Foresight
Kick off the (Lunar) New Year with Keepsake House as we welcome back old friends and look forward to making new connections. Our six 2022 Artists in Residence–Alex Wong, David Glover, Dylan Adler, Glynis Johns, Morninglory, and Sarah Kang–will join together in performance and conversation for the first time in this roundtable, airing live on Zoom. Come for the exciting announcements (including our entire year’s show line-up!) and stay for the songs, laughter, and community.
Tickets: $12
Introducing the Keepsake House 2022 Artists in Residence
— Songwriters —
Alex Wong
Alex Wong creates music to help people remember who they are and show themselves to the world. He has always had a complicated relationship with his own memories, unable to remember his own childhood birthday parties yet possessing many vivid, sensory memories from dreams, places he’d never been, and what seemed almost like isolated vignettes from another life. That dissonance led to the songs on his latest album, “The Elephant and the Seahorse.” As he looked closer at his memories from the past, he was forced to acknowledge that he had been “hiding” his identity as a second generation Chinese-American for much of his life. Memories of being told to downplay his ethnicity in school, social groups, or in the mostly-white music industry, assimilate to white culture, speak with no accent, and keep himself small rushed to the surface, along with waves of shame and anger for buying into this conditioning. A lot of deep questioning followed, which he chronicles for the first time in his song “Show Yourself.”
Alex is a Latin GRAMMY-nominated artist and producer known for his work with Delta Rae, Vienna Teng, Melissa Ferrick and Morgxn, among others. Alex’s music has been featured in movies including “The Last Song” and TV shows including “True Blood. Alex has toured all over the world, performing at festivals like Coachella, Outside Lands, and Corona Capital, in arenas in Mexico City and theaters in Europe and Japan, and on NPR’s Mountain Stage. During the lockdown, Alex curated and performed two virtual benefit tours featuring prominent AAPI artists and others, raising $10K to help organizations fighting anti-Asian hate via TheQuietVoiceFund.org.
Website | Patreon | Spotify | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
Morninglory
Accomplished vocalist, actor, and writer, Livvy Marcus performs atmospheric folk music under the name “Morninglory,” her legal middle name. Born and raised in southern Massachusetts, Livvy graduated with a bachelor of music from BW Conservatory in Ohio. Her debut album, “Livvy Marcus Eats Her Shoe,” will be released on all platforms in March 2022. She hasn’t gone a day without chocolate since 2018 and would generally always rather be singing. Do you like dancing? Do you sometimes live in the liminal space between giggling and crying?
Website | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram | Facebook
Sarah Kang
Sarah Kang is a Korean-American jazz/soul/R&B singer-songwriter based in New York City. Born in South Korea and raised in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Dallas, her music, much like her life experiences, crosses the borders of genre. Her inspiration comes from artists like Crush, Bruno Major, and H.E.R.; however, her earnest voice paired with soul sensibilities and thoughtful songwriting creates a sound that is all her own. Her hope is that her music can encourage listeners to ask important questions and provide safe, cozy spaces to rest.
Spotify | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | Youtube
— Storytellers —
David Glover
David Glover is an artist drawn to telling needed stories: stories that challenge comfort, question vulnerability, and press at the potent roots of trauma and healing. His artistic body of work centers on identity, history, and home with a focus on the complexity and measures of Black life, love and liberation.
Website | Instagram | Facebook
Dylan Adler
Dylan Adler is a comedian, actor, writer, and musician based in New York City. He performed musical comedy at the New York Comedy Festival, Asian Comedy Festival, and was featured in the New York Times and Vulture. He was also featured on Hulu in the series “Eater’s Guide to the World.” He performed sketch comedy as an actor in Maude Night at UCB and was featured in the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival as well as in Vulture Magazine, Elite Daily, and the NY Post. Dylan is the co-composer of the musical “Goodmorning New York,” which played Off-Broadway at the Players Theatre in 2020 and at the NY Musical Theatre Festival.
Website | Instagram | Twitter | Youtube
Glynis Johns
Glynis M. Johns is the founder of Black Scranton Project (BSP), a non-profit organization, local heritage initiative, and public history venture. BSP is dedicated to archiving and celebrating the Black history of Scranton and Northeast Pennsylvania. Glynis has created a defined presence for the Black community in Lackawanna county–having worked with senators, state representatives, county officials, and community leaders on significant projects across the commonwealth. Her past projects include the TEDxScranton 2020 Talk, “Why Local Black History Matters.” She joined the Scranton Public Library Board of Trustees in 2020.
Glynis holds a BA and MA in Sociology from St. John’s University and spends much of her time studying 19th and 20th century African American history. She is a native Scrantonian, local historian, sociologist, artist, documentarian, and advocate. She is proud to shift local perspectives on culture, inclusion, representation, and history. For Glynis, passions and projects are indistinguishable from each other. In February 2021, Glynis received a distinguished honor from Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) as a notable Black Leader in Pennsylvania and leading activist in the pursuit of racial justice.