dress and Reparations Movement of the 1980’s.
First Voice has a long list of honors, awards, and accomplishments to its name, both for the organization and its artistic directors. In 2010, First Voice was named an Honoree of the National Japanese Historical Society in acknowledgement of the important contributions that both Brenda and Mark have made over the past 30 years in the fields of music and story-making. In 2009, First Voice received a Certificate of Honor from San Francisco Board of Supervisors as outstanding artists of international merit, awarded by Consul General of Japan Yasu Nagamine in a ceremony at the Consulate Residence in San Francisco. First Voice Musical Director Mark Izu was awarded a Northern California Emmy in 2009 for Bolinao 52, a PBS documentary about the Vietnamese Boat People.
In 2009, World Arts West commissioned Return of the Sun for the Ethnic Dance Festival, with Aoki as writer/narrator and Izu as musical director/composer; and Mark premiered his tribute to his teacher Togi Suenobu, Songs For Sensei, at the De Young Museum. In 2008, First Voice created Legend of Morning Glory, a Kabuki Taiko Oratorio featuring a taiko ensemble, modern dancers, jazz trio, and Aoki and Izu. This piece grew out of First Voice’s five-month residency in Tokyo and Mt. Fuji in 2007, which was supported by a research fellowship from the US/Japan Commission Fellowship. In 2006, First Voice performed with Gagaku Master Togi Suenobu in San Francisco, Honolulu, Kauai Community College and University Hawaii, Hilo, in his last U.S. performances before his death. 2005 saw First Voice’s Tales of Love and Passion with U.S. National Heritage Master Seiichi Tanaka at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Zellerbach Hall.
Before incorporating as a non-profit, First Voice was the principal producer of the Asian American Jazz Festival (AAJF) at the Asian Art Museum, the longest running jazz festival in San Francisco. Under the curatorial vision and stewardship of Artistic Director Mark Izu for 20 years, the AAJF presented such luminaries as Toshiko Akiyoshi, Zakir Hussain, Hiroshima, and Keiko Matsui, as well as local musicians/performers Pete Escovedo, Eddie Moore, Koichi Tamano, Janice Mirikitani, Genny Lim, and the Asian American Orchestra. It also provided the professional debut for artists like Vijay Ayers, DJ Qbert, and a 12-year old Joshua Redman! Mark Izu retired as curator of the AAJF in 2000 to inaugurate First Voice’s Ghost Festival, which added story to jazz, and became one of the organization’s most successful Bay Area events. Inspired by the events of 9/11, the Ghost Festivals were an annual series of performances from 2000 to 2008, which focused on collaborations with artists with traditional roots.
Over the years, past home season collaborators have included Gagaku Master Togi Suenobu, Indian tabla master Zakir Hussain, Hawaiian Treasure Keola Beamer, Cherokee storyteller Gayle Ross, Native Flute player Tommy Wildcat, and Taiko master Kenny Endo, among numerous others. International collaborations have included Basque National Treasure and master accordian artist Kepa Junpera from Spain, natori shakuhachi master Christopher Yohmei from Tokyo, and a new composition with Kent Nagano’s Manzanar Project, which premiered with the Berkeley Symphony and the Japanese American Orchestra in Los Angeles.
After returning from Japan in 2007, First Voice’s work took another turn as a result of the directors’ concern over the growing tribal conflict around the world. Looking for a new way to create together, the directors’ collaborations became centered around the concept of “kindred spirits,” or artists whose world view and values connected with theirs.First Voice international commissions include Kuan-yin: Our Lady of Compassion (2002) which was directed by Tang Shu-Wing (recipient of Chevalier dans l’ordre des Arts et Lettres) and commissioned by the Hong Kong Cultural Center and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. It later went on to play at the Esplanade in Singapore. That same year, First Voice represented the U.S. at the Adelaide International Festival in Australia, where it performed Uncle Gunjiro’s Girlfriend, a reprise of the 1998 monodrama with musician that was directed by Diane Rodriguez of the Mark Taper Forum for the Bay Area Playwrights festival and other local engagements. 1997 was marked by the premiere of Mark Izu’s Mermaid at Zellerbach Hall, a monodrama performed by Aoki and the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, commissioned by Conductor Kent Nagano.First Voice presents its original work in repertory at home and on tour.
Touring engagements over the past few years have included the Krannert Center at the University of Illinois, Amherst College, University of Massachusetts (where Artistic Director Brenda Wong Aoki is part of the Asian American Women’s archive), the University of San Diego, CSU Monterey, Kennesaw State University, the International Storytelling Center in Jonesborough, TN, and the Chicago Storytelling Festival. First Voice performs and teaches in public schools, universities, and other institutions in the Bay Area and throughout the U.S.
