/Music
Facing the Moon with Del Sol Quartet & SF Poet Laureate Genny Lim
Event WebsiteAbout
A live performance of music and poetry by Del Sol Quartet and poet Genny Lim, co-author of ISLAND, the first book of Angel Island poetry. This performance will amplify the experience of the Chinese diaspora on Angel Island through excerpts of their new project "Facing the Moon." The 45- minute concert includes new poetry by Genny Lim & music by Vivian Fung, Meilina Tsui, Theresa Wong, and Chinary Ung.
SF/Arts Curator Insight
San Francisco’s first Poet Laureate of Chinese descent, Genny Lim, joins the Del Sol Quartet for a special performance inside Angel Island’s historic detention barracks. Chinese immigrants, who were central to California’s Gold Rush, were scapegoated by the government in the first half of the 20th century after economic downturns, and many were detained at Angel Island. Later, the discovery of Chinese poetry carved into the barracks helped save the buildings from being demolished. This moving program (the first of three to take place in 2026) will celebrate the Chinese diaspora in California, weaving a work by Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung with Lim’s poetry and storytelling.
Juhi Gupta
Contributing Writer
San Francisco’s Del Sol Quartet believes that music can, and should, happen anywhere - screaming out Aeryn Santillan’s Makeshift Memorials from a Mission District sidewalk or a rural high school, bouncing Ben Johnston’s microtonal Americana off the canyon walls of the Yampa River or the hallowed walls of Library of Congress, bringing California immigrant poetry to life on Angel Island.
San Francisco’s Del Sol Quartet believes that music can, and should, happen anywhere - screaming out Aeryn Santillan’s Makeshift Memorials from a Mission District sidewalk or a rural high school, bouncing Ben Johnston’s microtonal Americana off the canyon walls of the Yampa River or the hallowed walls of Library of Congress, bringing California immigrant poetry to life on Angel Island.