Ars Nova Workshop is thrilled to present the boundless vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, dancer, and composer Jen Shyu at Solar Myth on Saturday, November 21, 2026.

Jen Shyu is a groundbreaking,multilingual vocalist, composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist and dancer. Born in Peoria, Illinois, to Taiwanese and East Timorese immigrant parents, Shyu is widely regarded for her virtuosic singing and riveting stage presence, carving out her own beyond-category space in the art world. She has performed with or sung the music of such musical innovators as Sumi Tonooka, Nicole Mitchell, Val Jeanty, Ikue Mori, Linda May Han Oh, Anthony Braxton, Wadada Leo Smith, Mark Dresser, Francis Wong, Jon Jang, Vijay Iyer, Tyshawn Sorey, Kenny Barron, Reggie Workman, Bill Frisell, and Immanuel Wilkins.

Even with the acclaim she has received for her recordings, Shyu is just as renowned for her dynamic performances. Ben Ratliff wrote in The New York Times that her concerts are “the most arresting performances I’ve seen over the past five years… [Shyu] seems open, instinctual, almost fearless.” At Solar Myth, she’ll present “Fertile Land, Fertile Body: The Missing of the Future,” a multilingual ritual opera comprising ancient and original music, dance, and projection, exploring the loss of mother, loss of motherhood, and human-caused environmental toxicity and genocide’s effects on climate change and our fertility.⁠