Desdemona Chiang (Book)

Desdemona Chiang (she/her) is a Taiwan-born American director and writer based in Seattle, WA and Ashland, OR. With over 20 years of experience directing in American regional theatre, she writes stories about unique intergenerational immigrant experiences. Her stage adaptation of Amy Tan’s novel THE BONESETTER’S DAUGHTER received its world premiere in the summer of 2022. Her TV pilot MADE IN USA was developed with the Sundance Episodic Program, The Orchard Project, The Writers Lab, and was a winner of the WeScreenplay Diverse Voices Lab. Her TV pilot ZHIZHA! was developed as part of Film Independent’s Episodic Lab (sponsored by Netflix) in February 2024. Desdemona is also part of the inaugural cohort of the Sundance Institute Asian American Fellowship and the AFI DWW+ class of 2024. MFA Directing: University of Washington.

Cheeyang Ng (Music)

Born and raised in Singapore, Cheeyang Ng (黄智阳) is an award winning singer-songwriter who writes at the intersection of queer, Asian and immigrant stories. They have performed around the world, including Lincoln Center with Carole King and Carnegie Hall with a cappella group Vocalosity and hold an MFA from New York University and a BMus from Berklee College of Music. They are the first Singaporean to headline a concert at Joe's Pub and Millennium Stage at Kennedy Center showcasing their original music and their songs have been performed around New York, including The Duplex and Feinstein's/54 Below. Musicals in development include EASTBOUND (2022 Village Theatre Beta Development Production, 2020
NAMT, NYTB IMPACT Award) with Khiyon Hursey and MĀYĀ (2021 NAMT, Live & In Color, Hypokrit) with Eric Sorrels. Select credits: 2021 Princess Grace Award, 2020 Eric H Weinberger Librettist Award.

Eric Sorrels (Lyrics)

Originally from Tennessee, Eric Sorrels is a multi-hyphenate artist. As a lyricist and librettist, he is developing MAYA (NAMT 2021) with Cheeyang Ng and Arpita Mukherjee, and THE PHOENIX (JMF Writers Grove 2022) with Cheeyang Ng and Stefani Kuo. Eric is an alumnus of the Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project, and in 2019 he earned the Jack & Lucille Young ASCAP Award for Songwriting with Cheeyang. Eric also spent seven years as a professional chorister in NYC and is a proud member of AGMA. He arranges and music directs in the cabaret scene in NYC, and he continues to work regionally as a musical theatre performer. In 2022, Eric moved to Raleigh in 2022 to begin studies in preparation for medical school. BA: UT Knoxville. MFA: NYU.