Asia on Stage

After Sutra Dance Theater's performance of "Krishna: Love Re-Invented" at Asia Society in New York, the troupe's leader, dancer and choregrapher Ramli Ibrahim, participates in a question-and-answer session with Asia Society's Rachel Cooper and members of the audience.

Asia Society Hong Kong Center presents opera singer Kiri Te Kanawa, discussing her path to success in a talk with Tisa Ho, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Art Festival. The New Zealand-born soprano emphasizes the commitment to hard work and constant practice that led her from humble beginnings to the world's most storied opera stages.

Australia's Black Cockatoo Dance Company fuses the distinct identities and cultural traditions of Australia’s indigenous peoples, combining Aboriginal song and dance with the drums of the Torres Strait Islands. Co-presented with the Australian Consulate-General of New York. (4 min., 43 sec.)

Composer, vocalist, and mixed-media innovator Bora Yoon launches her new album "Sunken Cathedral" with a performance at Asia Society New York. (4 min., 45 sec.)

Over two nights in New York, Asia Society presented two styles of traditional Korean music. The first evening was dedicated to four musicians performing sanjo — a solo form of virtuosic traditional music with roots in indigenous shamanism and folk music, while the second concert was devoted to pansori, a solo sung storytelling form, in a showcase for the male maestro Lim Hyeun-bin. (2 min., 53 sec.)

Jazz trumpeter/composer Takuya Kuroda and his ensemble play Asia Society New York to commemorate the release of Kuroda's Blue Note Records debut, "Rising Son." (30 min., 16 sec.)

Performers from the Beijing National Theater Company present excerpts from the traditional Chinese dance theater piece "The Red Dress" at Asia Society New York. (5 min., 7 sec.)

Sound: The Encounter, comprised of three musicians from Iran and Syria — Saeid Shanbehzadeh, Basel Rajoub and Naghib Shanbehzadeh — are joined onstage at Asia Society New York by oud player Kenan Adnawi. (13 min., 56 sec.)

Prior to a concert by Sound: The Encounter at Asia Society New York, Dartmouth College music professor Theodore Levin offers introductory remarks, and then talks with Fairouz Nishanova, director of the Aga Khan Music Initiative. (22 min., 45 sec.)

Professor Stephen Blum of CUNY Graduate Center College offers introductory remarks about traditional Iranian music and instruments prior to a performance by Kayhan Kalhor and Ali Bahrami Fard at Asia Society New York. (29 min., 7 sec.)

Kamancheh virtuoso Kayhan Kalhor is joined on stage by bass santour player Ali Bahrami Fard. (13 min., 47 sec.)

The Royal Thai Embassy and Asia Society present a night of Thai classical dance (Khon) and Thai puppetry. (1 hr., 54 min.)

Iranian singer-songwriter Mohsen Namjoo discusses the vibrant popular music scene that has emerged in his country, in defiance of official prohibitions. In Farsi with English translation.

U.S.-based Iranian band Kiosk perform their song "Yarom Bia" ("Come My Love"), accompanied by Mohsen Namjoo on vocals, before a packed house at Asia Society. (3 min., 38 sec.)

Iranian singer-songwriter Mohsen Namjoo brings his mixture of Persian classical influences and Western rock, blues and jazz to a sold-out house at Asia Society. (1 hr., 35 min.)

Cambodian chapei dong vong (long-neck guitar) player Kong Nay performs at Asia Society, both solo and with Ben Allison on bass, Marc Ribot on guitar, and Rudy Royston on drums. (1 hr., 1 min.)

David Henry Hwang joins playwrights from across the Chinese world — Chi Wei-jan, Meng Jinghui, Candace Chong and Nick Yu — for a wide-ranging look at the state of contemporary Chinese theater and individual artistic processes. (1 hr., 9 min.)

Using life-size puppets and masks, master puppeteer Michika Iida of Yumehina Puppet Company conjures a world of dreams and fantasies with two stunning solo plays, Nekohime Kugutsu Mai (Cat Princes Dance) and Manjushaka (Equinox Flower). (56 min., 31 sec.)

Pipa virtuoso Wu Man joins progressive classical ensemble The Knights for an evening of music that encompasses Stravinsky, Debussy, Lou Harrison, and one of her own compositions. (1 hr., 52 min.)

Vocalist Mamak Khadem and Mehdi Bagheri on kamanche, or spike-fiddle, perform an intimate version of Varan ("Rain"), bringing the soul of Iran to the heart of Texas. (6 min., 19 sec.)

Called "…one of the wonders of world trance music" by The Los Angeles Times, vocalist Mamak Khadem captivates an audience at Asia Society Texas Center by blending her roots in Persian poetry and music with a bold new sound. (1 hr., 24 min.)

Mongolian ensemble Arga Bileg combines traditional Mongolian instrumentation and folk music with contemporary and Western jazz techniques on Asia Society's stage. (1 hr., 17 min.)

Indonesian dance company Nan Jombang combines the Minangkabau (West Sumatra) traditions of martial arts, dance and percussion in Rantau Berbisik (Whisperings of Exile), a work that reflects both spiritual practice and contemporary expression. (1 hr., 18 mins.)

Indonesia's Papermoon Puppet Theater reinvents traditional puppetry to speak to contemporary issues in this new mixed-media production exploring themes of identity, society and Indonesia's recent past. (1 hr., 28 min.)

South Indian group Natanakairali perform "The Abandonment of Sita" through Kutiyattam, the oldest surviving form of Sanskrit theater from Kerala, India. (1 hr., 39 min.)

Following his concert as part of New York City's River to River Festival, Pakistani musician Arieb Azhar discusses his career, and shares his cosmopolitan outlook on music, with Asia Society Director of Cultural Programs and Performing Arts Rachel Cooper. (16 min., 30 sec.)

Pakistani singer-songwriter Arieb Azhar and his band close out their show with a rendition of the classic "Dama Dam Mast Qalandar." (6 min., 35 sec.)

Members of the Pakistani band noori — Ali Noor, Ali Hamza and John Louis 'Gumby' Pinto — discuss how their personal musical influences have played a big role in shaping their unique sound. (4 min., 36 sec.)

Cellist Wang Jian performs portions of Johann Sebastian Bach's Suite No. 1 in G Major at Asia Society Hong Kong Center. (9 min., 42 sec.)