Missing live music? Kollaboration marks its 20th anniversary with virtual concert

The coronavirus pandemic may have taken away large concerts, but it still hasn’t gotten rid of live music.

On Dec. 12, six artists of Asian American descent will perform in Kollaboration’s 20th anniversary concert, hosted virtually for the first time.

“I’ve been missing being on the stage,” said Ruby Ibarra, a Bay Area rapper who is part of this year’s performance lineup. “To be able to be part of this and to have that sense of feeling of performing again … it’s refreshing and exciting and thrilling.”

Kollaboration was founded in 2000 by Paul “PK” Kim. Fed up by the lack of Asian American representation in contemporary music, he reserved the University of Southern California’s Bovard Auditorium out of his own pocket for a few hundred people to gather and watch 13 Korean American artists — a combination of rappers, b-boys and other dancers — perform with no charge to attendees.

Now, 20 years later, the yearly concerts are still largely volunteer-driven, but the artistic lineup has since dramatically expanded to include performers and supporters across the Asian American diaspora such as rapper Awkwafina and comedians Ali Wong and Jo Koy. As the organization has expanded across the country, with more and more pop-up events in each city, the goal of uplifting and amplifying Asian American performing artists has never wavered.

“I think what’s beautiful about Kollaboration is that it does build a community for artists,” Ibarra said. “I definitely credit Kollaboration as one of those platforms that allowed me to take my career to the next level.”

The nonprofit organization has been known for providing many emerging Asian American artists over the years with a major platform early in their careers. This year’s lineup will feature Ibarra, singer-songwriter Megan Lee, musician and YouTuber David Choi, singer-songwriter CLARA, former Jabbawockeez member Ben Chung, and violinist Jason Yang, all performing remotely over Zoom.

“For the vast majority of our 20 years, it’s been 99% volunteer-run,” said Kollaboration board member and former executive director Minji Chang. “I think it’s really extraordinary for the productions at the magnitude which we’ve been able to execute on a regular basis. And to still make it happen with (COVID-19) limitations … it really speaks to the passion (the organizers) have for this community.”

In lieu of the massive in-person party that had originally been planned to mark the organization’s 20th birthday, past performers and “special guests” will be dropping in virtually live and via pre-recorded shout-out videos, according to Chang. They’re also going to do a retrospective on the last 20 years to acknowledge how far the organization has come since that small word-of-mouth event first started.

Ibarra, who works at a Bay Area biotech company when she’s not making music, first discovered Kollaboration when she auditioned with her younger sister in 2015, rapping and beat boxing to her sister’s ukulele-playing. She said one of the most valuable things Kollaboration has given her is a community of artists that she can collaborate with and get guidance from, something she credits with helping her career first launch five years ago.

As her platform has grown, Ibarra said, the most important thing to her as an artist has remained using her position to share her experiences and widen the field to talk about major issues both inside and outside the media industry, whether that’s colorism or political strife happening in other countries. But there are still strides to be made, Ibarra said.

“One story isn’t going to be representative of an entire community,” Ibarra said. “Even though we’ve seen a lot more diversity in the media that we consume, there’s still a lot more dialogue (to be had) … As an artist and a creative, the most important thing I can do is inspire other people out there who look like me.”

And though the event highlights Asian American talent specifically, Chang said, the virtual concert hall doors are open to everyone.

“There are all these innovators and all these storytellers who want this to be … a point of celebration and unity,” Chang said. “We want everybody who is interested in watching these performances to come kick it.”

A link to RSVP for Kollaboration’s 20th anniversary concert can be found through eventbrite.com. It’s scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 12, from 3-5 p.m.