Twenty Summers

No-No Boy is an immersive multimedia work blending original folk songs, storytelling, and projected archival images all in service of illuminating hidden American histories. Taking inspiration from his own family’s history living through the Vietnam War as well as many other stories of Asian American experience, Nashville born songwriter Julian Saporiti has transformed years of doctoral study into an innovative project which bridges a divide between art and scholarship. By turning his archival research and fieldwork into a large repertoire of folk songs and films Saporiti has been able to engage diverse audiences with difficult conversations performing with a revolving cast of collaborators everywhere from rural high schools and churches to Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.