Saturday, May 30, 2026

Featuring Shirley Muramoto and Winnie Wong
with koto students of Ms. Muramoto and CS Youth Guzheng Ensemble

7pm - 9pm

Oakland Asian Cultural Center
Pacific Renaissance Plaza
388 Ninth Street, Suite 290 Oakland

ADMISSION & Info
www.oacc.cc

About Celebrating the Zither:

Asian American Identity and Cultural Survival invites audiences into a powerful musical journey with accomplished musicians Shirley Muramoto and Winnie Wong, where tradition becomes resilience and heritage becomes liberation. Through the luminous sounds of the koto and guzheng, this program explores how cultural access is not just preservation—but survival—especially in the wake of histories like Japanese American incarceration and the ongoing shaping of Asian American identity.

Though visually similar, the koto and guzheng carry distinct cultural lineages, each echoing stories of endurance, adaptation, and belonging. In this concert, they meet in collaboration and creative reimagining—bridging past and present, individuality and shared experience.

This is a celebration of multiplicity: of holding many worlds at once, of honoring what makes us unique while finding connection through sound. Through new works, cross-cultural dialogue, and bold reinterpretations, Celebrating the Zither offers a space where music becomes a living testament to identity, memory, and the freedom to define what it means to be Asian-American.