Album Notes

Brenda Wong Aoki has broken barriers and established a new artistic genre as a contemporary American storyteller. Her work is a synthesis of Japanese Noh and Kyogen theater, Commedia dell’arte, modern dance and every day experience. A writer and performer, she is acclaimed as one of America’s foremost solo theater performers.

The CD with book features four traditional Japanese ghost tales illustrated with full color plates. The recorded stories are accompanied by music by Mark Izu.

The title piece, Mermaid Meat, is an original story written by Brenda Wong Aoki based on the Japanese proverb “Eating the flesh of a mermaid is the secret to eternal youth”. Originally commissioned by Kent Nagano, the conductor of the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, the piece is accompanied by an original score by Mark Izu. A tragic tale of a young girl who feasts on the flesh of a mermaid in order to live forever, the story speaks to our collective fascination with youth and beauty.