Mixed Asian Storytelling

Join Asian American Arts Alliance (A4) and a panel of multi-disciplinary Asian American storytellers for a vital discussion about identity and belonging for artists with mixed-race backgrounds.

Panelists will explore how navigating their mixed identities has shaped the ways they tell stories across disciplines including composition, comedy, and visual art. Through personal experience and creative practice, the conversation will examine how their lived experience informs their artistic voice, challenges singular narratives of identity, and opens space for more expansive, nuanced representations within and beyond the AAPI community..

Panelists include Hannah Ishizaki, composer and sound artist; Adam Mamawala, comedian; and Michaela Ternasky-Holland, XR/VR director.

The discussion will be moderated by Alex Chester-Iwata, award-winning performer, writer, and cultural advocate, in collaboration with Mixed Asian Media, where Alex is Founder and CEO.

Mixed Asian Media (MAM) is a collective created by multiracial, mixed Asian/Pacific Islanders (APIs). We seek to build community through conversations of what it means to be of mixed Asian/Pacific Islander descent and help establish our ever-evolving place in society. From all of our online pieces, to an annual creative festival, we strive to capture mixed API stories and experiences at all levels and share them through all our current and future mediums.

There will be time for Q&A and a refreshments following the panel.

The event is hosted by Prime Produce, a grassroots collective of friends, family, and neighbors committed to intentionally serving our communities.

This event requires RSVP with a suggested donation of $5.

Agenda:
6:30-6:40 pm (10 min) — Opening Remarks
6:40-7:20 pm (40 min) – Panel
7:20–8:00 pm (40 min) – Q&A
8:00–8:30 pm (30 min) – Mingling

Recording: The panel discussion will be recorded and published on A4’s YouTube channel after the event.

Accessibility: The first floor event space of Prime Produce is wheelchair accessible.

If you need CART Transcription, ASL interpretation, large print, or any other accommodations for this event, please email programs@aaartsalliance.org at least one week before this event.

About the Panelists
Alex Chester-Iwata (she/her) is an award-winning performer, writer, and cultural advocate with more than 35 years in the entertainment industry. A former child actor and member of Diddy’s girl group Dream, she has appeared on Broadway and across major networks, including ABC, NBC, Forbes, and PBS. As a mixed-race Japanese and Jewish American, Alex has channeled her lived experience into founding Mixed Asian Media, a platform dedicated to uplifting mixed AAPINH voices. The organization has been recognized by Nielsen and cited in academic texts for its cultural impact. She is also the founder of Mixed Asian Day™, a national movement celebrating mixed Asian identity and community. Alex has spoken at events hosted by Asian Hustle Network, Gold House, TikTok, Amazon, and the Tribeca Festival, among others, and serves on multiple national boards, including ACE NextGen, the American Advertising Federation–LA, the New York Asian Film Festival, the Philadelphia Asian American Film Foundation, and The Lunar Collective. In 2025, she was honored with the National Association of Asian American Professionals’ Inspire Award for her leadership and advocacy.

Hannah Ishizaki is a composer and sound artist based in Princeton. Described as “Imaginative…effective and moving” by the New York Times, her music seeks to foster connections between musicians and the audience through the explorations of the physicality of music performance. Ishizaki is the current Composer-in-Residence with Young Concert Artists. Ishizaki’s compositions have been performed by renowned musicians and ensembles across the world such as Midori Goto, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Sō Percussion, the Attacca Quartet, and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Ishizaki was named a 2023 Hildegard commission winner by National Sawdust, supported by The Onassis Foundation and the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation. Ishizaki is a PhD candidate in Music Composition and a recipient of the Mark Nelson Fellowship at Princeton University. She studied with Andrew Norman for composition and Areta Zhulla and Ronald Copes for violin at the Juilliard School, where she was the first composer to receive a Kovner Fellowship.

Adam Mamawala is a nationally touring stand-up comedian based out of New York City. He has appeared on Comedy Central, MTV, BET, Amazon Prime, and SiriusXM, and both of his comedy albums, Statistically More Relatable (2022) and One of the Good Ones (2017) debuted at #1 on the iTunes Comedy Charts. Since 2024, Adam has toured as Dane Cook’s feature act, performing at iconic venues including The Fillmore in Detroit, The Met in Philadelphia, and NYC’s Beacon Theatre. In 2025, he featured for Jon Stewart at the prestigious Lucille Ball Comedy Festival in Jamestown, NY, and was selected as one of Forbes’ 12 Rising AAPI Stand-Up Comedians To Watch.

Michaela A.Ternasky-Holland is a Peabody-nominated and Emmy award-winning director who specializes in creating impactful stories using immersive and interactive technology. She is one of the first directors to create and premiere a short film utilizing Open AI’s SORA platform, which screened at Tribeca Festival. Her first original animated series garnered over 2.2 million views on YouTube within a month of release. More of her prolific work in animation has been recognized as Best Directing in XR by The Collision Awards, VR Film of Year Finalist by the International VR Awards, and Grand Prize Winner at The Philippine Animation Festival. As a nominee for the Producers Guild of America’s Innovation Award, she is also a consultant, speaker, and thought leader who has been recognized as one of the 100 Original Voices of XR and listed as one of Blooloop’s 50 Immersive Influencers.