Hmong Music Will Change How You Think About Music

Hmong music will completely change how you think about music; what IS music?! Of the approximately 7,000 languages that exist in the world, the Hmong language is the only one to mimic its spoken language through the use of all types of Hmong music, enabling Hmong musicians to literally speak with what sounds like just instrumental music to outside ears. As such, Hmong music not only gives us a window into viewing WHERE music and language meets, but also the exceptional flexibility and lengths to which human brains are capable of assigning and attributing meaning and significance to seemingly arbitrary sounds. Neng's bilingual (English/Hmong) presentation will use Hmong Musical Languages to change how you view the place and possibilities for music and language in our everyday world. 

The program is part of the Sun Prairie Public Library's Hmong New Year Celebration! 

This event is made possible with generous funding from: the Friends of the Sun Prairie Public Library, Beyond the Page, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Madison Community Foundation.

About Neng:

Neng Thao is a Hmong American documentarian, artist, and researcher. He was born in Chiang Kham Refugee Camp in Thailand, grew up in Wisconsin, and graduated from Harvard University with his degree in Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology. In 2020, Neng received a Fulbright Independent Research Grant in the field of Linguistics to research Hmong whistled and musical languages in Laos. His work in the arts earned him the Hmong American Partnership’s Community Impact Award, at the 19th annual HMong National Development Conference. Neng has traveled extensively to nearly a hundred different countries, and presented his work and research at various universities and conferences around the world.