Postcard from Monica Covitt, Fides Enriquez, and Joanne Boston
This week’s postcard features our Director of Chorus School Operations & Community Engagement Monica Covitt, Fides Enriquez, and Joanne Boston. Enriquez and Boston will be joining us on Sunday, January 23rd at 11am as panelists for our first Book Club session for Angeles Monrayo’s Tomorrow's Memories: A Diary, 1924-1928 at Kapwa Gardens in San Francisco. The book provides the libretto and inspiration for SFGC’s commissioned opera, Tomorrow’s Memories: A Little Manila Diary by Matthew Welch, which will premiere in June, 2022 at Magic Theatre in San Francisco.
JOANNE BOSTON, PIONEER OF THE FILIPINO FOOD MOVEMENT
Can you give us a quick snapshot of your biography and career?
I am a San Francisco Bay Area native with roots from Pangasinan and the Ilocano areas of the Philippines. I am an events producer with experience in food and tech, and I want to provide experiences that will bring a positive impact to my community.
What was the goal when joining this book club panel?
I joined this book club panel because gathering and connecting are at the root of what it means to be Filipino. I wanted to share this part of my heritage with the readers and the community in Soma.
What do you hope community members take away from these virtual and in-person experiences?
Just because we are still in a pandemic doesn’t mean we cannot connect. Using technological tools to gather and using outdoor spaces to present ideas are a way for us to cope with what has changed in the world. What hasn’t changed is our need to be with others and our continued urge to keep learning.
How do you feel the sessions will impact the view and understanding of Filipino culture and heritage? How do you feel the opera will impact our choristers?
I believe the sessions will positively impact our community. Because Filipinos have such a long history in American yet are not given enough credit or attention in the media, we feel it’s about time our stories are told. Filipinos have touched many events in American history, and while it’s a shame our histories are not being taught widely, these sessions are giving storytellers and historians the chance to share the narratives of Filipinos who paved the way for us.
Is there anything you would like to add? Especially about the work with our organization?
It’s just a pleasure and honor to be part of this event and thank you for having me.
MONICA COVITT, DIRECTOR OF CHORUS SCHOOL OPERATIONS AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Monica Covitt
What was the goal when creating this book club?
The goal for this particular session was to focus on "gathering" and coming together - especially in current times as we emerge from the last two years of pandemic-living. Some of the main ways we "gather" include through family, food, and our individual histories, and these facets are all important themes of Tomorrow's Memories. We are excited to come together safely in person for our first book club session to explore these wonderful themes and important story with a wonderful panel of speakers!
What do you hope community members will take away from these virtual and in-person experiences?
I hope that community members will enjoy learning about Filipino-American history in the Bay Area through the lens of a century-old true diary, brought to life through a variety of speakers, experts, and musical performances. It is our goal to build awareness around this important story and journey of a young woman, as well as this important part of Bay Area history, as we lead up to the premier of our choral-opera later this year. We hope that people also enjoy learning about the artistic process of a new work, and will be in attendance in June at the Magic Theatre!
Can you tell us more about how the book club is preparing audience members for the live performances of SFGC’s commissioned opera of the same name?
The book club sessions will each examine a different theme or themes that are prevalent to Angeles's story, discussed and explored by different experts in the field, as well as include musical components or previews from the opera. It is our hope that the sessions will prepare audience members to better understand the musical process of this new work as well as a deeper comprehension of the story and history and how it is brought to life musically and on stage.
What are you most excited to discuss in our book club sessions?
I am excited about all of the sessions! It is an honor to be able to partner with a variety of other artistic organizations and incredible speakers around this important story of a young woman. It is exciting to bring Angeles's story to life through a special musical endeavor. It has been a joy to receive so much support from peer organizations and speakers, all of whom are eager to join us on this journey.
If you could speak to Angeles Monrayo, what would you like to ask or say?
I would love to ask her what she remembers, nearly 100 years later, as the best memories she has from her journey as a young person. I would also like to ask what it was like for her to build her new life and family once arriving in the Bay Area after her immigration journey.
Is there anything you would like to add? Especially about the work with our organization?
I am so proud that SFGC is prioritizing telling lesser-known stories of young women from around the world, and bringing them to life musically. What an incredible musical and educational experience for our performers, younger choristers, and families to learn about this part of Bay Area history through a musical and artistic lens! We are lucky to be able to tell Angeles's story in this way and to learn more deeply about its history through so many experts and artists from around the country.
FIDES ENRIQUEZ, FILMMAKER, PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR
Fides Enriquez
Can you give us a quick snapshot of your biography and career?
I am an independent filmmaker, producer and director, as well as an amateur ethnographer, explorer, curator, photographer, painter, a retired Philippine folk dancer, an eternal student, and a human being curious about the world.
I produced the award winning documentary film “Harana - The Search for the Lost Art of Serenade”, as well as the short documentary films “Ilocandia - A Culinary Journey Home” and “Weaving T’nalak”. I create videos, documentaries and content at New Art Media Chicken Coop Productions with my husband Florante Aguilar. I am currently co-producing the documentary “Asin - Old Salt, New World” and am curating a new T’nalak weaving project in collaboration with T’boli master weavers.
When not preoccupied doing any of the aforementioned, I am busy being a mother to four great kids, raising backyard hens, and spending time in our succulent garden in Napa Valley.
If you could speak to Angeles Monrayo, what would you like to ask or say?
Can I have permission to make your diary into a podcast, an audio book, and a film?
What are you most excited to discuss in our book club session?
Angele Monrayo’s voice, as a young girl, is so clear and her spirit is truly vibrant. She is absolutely resilient in the face of all the challenges of her life. I believe her story, her perspective encapsulates the immigrant and the migrant worker experience.
Her writing reveals so much about the people around her and their experience. She is completely honest about herself, her suffering, her dreams. Her diary transported me and at the same time, very much reflected back to me my own similar experience as a young immigrant. Given the opportunity, I think she would have been an accomplished writer.
Is there anything you would like to add? Especially about the work with our organization?
It’s just a pleasure and honor to be part of this event and thank you for having me.