ABOUT The Diversity Alliance Panel
Session Title: Challenging Expectations: Writing Your Own Narrative
Taku Hirano was born in Osaka, Japan and raised in the United States. Trained in classical, jazz, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, African, Indian and Japanese percussion, Taku’s touring and recording credits include Fleetwood Mac, Dr. Dre, Whitney Houston, John Mayer, Stevie Nicks, Bette Midler and Ziggy Marley. Additional live performance credits include Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande, Snoop Dogg, Herbie Hancock, Willie Nelson, Garth Brooks and Andrea Bocelli.
As an educator, Taku is currently an Professor of Practice in Music Industry Studies at Tulane University and a Regular Guest Artist in Percussion at University of Georgia.
The ever-evolving Aiyun Huang enjoys a musical life as soloist, chamber musician, researcher, teacher, and producer. She was the First Prize and the Audience Award winner at the Geneva International Music Competition in 2002. Recent performance highlights include engagements with L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Taipei Symphony Orchestra, St. Lawrence String Quartet, and Aventa Ensemble; new collaborations for new works include Roland Auzet, David Bithell, Vivian Fung and Nicole Lizee. An expert in Percussion Theater, her work on the subject has been published in Cambridge Companion to Percussion (2016) and Save Percussion Theater (Mode 242). She currently holds the position of Associate Professor and is the Head of Percussion Program at the University of Toronto. Aiyun is committed to creating a vibrant new music community for the next generation and is the Artistic Director for soundSCAPE, an annual festival for contemporary music and performance exchange in Italy.
Hailed by the Aspen Times for his “soulful and technically impressive solo” at his vibraphone concerto debut at the Aspen Music Festival, percussionist Dr. Matthew Lau performs a wide range of repertoire with an absolute commitment to communicating the meaning and essence of percussion music to its audience, from arrangement of Bach’s Violin Sonata on marimba to avant-garde contemporary pieces by Franco Donatoni and Iannis Xenakis. He is aiming to democratize classical contemporary music through high-caliber and approachable performances, interactive social media presence with his miniseries #LauLicks, with a whimsical twist.
Pursuing a strong interest in contemporary percussion music, his vision and aesthetic are aimed to expand the ever-growing percussion repertoire by pushing existing boundaries, incorporating electronics & technologies and discovering new sounds. His interest in exploration of new music has led Matthew to commission new pieces with many renowned composers. He is also the co-founder and artistic director of the contemporary percussion group The Up:Strike Project. He is also one half of the percussion duo Fisher/Lau Project with fellow percussionist Dr. Abby Fisher. As a queer Asian percussionist, Dr. Lau challenge the convention narratives and work to change the traditional prescribed career path.
Adam Tan (he/him) is a marimba soloist, composer and content creator based in Perth (Boorloo), Australia with over 50k followers and 10m views across all platforms. Adam has performed and presented hundreds of performances and classes across Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, United States, Argentina, Honduras and United Kingdom. Adam’s works for percussion are performed regularly internationally and appear on repertoire lists for schools and festivals. Adam also directs Marimbafest Australia, which curates the annual Marimbafest festival. Adam is an artist for Marimba One, Encore Mallets/Salyers Percussion, Black Swamp Percussion, Edition Svitzer, Soundbrenner, HAOSEN and the Australian Music Centre.
With her background in both Classical and traditional Chinese percussion, Beibei Wang brings her characteristic “high energy virtuosity” (Wall Street Journal) to performances of diverse repertoire.
As a contemporary classical soloist, Beibei has performed around the world with leading orchestras on some of the world’s most prestigious stages. Beibei’s unique background brings her to a range of multi-disciplinary projects ranging from performances of contemporary classics and new commissions with RPS-award winning ensemble Manchester Collective, to the internationally touring dance production Samsara from Aakash Odedra Company. Most recently, Beibei blends percussion with electronics in a collaboration with award-winning composer Hannah Peel. They are currently working on their debut album together recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios.
