a tribute to Paul Robeson and Mei Lanfang, who Jang praises as "international citizens of the world" who were "not only great artists for the people but they also were outspoken. They were people that had integrity and took stands against oppression." Though often written about by critics as primarily a jazz musician, Jang has also composed notated works for classical performers, and in addition to numerous jazz influences, has cited composers such as William Grant Still as models for his approach to memorializing history and exploring political struggles through musical composition. Jang's 2007 Chinese American Symphony, premiered in 2007 by the Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra, is a symphonic composition addressing the history of Chinese immigrant railroad workers in the late 19th century. Building on his history of collaboration with African American artists and cultural work since the 1980s, Jang has also created work explicitly aligned with the later Black Lives Matter movement, including “Can’t Stop Cryin’ for America! (Black Lives Matter)," a 2017 collaboration with poet Amanda Kemp. As a public intellectual, Jang has given a number of presentations at universities and colleges throughout the U.S. such as Columbia University, Stanford University, Brown University, and UCLA on topics such as "Traditions in Transformation: The Musical Language of Jon Jang," "Sounds of Struggle: Music from the Black Liberation Movement of the 1960s to the Asian American Movement of the 1980s," and "One Day American, One Day Alien: Black and Brown Artists Who Made the National Anthem Their Own." In 2012, Jang was awarded the Martin Luther King, Jr./Césár Chavez/Rosa Parks Visiting Professorship at the University of Michigan. Discography As Leader or Co-Leader As Ensemble Performer External links "Jon Jang Speaks Out About His Recent Album, Amiri Baraka, and Malcolm X," an interview with Daniel King in Mother Jones, June 26, 2020. "The Music of the Flowing Stream: An Interview With Jazz Composer Jon Jang", by Ken Chen, from Satellite, v. 1, issue 3 (January 2001) "An interview with composers Jon Jang and James Newton", by Nic Paget-Clarke References 1954 births Living people American musicians of Chinese descent American jazz composers American male jazz composers American jazz pianists American male pianists Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area 20th-century American pianists Jazz musicians from California 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians