Henry Cho
Actor | Comedian | Rancher
Perform: Friday, August 17, 2007 | NAAAP National Excellence Awards Gala
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“I’m an Asian with a Southern accent,” remarks Henry. “To a lot of people, that right there is funny.” Always making the most of who is, Henry recently inked a deal with ABC and Touchstone Studios to co-create and star in his own sitcom based on his life as a Korean-American born and raised in Tennessee. In early 2006, he had his own one hour comedy special entitled: What’s That Clickin’ Noise? on Comedy Central. WB Records released the DVD and CD of the show in early 2006. Henry was on the big screen as well, starring opposite Hilary Duff and Angelica Houston in Material Girls also out in 2006. |
Attesting to his versatility as a performer, in the summer of 2003, Henry was the keynote entertainer for The 59th Annual Radio & Television Correspondents’ Dinner attended by the Bush Administration. Then, over the holiday season, Henry joined Amy Grant and Vince Gill on their annual Christmas Tour and toured with them again December 2004.
Henry’s other comedy credits include NBC’s Bob Hope’s Young Comedians, MTV’s Half-Hour Comedy Hour, and several appearances on The Tonight Show. He also hosted NBC’s Friday Night Videos for two years and had many guest roles on various sitcoms such as CBS’s Designing Women. Henry’s other film credits include FOX’s TV movie, Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation, Universal’s McHale’s Navy and the Farrelly Brothers’ movie Say It Isn’t So.
The Vega String Quartet
Blanka Bednarz: Violin | Jessica Shuang Wu: Violin
Yinzi Kong: Viola | Guang Wang: Cello
Perform: Friday, August 17, 2007 | NAAAP National Excellence Awards Gala
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On the cutting edge of the new generation of chamber music ensembles, the Vega String Quartet has attracted international attention for over a decade. After the Vega made its Lincoln Center debut in 2001 the New York Times raved “playing that had a kind of clean intoxication to it, pulling the listener along…the musicians took real risks in their music making…” and the Los Angles |
Times praised their “Triumphant L.A. Debut” in 2002. Other recent engagements include performances in Paris, Cologne, Mexico City, New York, Tokyo, Vancouver and Atlanta.They have appeared at numerous music festivals including Aspen, Mostly Mozart, Rockport, Highlands-Cashiers, Musicorda, Kingston, and SummerFest La Jolla among others.
They were the quartet-in-residence at the Van Cliburn Institute and on the artist roster of Carnegie Hall’s New York City Neighborhood Concert series, and in 2003-04 they joined the Community Concerts Association touring ensembles as the only string quartet on their roster. The quartet’s live broadcast credits include NPR’s Performance Today (USA), the National Radio of China, Shanghai TV, Radio France, France Musiques, and the National Radio of the Czech Republic. In addition, they were visiting Artists-in-Residence at Emory University in Atlanta performing the complete Cycle of Beethoven Quartets and playing and teaching throughout the community.
The 2004-05 season included debut tours of Korea and Japan as well as performances at New York’s Bargemusic series and at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall. Starting September 2006, the Vega Quartet is the first ever full time quartet-in-residency at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Their main concert project of the 06-07 season is “Bach and Bartok” - the complete six string quartets by Bela Bartok combined with the 6 solo violin sonatas and partitas and 6 cello suites by J.S.Bach will be played in six concerts throughout the season.
Yu Wei Chinese Dance Collection
Dancer | Choreographer
Perform: Friday, August 17, 2007 | NAAAP National Excellence Awards Gala
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Honored as the Daughter of Dance in China. As a little girl Yu Wei was selected by the Wuhan Song and Dance Theater Academy to study a broad curriculum of dance based on Chinese classical, traditional, folk dance and ballet. Her major teachers were Shao Jiu-lin, Chen Li-xing, Liu Feng and Xiao Yu -zhen. After graduating, she joined the company at the Wuhan Song and Dance Theater where she continued her studies in Chinese folk dance, modern dance, Peking Opera, Gymnastics, and Aesthetics under such nationally known masters as Huang Ji-shi, Li De-fu and Cheng Yun. In 1986 she became the principal dancer of the Wuhan Company. |
Since 1989 Yu Wei has performed as a guest artist with the Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan Province Dance Companies and in Beijing with the Chinese National Song and Dance Ensemble. She was the lead dancer of National Ballets “Lijiang River Sentiment” and “Yao Shan Flame”. She has also been a guest artist in many important national Festivals throughout China; including the China National 20th Century Extraordinary Dance Exhibition, National China and Japan Friendship Celebration in Beijing and the China National Contemporary Famous Dancers Performing Group.
In 1992 Yu Wei moved to Beijing to begin her long studies and collaboration with nationally renowned dance master Zhang Ke, and to create her own collection of solo dances known as the Yu Wei Dance Collection. The Collection has been performed in Beijing, Xian, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Kunming, Dagin, Anqin, Jiayuguan… It has been broadcast on National Century Television, and performed at the National Dance Association Convention in 1997.
Yu Wei has been awarded the First Prize of the Professional Dance Skill Competition, and the Silver Award for Choreography in Hubei Province, and the Excellence Award in the National First Lotus Dance Competition in Beijing 1998.
In February 2000 Yu Wei came to America live in Philadelphia. Yu Wei has performed throughout the United States including the Manhattan Center in New York & the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Yu Wei Chinese Dance Collection has been selected for the rosters of Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour.
Janie Chu: “ROOTS”
Songwriter | Pianist | Guitarist
Perform: Thursday, August 16, 2007 | NAAAP Convention Welcome Reception
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Few ever leave a performance of Janie’s without marveling her rich vocals, passionate playing, and fresh approach to songwriting. She attributes her unique modern pop sound to a myriad of influences — from her piano upbringing to a diverse listening palette that includes such artists as Imogen Heap and Jump Little Children. While anyone who has seen her on stage knows she loves to perform and share her music with others, her quest to keep making music stems from her own life experience.
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Janie readily absorbed music at a young age. Beginning piano lessons at the age of 6, Janie was trained on diverse piano repertoire. |
Even though she had a voracious appetite for piano music, she knew early on that her penchant for commercial pop music always outweighed any desire to pursue playing classical piano seriously. She began singing, writing and playing small melodies as a child, going onto full songs and winning numerous music awards on into her teenage years.
Janie fully embarked on her musical pursuits after transferring into the Commercial Music program at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee her sophomore year. At Belmont, she not only received commercial voice training and experimented with piano styles that drew comparisons to Sarah McLachlan and Tori Amos, but she also was exposed to more guitar heavy singer-songwriters as Jonatha Brooke, Patty Griffin and Alana Davis. While still drawn to angst-ridden alternative pop/rock material, Janie became fascinated with folk influences and picked up the guitar herself. After graduation, Janie returned to Atlanta where she has recorded several demos and performed in renowned local venues such as Eddie’s Attic, Red Light Cafe and Smith’s Olde Bar. With a full-length album out and recently noted as an IMWS showcase semi-finalist, Janie’s music continues to reach new fans in the Internet age through outlets such as Pandora, New Artists Radio, Last FM.com and a host of digital distributors that includes ITunes, Snocap, Ruckus, and Rhapsody. Janie was also recently featured in a radio show of Atlanta based artists on 98.3 FM Whitley City, KY.
Now in the midst of promoting her album “Roots”, Janie continues on her in-store tour of the local region with Face2Face MEG and Transworld Entertainment, including distribution with FYE. She also performs regularly with her new band.