Biography
Brenda Wong Aoki earned recognition in a 1996 Avenue poll that ranked her among the 500 most influential Asian Americans. She developed a distinctive sonic identity by blending elements from Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, and Scottish lineages. Observers have characterized her stage work as “a synthesis of Japanese noh, Kyogen theater, Commedia Dell’Arte, and modern dance.” Born in Salt Lake City, she spent her formative years in the Los Angeles suburb of Long Beach. Childhood instruction on French horn and piano preceded her entry into conventional Western theater as an actress and vocalist. While attending the University of Santa Cruz on an Economic Opportunity Program scholarship, she first explored her own multicultural roots. Although she sustained performances across multiple formats, her most enduring impact arose from solo productions such as Tales of the Pacific Rim in 1990, Random Acts of Kindness and Obake! Tales of Spirits Past and Present in 1991, and The Queen’s Garden in 1992. The Queen’s Garden earned four Dramalogue Awards together with a San Diego Critic’s Circle award. The accompanying soundtrack for Tales of the Pacific Rim, created with bassist and composer Mark Izu, garnered a National Academy of Independent Record Distributors Award for Best Spoken Word Album. Aoki sustained her output; in October 1998 the autobiographical Uncle Gunjiro’s Girlfriend premiered at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. Mermaid, a symphonic narrative, incorporates Izu’s score performed alongside the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra under Kent Nagano’s direction. In 2000 she received a United States Pan Asian Chamber of Commerce Award.
Albums
