May 12, 2023 at the Hawthorne Barn, Provincetown, MA
No-No Boy is an immersive multimedia concert work blending original folk songs, storytelling, and projected archival images all in service of illuminating hidden American histories. Curated archival images sync up with folk songs about the aforementioned histories. The subject matter of these songs is taken from the artist’s family’s history living through the Vietnam War, as well as many other stories of Asian American experience such as Chinese Exclusion, Japanese American Incarceration, and today’s refugee crises.
Dr. Julian Saporiti is a Vietnamese Italian American songwriter and scholar born in Nashville, Tennessee. His multi-media work "No-No Boy" has transformed his PhD research on Asian American history into concerts, albums, and films which have reached a broad and diverse public audience. His latest album "1975" released through Smithsonian Folkways has been hailed by NPR as "one of the most insurgent pieces of music you'll ever hear" which "re-examines Americana with devastating effect" and American Songwriter called it "insanely listenable and gorgeous." By using art to dive into highly divisive issues such as race, refugees, and immigration, Saporiti aims to allow audience members to sit with complication as music and visuals open doorways to difficult histories.
Saporiti currently lives in Portland, Oregon. As a teacher, he has taught courses in songwriting, music, literature, history, Asian American Studies, and ethnic studies at the University of Wyoming, Colorado College, Brown University and has served as artist/scholar in residence at many universities and high schools across the country. Saporiti holds degrees from Berklee College of Music, University of Wyoming, and Brown University and has been commissioned by cultural institutions such as Lincoln Center, the LA Philharmonic, the National Parks, and Carnegie Hall.