Stephanie Chou: COMFORT GIRL

Stephanie Chou is an American jazz composer/saxophonist/singer who blends influences from her Chinese heritage with Western jazz and pop to create a bracingly original sound that draws audiences on two continents. Comfort Girl is a song-cycle inspired by true stories of Asian women abducted into sexual slavery during WWII, premiered at Joe’s Pub. It is not only a groundbreaking fusion of East-West musical traditions, but has also sparked public dialogue on a formerly taboo subject that still resonates globally for women today. Don’t miss this special International Women’s Day performance.

STEPHANIE CHOU is an American jazz composer/saxophonist/singer who blends influences from her Chinese heritage with Western jazz and pop to create a bracingly original sound that draws audiences on two continents. She’s performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, B.B. King’s, Joe’s Pub, and in jazz festivals across the US and Asia where her music creates immediate cross-cultural connections and continues to expand her fanbase.

Comfort Girl, her bold, innovative song-cycle inspired by true stories of Chinese women abducted into sexual slavery during WWII, premiered at Joe’s Pub. It’s not only a groundbreaking fusion of East-West musical traditions, but has also sparked public dialogue on a formerly taboo subject that still resonates globally for women today. It’s been commissioned as an opera by the American Opera Project.

Her quintet combines saxophone and vocals with Chinese violin(erhu), viola, and a jazz rhythm section. Chou’s albums include Prime Knot and Asymptote, which focused on jazz reinventions of classic Chinese folk songs. Her jazz-ballet CforG was commissioned by ABT ballerina Susan Jaffe.