"Gamelan Fusion: New and Traditional Music of West Java" concert at Pitt, April 9.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of Music will host "Gamelan Fusion: New and Traditional Music of West Java" on Saturday, April 9.

Pitt’s University Gamelan will present “Gamelan Fusion: New and Traditional Music of West Java” on April 9th at Frick Fine Arts Auditorium. Gamelan comprises mainly percussion instruments including tuned gongs, metal-keyed instruments, and drums (as well as bamboo flute and voice). This instrumentation has a unique capacity to saturate the air with resonances that reach from rumbling lows to shimmering highs. The concert will feature student performers and two artists-in-residence: composer Ismet Ruchimat and vocalist Masyuning.

. . .

Each year the University Gamelan’s annual spring concert is the culmination of its Artist-in-Residence Program that offers Pitt students a rare opportunity to study music, dance, and theater with some of Indonesia’s finest artists.

The concert starts at 8:00 pm in the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium (map). Tickets are currently available online and are free for Pitt students with a valid student ID card. Non-Pitt students and general admission are $5 and $8.50 in advance, respectively, or $8 and $12 at the door.

1966 yakuza film Tokyo Drifter (東京流れ者) at Row House Cinema from April 29.

The Row House Cinema will show the 1966 yazkuza film Tokyo Drifter (東京流れ者) from April 29 to May 5 as part of its Spirit of '66 series. A 2012 A.V. Club review offers a summary:

Blank-faced Tetsuya Watari stars as the titular wanderer, a gifted yakuza enforcer trying to stay true to his own idea of honor. The film traffics in a lot of familiar crime movie archetypes: the pretty girl kept on the sidelines; the father-son relationship between Watari and Ryuji Kita, his trying-to-go-straight boss; and all the complicated lines of loyalty and betrayal that come into play when a rival gang tries to muscle in on Kita’s turf. The story is engaging enough, and Watari makes for an appropriately implacable (but still soulful) lead, but what sets the film apart from countless others telling a similar tale are the lengths [director] Suzuki goes to in order to make each scene a feast for the eyes. Violent reds, purples, greens, and blues paint the screen, and the editing forgoes traditional cinematic logic in favor of impressionistic cuts and a jagged, jazzy rhythm. Through it all, Suzuki walks a knife-edge of ironic sincerity, poking at yakuza clichés in an attempt to reveal some larger, wordless truth.

Showtimes and tickets will be available online later. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler Street (map).

Pitt's Asian Studies Center introduces Tea Talks for students interested in Asia.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center announced today the start of a Tea Talks series for students interested in Asia, with the first meeting scheduled for Friday, April 1 (the poster advertises an old date).

Tea Talks at the Asian Studies Center are a chance to meet fellow students with an interest in Asia, learn about events and opportunities, and get involved with Asian Studies in a casual social setting.

The first meeting will focus on “MAKING SUMMER COUNT” – how to turn a lazy summer into time well spent. Whether it’s a job or internship, volunteering, or just personal skill-building, Asian Studies students will share their own stories and ideas on
how to use this time off to get ahead!

The get-together will be held in 4217 Posvar Hall (map) from 4:00 pm.

"Camera Fantasy: The Interwar Photomontages of Tokyo's Asahi Graph" at Pitt, March 29.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host Paul Ricketts and his talk "Camera Fantasy: The Interwar Photomontages of Tokyo's Asahi Graph" on Tuesday, March 29. The talk starts at 12:00 pm in 4217 Posvar Hall (map) and is free and open to the public.

Taiwanese movie Rebels of the Neon God (青少年哪吒) at Carnegie Library in Oakland, April 3.

The 1992 Taiwanese movie Rebels of the Neon God (青少年哪吒) will play at the Carnegie Library in Oakland on April 3, next month's installment of International Cinema Sunday.

Next Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language Workshop at Pitt, April 1.

The University of Pittsburgh's School of Education will host another Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language [CFL] Workshop this semester on Friday, April 1. The workshop on Chinese Culture Teaching by Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures instructor Qiong Wu will be held from 2:00 to 4:00 pm in 5401 Posvar Hall (map). The presentations are primarily or entirely in Chinese.

Pitt hiring part-time instructors of Korean, Chinese for Fall 2016.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures is hiring part-time instructors of Korean and Chinese for Fall 2016.

Delivery option coming to Squirrel Hill's Pink Box.

Pink Box, a Taiwanese-owned "Asian-European fusion bakery" in Squirrel Hill, recently announced a long-rumored delivery option coming April 22 April 1. Signage points to FoodRunway.com, an empty site save for the text: "Foodrunway.com is down for maintenance and will be launching April 1st, 2016.".

Pink Box opened at 2104 Murray Ave. in Squirrel Hill in July 2014, and now anticipates its Oakland location to come in late-2016 or early-2017.

UPMC Shadyside Cherry Blossom Festival, April 15.

late-Spring 2015.

Invitations went out last week for the UPMC Shadyside Cherry Blossom Festival on April 15. A Facebook event page has an overview:

This annual transformation of nature will be celebrated on Friday, April 15, during the hospital’s Cherry Blossom Festival - one of the events held in celebration of our 150th Anniversary. All associates and the public are invited to the free festival, which will include tea ceremonies, performances of traditional Japanese music, and more.

A commissioned work of art by artist Hiromi Katayama, formerly of Ibaraki, Japan, and now a resident of the Pittsburgh region will be displayed at the festival. Her melding of traditional Japanese painting with modern styling demonstrates the fusion of past and present.

Raffle tickets to win her painting will be available for purchase during the festival. Proceeds will be donated to the Shadyside Hospital Foundation.

The event starts at 11 in the Japanese garden at UPMC Shadyside. I previously posted pictures from May 2015 and March 2014. A 2008 Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania newsletter describes it as "a quiet and unassuming oasis". And a plaque at the entrance reads:

This garden is a gift from Dr. Kazuo Kodera in honor of nurses. It is a place for health care providers to think about our friends around the world and to reflect on the meaning of our work, which is to care for one another. It is a place to find new friendships, to find new hope, and to find peace.

We hope you enjoy your time here.

September 2005

The Pirates (해적: 바다로 간 산적) at Pitt's Spring Korean Film Festival, March 24.

The Pirates (해적: 바다로 간 산적), the second of two movies showing at the University of Pittsburgh's Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures' annual Spring Korean Film Festival, will play on March 24. The distributor provides a summary::

At the onset of Joseon’s founding, envoys bringing the Emperor’s Seal of State to Joseon lose it to a big whale at sea. A bandit JANG Sa-jung goes out to sea to catch the whale with a big reward on its head. But he soon clashes with Yeo-wol, a female captain of the pirates, and unexpected adventure unfolds.

The movie will play in 4130 Posvar Hall (map) from 4:00 to 7:00 pm and is free and open to the public.