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Penn State College of Arts and Architecture
Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State

Event Slides Per Node 1415

  • A Pacific Ocean islander, native wearing a decorative headdress and shell jewelry, holds a pan flute and looks off into the distance.

Small Island Big Song

7:30 pm Thursday, April 7, 2022

Hear the people who sing for the sea. Small Island Big Song unites islanders, who share an ancient seafaring ancestry and language, in a contemporary musical statement from a region on the frontline of cultural and environmental challenges. 

The Small Island Big Song spring 2022 North American tour features a multimedia concert and residency. The Penn State performance will feature the Small Island Big Song artists Putad (Taiwan); Emlyn, Kan, and Kokol (Mauritius); Selina Leem (Marshall Islands); Sammy (Madagascar); and Airileke and Richard Mogu (Papua New Guinea).

Small Island Big Song evolved from visits to sixteen island nations by Australian filmmaker and music producer Tim Cole and Taiwanese film producer BaoBao Chen. They worked with more than 100 artists, elders, community groups, and grassroots musicians. The result is a stunning collaboration reuniting the distant yet interconnected musical traditions of the Pacific and Indian oceans.

In 2018, the collaboration launched its fair trade and climate action-driven project through social, audio, film, and performance content on a global scale. The group’s self-titled debut album is a Fair Trade Music release with 50 percent of the net profit going back to artists and non-governmental organizations. 

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Adult $38
University Park Student $5
18 and Younger $28

This presentation is part of The Reflection Project, funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

support provided by
Penn State International Dance Ensemble Endowment

A grant from the University Park Student Fee Board makes Penn State student prices possible.

Artist Websites: 

Secondary Events on Each Event

Upcycled Instrument Jam Session

5:00 pm Tuesday, April 5, 2022

3 Dots Downtown
137 E. Beaver Ave., State College

FREE and open to the public

Partners: 3 Dots Downtown; Penn State School of Music’s Composition and Research of the Arts, Recording, and Sound (ROARS) programs; and assistant professors Baljinder Sekhon (composition) and Steven Rice (ROARS)

This three-hour event begins with a trash-to-music workshop. Penn State students will showcase their upcycled instruments and original compositions. They’ll join with artists from Small Island Big Song to discuss why they make instruments from upcycled and found materials, the importance of acknowledging where materials come from, and how music unites cultures and can be used as an agent of change.

3 Dots Downtown is a vibrant space that hosts artistic and innovative experiences. It aims to inspire a more vibrant community by promoting local arts, cultivating innovative experiences, and offering an inclusive and welcoming community space.

Panel Discussion
Small Island Big Song’s
Climate Change: 
Our Response as Artists

3:00 pm Wednesday, April 6, 2022

HUB-Robeson Center’s Freeman Auditorium

FREE and open to the public

Partners: Penn State’s Student Engagement Programs, Sustainability Institute, and College of Earth and Mineral Sciences

This two-hour panel discussion, featuring artists from Small Island Big Song, is offered as part of IllumiNATION’S month of art and sustainability events focused on ocean conservation, indigenous voices, and water rights. Richard Alley, Evan Pugh University Professor of Geosciences at Penn State, will moderate.

The event will be conducted in person at Freeman Auditorium. It will also be available online. Register to watch it virutally.

 

IllumiNATION is a student-focused art-based festival that aims to create a unified Penn State community full of responsible and inclusive citizens of the world by encouraging creativity, practicing sustainability, and providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all.

 

Small Island Big Song Dance Party

6:00 pm Wednesday, April 6, 2022

3 Dots Downtown
137 E. Beaver Ave., State College

FREE and open to the public

Partner: 3 Dots Downtown

This two-hour in-person event is a continuation of the Small Island Big Song Dance Class offered virtually by the Center for the Performing Arts in March. Emlyn, Kan, and Kokol will lead participants in a Sega dance from the Indian Ocean nation of Mauritius. Putad will teach participants a Harvest dance from the Pacific Ocean country of Taiwan. The dance from Taiwan is scheduled to be part of the Small Island Big Song performance on Thursday, April 7, at Eisenhower Auditorium.

3 Dots Downtown is a vibrant space that hosts artistic and innovative experiences. It aims to inspire a more vibrant community by promoting local arts, cultivating innovative experiences, and offering an inclusive and welcoming community space.

Artistic Viewpoints

6:30 pm Thursday, April 7, 2022

Eisenhower Auditorium

Artistic Viewpoints, an informal moderated discussion featuring BaoBao Chen, producer and cofounder of Small Island Big Song, is offered in Eisenhower Auditorium one hour before the performance and is free for ticket holders. Karl Zimmerer, Penn State professor of geography, will moderate the talk. Artistic Viewpoints seating is available on a first-arrival basis.