RESONANCE ENSEMBLE and the PORTLAND ASSEMBLY CENTER PROJECT Headline the VANPORT MOSAIC FESTIVAL
An afternoon of music, theatre, and movement, spotlighting the history of the Portland Assembly Center where nearly 4,000 Japanese Americans were unjustly incarcerated
“Eighty three years later, on This Land...We Still Sing America.”
On Sunday, June 1st at 3:00 pm, as the culminating event of the 10th Annual Vanport Mosaic Festival, Resonance Ensemble and Vanport Mosaic present We Are Still Here—an immersive site-specific performance at the Portland Expo Center, the former site of Japanese American incarceration during World War II. This powerful afternoon brings together the award-winning voices of Resonance Ensemble under its Associate Conductor Shohei Kobayashi; the world premiere of a new commission by Kenji Bunch; and the Portland Assembly Center Project’s unique blend of poetry, movement, and narratives devised by Chisao Hata and Heath Hyun Houghton, amplifying the words and memories of Japanese American survivors of incarceration and reflecting on the impact for their descendants and our community today. Through song, spoken word, and embodied storytelling, We Are Still Here offers a moving reflection on displacement, memory, and the urgent need to reckon with this chapter of Portland’s shared history.
Portland Expo Center
THE HISTORY
More than 120,000 Japanese Americans—most of them U.S. citizens—were forcibly removed from their homes and unjustly incarcerated during World War II. In Portland, the Pacific International Livestock Exposition Center was quickly converted into the Portland Assembly Center, one of 15 temporary detention sites used to confine Japanese Americans before they were sent to more permanent concentration camps like Minidoka in Idaho. From May to September 1942, approximately 3,676 Japanese and Japanese Americans from Oregon and southwest Washington were held in overcrowded, inhumane makeshift conditions at what is now known as the Portland Expo Center. We Are Still Here activates this historic space through music, poetry, movement, and theater.
THE MUSIC
Resonance Ensemble, conducted by Associate Conductor Shohei Kobayashi, brings its powerful, socially engaged choral voice to We Are Still Here with a program centered on themes of memory, displacement, and collective reckoning. Kobayashi’s thoughtful leadership anchors a musical journey that includes works by Eric Tuan, Toru Takemitsu, Ayanna Woods, and Caroline Shaw.
Commissioned composer, Kenji Bunch
“The weaving of community taking place in the creation of We Are Still Here is important work,” says Kobayashi. “I am so inspired by Chisao and Heath and their vision for telling these stories — especially resonant ones as we witness and cry out against this authoritarian rise in abductions by ICE and the increasing population of prisoners at their inhumane detention centers. It is critical that we grapple with and tell the truth about the connections between this history and our current struggles.”
A highlight of the afternoon is the world premiere of a double-choir work by acclaimed composer Kenji Bunch, setting Chisao Hata’s original poem On This Land. This new commission offers a layered, emotional centerpiece to the program.
“It’s a huge honor for me to work with Resonance Ensemble and to be a part of Vanport Mosaic’s program to close this year’s festival,” says Bunch. “As a Japanese-American, it’s particularly meaningful to be involved in the important work of memory activism for our community. I feel strongly that only through learning and understanding our shared past can we heal and move forward together, and the concert on June 1st will be an important step in this process.”
Community Weaver & Portland Assembly Center Project Creator, Chisao Hata
THEATRE, POETRY, and MOVEMENT
The Portland Assembly Center Project, created by Chisao Hata and writer/director Heath Hyun Houghton, weaves together reader’s theater, original poetry, and movement to activate the voices and memories of Japanese American incarceration. Drawing from works by Lawson Inada, Chisao Hata, and Ken Yoshikawa, with music by Joe Kye and a special appearance by Toshiko Namioka, this ensemble-driven performance honors the lived experiences of survivors and their descendants.
Hata is a third-generation Japanese American artist and cultural organizer, whose own parents were incarcerated during World War II in Poston, Arizona, and whose activism and cultural identity permeate her work.
“I am who I am because of Executive Order 9066,” says Hata .”It shaped my life, isolated me from the community, denied my parents and many first (issei) and second generations (nisei) of Japanese Americans. Who might I have become if racism didn’t impact my entire life so deeply?”
This multidimensional performance invites the audience to bear witness. Through poetry and movement, it becomes a space of resistance, remembrance, and healing—where embodied storytelling speaks not only to history, but to our present moment.
A POWERFUL COLLABORATION AND A FULL WEEKEND OF MEMORY ACTIVISM
We Are Still Here continues a multi-year partnership between Resonance Ensemble and Vanport Mosaic, two organizations deeply committed to justice-centered storytelling. The performance is part of the 10th Annual Vanport Mosaic Festival,a two-week invitation to reflect on what Portland has built together, honor those who shaped the path, and commit to the next chapter of our shared story.
“This is not just a performance. It’s a declaration. It’s a reminder that the land remembers even when the official record tries to forget,” says Laura Lo Forti, co-founder and director of Vanport Mosaic. “We Are Still Here is memory activism in action. It is a ceremony, a reckoning, and a refusal to let erased histories stay buried. We return to this site not to reenact the past, but to confront it, name it, and make space for healing.”
The festival culminates in a weekend (May 31–June 1) that features a series of notable events. On Saturday, May 31—the Vanport Day of Remembrance—Vanport Mosaic will host tours, performances, pop-up exhibits, film screenings, singing, and a memory activism fair. That evening, Chamber Music Northwest and the Portland Japanese Garden will present a concert featuring Kenji Bunch, George Takei, and works by Andy Akiho and Paul Chihara—offering another powerful reflection on Japanese American history through music.
Resonance Ensemble, Vanport Mosaic, and The Portland Assembly Center Project look forward to welcoming the city of Portland to witness, remember, and heal together through story and song.
Resonance Ensemble, Vanport Mosaic, and The Portland Assembly Center Project look forward to welcoming the city of Portland to witness, remember, and heal together through story and song.
For tickets to We Are Still Here, click here.
For more on the 10th annual Vanport Mosaic Festival visit vanportmosaic.org
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
WHAT: WE ARE STILL HERE
WHEN: SUNDAY | JUNE 1, 2025 | 3 PM
WHERE: Portland Expo Center | Hall A | 2060 Marine Drive W | Portland, OR 97217
TICKET INFORMATION:
$35 General Admission
$15 Student/Working Artist/Veteran
$5 Arts for All (available at the door only)
Click here to purchase tickets
Note to Journalists: Katherine FitzGibbon, Shohei Kobayashi, Kenji Bunch, Laura Lo Forti, Chisao Hata, and featured guests are available for print, online, and broadcast interviews. If you would like more information on our season or would like to schedule an interview, please contact Liz Bacon Brownson at liz@ohcreativepdx.com or by calling 971-212-8034.
THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR SPONSORS
Vanport Mosaic Festival and the Portland Assembly Center Project are made possible by the Autzen Foundation, Marie Lamfrom Foundation, Oregon Historical Society, Metro, and Travel Portland.
The performance and premieres by Resonance Ensemble are made possible by the City of Portland Office of the Arts, Oregon Arts Commission, Oregon Community Foundation, Oregon Cultural Trust, Metro, Regional Arts & Culture Council, and Ronni Lacroute.
