Angel Island Part 1: A Haunting History
Welcome to Angel Island. With stunning views of San Francisco Bay and lush hiking trails, the island is nestled between the promise of the Golden Gate Bridge and California’s sun-soaked mainland coast. But between 1910 and 1940, hundreds of thousands of Asians arriving at the Angel Island Immigration Station faced separation, interrogation, and often deportation under the longstanding Chinese Exclusion Act. The ghosts of Angel Island, however, endure. Poems carved into the soft wooden walls of the detention barracks give voice to long-remembered frustration, humiliation, and loneliness of the immigrants detained there. These inscriptions in Chinese calligraphy link that shameful past to our present immigration debate, bringing history into the reality of our current lives. In Part One, violist and founding member of the Del Sol Quartet, Charlton Lee, introduces both Angel Island's history and the creatives behind The Angel Island Project. A collaboration between Del Sol and composer Huang Ruo, this haunting oratorio for string quartet and chamber choir weaves together poetry and music in a poignant, powerful expression of history, hope, and humanity. Part One Features Interviews with: Charlton Lee, Del Sol Quartet violist Huang Ruo, Composer and conductor Kathryn Bates, Del Sol Quartet cellist Hyeyung Sol Yoon, Del Sol Quartet violinist Ben Kreith, Del Sol Quartet violinist Ed Tepporn, Executive Director, Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation Andi Wong, Teaching Artist and Arts Advocate Genny Lim, Poet, Playwright, Performer, Pioneer And the voices of Susan Moffat, Matthew Ozawa, and Emiko Ono. RESOURCES & LINKS Huang Ruo Angel Island Immigration Station Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation Immigrant Voices Oral History Project Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island Genny Lim The Last Hoisan Poets ArtsEd4All The Chinese Historical Society Of America William & Flora Hewlett Foundation UC Berkeley Global Urban Humanities Initiative LEARN MORE https://www.delsolquartet.com/podcast Del Sol Quartet on Spotify Facebook Instagram YouTube CREDITS Hosted by Charlton Lee Produced by Andrea Klunder, The Creative Impostor Studios, Charlton Lee, Kathryn Bates, Hyeyung Sol Yoon, Ben Kreith Story Editor: Andrea Klunder Sound Design: Andrea Klunder Technical Director & Post Production Audio: Edwin R. Ruiz Field Producer & Recording Engineer: Kathryn Bates Field Producer: Verena Lee Podcast Manager: Alex Riegler Show Notes: Lisa Widder Cover Art: Felicia Lee Theme Music: Charlton Lee Executive Producers: Andrea Fellows Fineberg, Don Fineberg Featured music from The Angel Island Oratorio composed by Huang Ruo. Performed by Del Sol Quartet & United States Air Force Band's Singing Sergeants / National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, recording and edited by Suraya Mohamed.
