Crescendo Radio EP05: Tatsu Aoki

Crescendo Radio EP05: Tatsu Aoki
This episode of Crescendo Radio highlights Tatsu Aoki, a multi-instrumentalist, experimental filmmaker, Japanese music educator, and activist based in Chicago and the leader of Asian Improv Arts Midwest. Arriving in the United States in the 1970s as a Japanese immigrant, Tatsu navigated a cultural landscape shaped largely by American-born Asian Americans while carving out space for his own artistic voice. Tatsu Aoki reflects on his childhood aspirations, early inspirations, and his immigration to the United States. Tatsu Aoki contemplates the fluid identity of being both Asian and Asian American and how that tension shapes his musical and visual language, blending cultural memory with improvised music traditions. The episode connects to Crescendo: How Art Makes Movements (1981–1999) by exploring how evolving identities fueled new artistic forms and community building.
Crescendo Radio episodes are produced by Rowhome Productions