Chinese Lunar New Year Reception

A WashU Los Angeles Network Event

Sunday, February 9, 2020 - 6:00pm

Join the Washington University Los Angeles Network to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year at alumna owned Velaslavasay Panorama. This evening reception will give participants a chance to explore the exhibits of the Velaslavasay Panorama, including Shengjing Panorama, the world's first USA><China collaborative panorama. 

In celebration of Chinese Lunar New Year, musician Susan Chang will perform on the Ur-hu (a Chinese string instrument) and sing folk and Kwun Opera songs. Artist Sara Velas, Washington University Alumna ’99, will give a short introduction to the creation of Shengjing Panorama. Additionally, Paul Greenstein will share images of Chinatown from his extensive photo archive of Los Angeles and give some historical information related to the presence of the Chinese community in the LA area.

Susan Chang

Musician and singer Susan Chang studied Ur-hu (a Chinese string instrument) at Taiwan Normal University in Taipei, Taiwan and currently performs throughout the greater Los Angeles area at venues including the San Gabriel Auditorium and Mt. San Antonio Performing Arts Center. After moving to the United States in 1992, she joined Spring Thunder Music Association and became involved in performance arrangement for the group which still involves its original founder, Mrs. Yu (age 110). Trained as a soprano singer in Los Angeles and an avid fan of Chinese Folk Music, Ms. Chang learned Kwun Opera techniques from Mrs. Yu and Mr. Chang. In recent years she has performed Kwun Opera solo performances in Beijing, Jiangsu Province, and Taipei. Susan Chang is currently a member of the Southern California Chinese Music Association, the Taiwan Normal University Alumni Music Association, and the Chinese Kwun Opera Association.

For this event, Susan Chang will play the Ur-hu, introduce traditional Chinese music and folk tunes, and perform Kwun Opera songs, including some Chinese New Year melodies.

SaraVelas

Sara Velas is an artist, graphic designer, gardener, curator, and native Los Angeleno living in downtown Los Angeles. She is the Artistic Director of the Velaslavasay Panorama, a nonprofit museum and garden she established in the year 2000 to present variations on art forms & entertainments popular before the invention of cinema along with experimental immersive experiences. In addition to her own immersive creations, Ms. Velas has been focused on researching the contemporary creation of panoramas in Asia. From 2014–2017 she served as the International Panorama Council President and has been an active member since 2004. An active architectural preservationist, in 2002 she co-authored the nomination which granted the first and only historic monument designation for a trailer park in the United States. In 1999 she received her BFA in Painting from Washington University where she held merit-based full-tuition Conway Proetz Scholarship; and in 2009, the university presented her with a Distinguished Alumni Award.

Paul Greenstein

"Bum Vivant" Paul Greenstein is an historian and author; neon artist, sign designer and sign installer; art director and production designer; character actor; prop fabricator; musician and band leader. An avid collector and restorationist, his work on neon signs throughout Los Angeles include the legendary Phillipe’s Famous French Dip Sandwiches, and the Formosa Café, amongst many others. For many years he has worked with the Museum of Neon Art as an artist, technician and writer. Mr. Greenstein's work on antique car and motorcycle restorations is internationally renowned. In 2010, the 1941 Tatra T87 he owns & restored with his partner Dydia DeLyser won the “New York Times Collectible Car Contest” award.

WashU Los Angeles Network is an alumni group of Washington University. Alumni Networks are groups of alumni, parents and friends within each community organized on the basis of geography, shared interest, culture, or professional interest. 

*Photos by Forest Casey*