Luminosa Project

Cucaracha Luminosa: Historia De Un Amor from Tahiat Mahboob on Vimeo.

The adventurous duo of Bolivian opera singer Gian-Carla Tisera and Burmese-American pianist A.J. Khaw, two classically-trained musicians who share their genre-crossing interpretations. Their melodies emerge from every corner of the globe–from folk tunes heard in the poorest slums to the soaring arias of bygone eras. Inspiration chases harmonic colors and rhythms steeped in the veins of jazz, classical, opera, blues, Latin and experimental styles, approaching each piece with subversive ingenuity. CucarachaLuminosa often infuses traditional and nontraditional music with socio-political themes that draw on their mutual identification with the plight of the third world. ‘Refugee’ an original piece by A.J. Khaw was inspired by working in Uganda among people living with HIV/AIDS. The popular song ‘La Cucaracha’ is reincarnated into Gian-Carla’s bilingual commentary of human struggle across nations.

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GIAN-CARLA AND A.J KHAW BIOGRAPHIES:

Hailed by TimeOFF magazine as “a performer with stunning power and warmth” Gian-Carla Tisera was raised in Bolivia and completed her Masters in Opera Performance at the University of Southern California. She has performed in world – renowned concert halls such as the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and New York’s Carnegie Hall, among many others. She currently lives and performs in NYC where her artistic partnerships have allowed her to pursue innovative approaches to operatic singing, performance and collaboration. In 2011 Gian-Carla Tisera created Canciones de Cambio – Songs of Change, a musical and socio-artistic experience where her arrangements of Latin American traditional music and protest songs are passionately charged with her operatic singing and fused with the virtuosic improvisations of jazz artists. Recent progressive projects include Cucaracha Luminosa, her new duo with pianist A.J. Khaw in which classical and jazz idioms color traditional and non-traditional songs with socio-political artistic expressions. Gian-Carla is also the creator of Opera Libertine – Opera for the Free in which the social boundaries created by the inaccessibility of opera to the masses are broken via thought-provoking collaborations with world music and experimental artists. In 2004 she recorded Bolivian Baroque with Florilegium Chamber Orchestra under the Dutch label Channel Classics and the album won the Editor’s Choice Award, the People’s Choice Award and the Early Music Award in Europe. She has toured with Florilegium throughout Europe, Bolivia, Turkey, Singapore and the United States. Of her performance in Bolivian Baroque at the Edinburgh International Music Festival in 2010, The Scotsman.com raved: “Gian-Carla (sung) with thrilling yet superbly refined emotion.” Through her music and as a producer and citizen of the world, Gian-Carla Tisera strives to serve as an artistic ambassador — challenging the perceptions that separate artists, communities and nations with the greater vision of the equal and beautiful musical language of all people.Visit Gian-Carla’s website : giancarlatisera.com

A.J. Khaw is a Brooklyn-based musician who has performed in Uganda, South Africa, China, Mexico and throughout the United States. He is a pianist, organist, composer, accompanist, and instructor. A.J., who moved to New York in 2010, performs regularly throughout the city, including recent collaborations with Australian singer/songwriter Lucas Kane Hall and alt-Americana artist Dylan Charles. Cucaracha Luminosa, his latest project with soprano Gian-Carla Tisera, blends opera, jazz, classical, original and traditional folk music in powerfully beautiful songs. While based in Miami from 2003 to 2010, A.J. played with several Latin pop groups and started two jazz combos, Sonido Batido and Rana Prieta Latin Jazz Project, both featuring his original compositions and incorporating Latin and Caribbean influences. In 2008 Sonido Batido released an album named Journey of the Refugee with seven original pieces based on themes of social justice. The group toured in support of the album in several cities in Mexico. Additionally, A.J. served as organist at St. John’s United Methodist Church on Miami Beach, where he also performed for their eclectic Arts at St. John’s programs. In Atlanta, where A.J. was based from 1995 to 2003, he founded the jazz/funk quartet Jazznomad, performed in various classical chamber ensembles, and served as house pianist at Churchill Grounds Jazz Club. A.J. is a native of Shelton, Washington, and began playing the piano at age five and the organ at age 11. He first substituted as an organist at age 12 at local churches before landing a full-time position at Shelton United Methodist Church two years later. Starting in middle school, he played benefit concerts for various charities. A.J. continued his piano studies and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Music summa cum laude from Emory University. Four years later, A.J. graduated cum laude with a Medical Doctorate degree from Morehouse School of Medicine.

Visit A.J. Khaw’s website: ajkhaw.com