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California Institute of the Arts

Tashi Wada

A Community of Artists: The Lives and Afterlives of CalArts Series

Event Information

Date: Oct. 15

Time: 4:30 PM

Location: CalArts Campus; A207

About:

A Community of Artists: The Lives and Afterlives of CalArts series presents Tashi Wada, Music alumnus, on James Tenney and Fluxus legacies.

A visiting artist and scholar series exploring the history and influence of CalArts from 1969 to the present.

*Co-presented by the School of Art Paul Brach Visiting Artist Lecture Series and the MA Program in Aesthetics and Politics

Green event poster with decorative yellow line drawings announcing “GHOST STORIES,” October 15, 2026, at 4:30 PM in A207.

About the Artist

Los Angeles-based musician Tashi Wada has carved a unique path as a composer, drawing on a diverse array of influences and exchanges. Born in New York, Wada studied composition at CalArts with James Tenney, and for many years performed alongside his father Yoshi. Wada’s early music explored resonance and dissonance, while more recent music has incorporated song-like forms, improvisation, and the formation of a band. Wada has presented his music at venues and festivals across the world, and collaborated with a range of musicians, artists, and ensembles, including his partner Julia Holter, Charles Curtis, Simone Forti, and HarmonicSpace Orchestra. His most recent album, What Is Not Strange? was released in 2024 by RVNG Intl. Wada founded and runs the record label Saltern, and co-edited the recently published book James Tenney: Writings and Interviews on Experimental Music (Bloomsbury, 2025).