No-No Boy at Ogden After Hours
Twice Southern: (selections from the No-No Boy songbook / reflections on Vietnam)

The No-No Boy concert is a multimedia event that combines original songs, storytelling and archival images to provide the audience with an immersive experience that explores difficult histories of immigration, refugees, race, empire and incarceration. By transforming his doctoral research into a concert, musician/scholar Dr. Julian Saporiti delivers a deeply researched performance that entertains as it educates, deftly blending scholarship and art and offering a model for public-facing academic work. No-No Boy has completed several national tours and released two albums (1975 and Empire Electric) on the Smithsonian Folkways Record Label.

NPR has called No-No Boy “one of the most insurgent pieces of music you’ll ever hear [that] re-examines Americana with devastating effect… an act of revisionist subversion.

For his performance at Ogden Museum, Dr. Saporiti will curate a special selection of his songs that explore the Vietnamese American experience and interact with the Hoa Tay (Flower Hands) exhibit, in which he and his wife Emilia Saporiti’s mixed media work is exhibited.

In addition to the live music, enjoy:

• Discounted tickets to Magnolia Ball
• A food pop-up
• A cash bar
• An art activity table for kids to enjoy

$15 adult / $7 child

Ogden After Hours are free for Museum Members. Not a member? Learn more about membership perks by visiting here.

Ogden After Hours is sponsored in part by the New Orleans Recreation and Culture Fund.

Magnolia Ball Ticket Flash Sale

This night only, save $75 on General Tickets to the 2025 Magnolia Ball, celebrating the exhibition Hoa Tay (Flower Hands): Southern Artists of the Vietnamese Diaspora!

About No-No Boy

Sounds contain histories and prophecies. If you listen closely, there are winding tales to be found in a string brushed by a handmade bow, worlds to be uncovered in the trill of a bird about to take flight, and truths to be reckoned with in the grain of an unknown voice. This is the revelation at the core of Empire Electric, the third album by No-No Boy, and its songs that examine narratives of imperialism, identity, and spirituality. It tells stories rooted in years of research and relationship-building, made vibrant and profound through a rich congregation of instrumental, environmental, and electronically manipulated sounds from Asia and America. Every single sound, from the gracious swell of a pedal steel to the warbling pluck of a koto, becomes a part of the poetic recasting of shared post-colonial trauma and the startling joys that can be wrung out of that hardship.

About Julian Saporiti

Dr. Julian Saporiti was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee . He enjoys making music, encountering the arts, and exploring the outdoors. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon  with his wife and collaborator Emilia Halvorsen Saporiti.

About Ogden After Hours

Ogden After Hours (OAH) is a monthly event that takes place on select Thursdays and features a diverse lineup of programs reflecting and celebrating the diversity of Southern art and culture. Bringing the whole family? Each OAH offers a unique art activity table for kids to enjoy!