Brenda Wong Aoki Named 2025 Rainin Arts Fellow
This luminous recognition celebrates Brenda’s lifelong dedication to storytelling, multidisciplinary performance, and community-rooted art.
Launched in 2021 and administered by United States Artists, The Rainin Arts Fellowship recognizes artists who push creative boundaries, anchor local communities and advance the arts field. The 2025 Fellows form an intergenerational cohort deeply rooted in the Bay Area, whose dedication and visionary artistic practices have shaped and strengthened the region’s cultural fabric.
Celebrating Brenda’s legacy and this powerful recognition by the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, which honors artists anchoring communities and shaping the future of the arts.
“My partner and husband, Mark Izu, recently passed away. For nearly 50 years, we made art together in the City. The organization we founded, First Voice, lost 75% of its funding under the new administration. I’m 72 years old — and yet this award feels like a luminous pearl, shining in the midst of darkness and chaos. It reminds me that I’m still here, still doing the work I was put on this planet to do. I am uplifted. I am grateful. And I promise to use this honor to nourish us all.”
Watch Brenda’s Interview for the 2025 Rainin Arts Fellow In Theater
Mark Izu
Remembrance of a Gentle Soul
My life partner of 49 years passed away quietly, sweetly on Sunday, January 12, 2025 at 6:53 p.m.. Mark had been sick with cancer for more than 2 years, but he kept making music, he kept performing - with me, for us. His final wish was to see our son KK and meet our new grandbaby girl. We flew to Boston where KK and Geena live and he met precious baby Lucy.
Mission accomplished!
Mark always did like to get through his "to do" list. We flew back to San Francisco on Christmas Eve. Two weeks later, he died peacefully in his sleep.
The outpouring of love from so many of you comforts my aching heart. Thank you.
My beloved Mark,
You were fiercely loyal, loved your friends and family passionately and wouldn’t say a mean word against a soul - even when someone did you wrong. You loved to wear silly animal slippers in our flat and drink out of tiny coffee cups, your favorite one was made by our niece, Ten.
You were a wonderful father. When KK was a baby, you told me to watch KK’s little toes and if they started to wiggle KK needed us. You said babies can’t talk, but they tell you in other ways and crying is their last resort. I think that’s why KK has always been so confident.
You would never take the last bite; you'd always leave one mouthful on the plate. I found that exasperating. Since I’m mestiza, I didn’t know that in Japanese tradition, it’s considered inconsiderate to take the last bite. Leaving a little food on your plate is an offering to the kami, shows consideration for those who don’t have enough and shows the cook you appreciate the effort they put into the meal. That is so you, my dearest Mark - you never explained, you just did.
You were my bass player quietly holding it down - rock steady. I used to tell you that sometimes I felt like a helium balloon soaring away into the sky, but when I got scared, I could count on you to hold onto my string.
Once, when I was bogged down in the existential blues, swirling in uncertainty, I asked you what was the point of our work anyway and you said simply “to uncover the Light.” That has been my mantra ever since.
You were always there beside me - within calling distance, hugging distance. Every morning you'd wake up and make me coffee and I’d tell you, you made the best coffee in San Francisco because it was.
Every night we fell asleep holding hands.
The last words you said to me were, “I love you.”
This is my promise to you: your music, your wisdom, your spirit, your art and what we created together will live on "uncovering the Light."
I love you, Mark Izu.
Thank you All for your love and support,
Brenda, KK (and Mark in Spirit)
Mark’s Celebration of Life
Donations to Mark’s Farewell Fund will go directly toward covering the costs of his end-of-life care, funeral/burial expenses, and Mark’s Celebration of Life event (memorial service).
Memories of Mark
Please share your memories and photos of Mark. Your contributions will help us create a lasting tribute to him and a memory book for Lucy.
THANK YOU TO OUR FIRST VOICE COMMUNITY
About Our Story
49 years ago, a young woman and a young man decided to create works of art that would change the hearts and minds of people so that together, all of us could make the world a better place.
Thus was born...
FIRST VOICE
The Home of
Culture Bearers, Wisdom Keepers & Truth Tellers since 1976
Presented by
BRENDA WONG AOKI & MARK IZU
Prize of Hope Award 2024
Prize of Hope is an award given in both Europe and the US in partnership between Aasen Teater and Dell'Arte International . "It is given to a person or a theatre who has worked for human hope; daring, loving, vulgar, serious, poetic and always with sparkling energy, against conventional thinking, which is the gravest threat to our cultures: For a world where people use their own eyes, ears and voices.” Read more
“Their work gives voice to those who are not often heard. And that is an act of hope that makes them very deserving of the 2024 Prize of Hope.”
We’ve been recognized by Theatre Bay Area
Homegrown - This production is creating jobs and creative opportunities right here in the Bay Area!
This achievement goes to productions that make a significant commitment to promoting, developing, and strengthening the talents of theatremakers right here in the Bay Area. This achievement also includes productions that have connections with local apprenticeship programs. Want to see a show that is by and for local theatre artists? Visit Theatre Bay Area’s What’s Playing
Coming Soon - Soul of the City Film (2025)
Currently in Post-Production
Past Performances
The 4th Annual
Story Circle of the Japanese Diaspora 2024: Why Story
Free International Virtual (online) Event
Saturday, July 27th 10AM - 12PM
Why Story created and conceived by America’s first nationally recognized Asian American storyteller, Brenda Wong Aoki
First Voice presents the 4th annual Story Circle of the Japanese Diaspora: Why Story created and conceived by America’s first nationally recognized Asian American storyteller, Brenda Wong Aoki and Asian American jazz pioneer composer Mark Izu. The purpose of the annual Story Circle is to bring together the lost tribe of people of Japanese descent who were forced to scatter during the incarceration, embrace our mixed-racechildren and the Shin-Issei community in order to heal,comfort, & strengthen through the power of personal story. Sharing our stories helps us to understand our history, its impact on our lives and lights the way to make future together.
Story Circle is a heart-centered event. All presenters and facilitators are artists, healers or spiritual leaders. 100+ people from all of the U.S. and abroad gather each year. Please bring a personal talisman and family photo(s) to share. (link to StoryCircle page on the First Voice website)
This year’s story circle features host Eryn Kimura (Hapa Gosei filmmaker & multimedia artist, San Francisco), Hafez Modirzadeh (Persian composer/musician, San Francisco) Kenny Endo (Taiko Master, Hawaii), Mas Koga (Shin-Issei musician/composer, New York), Derek Nakamoto (Hapa Sansei composer/musician Los Angeles), Sara Sithi-Amnuai (Hapa Nisei musician, Los Angeles) devorah major (3rd poet laureate of San Francisco), Alton Takiyama-Chung (master storyteller Hawaii), Eshu Bumpus (master storyteller Massachusetts), Motoko (Master storytellerMassachusetts) and a digital collage designed by Andi Wong. Facilitators are from all over the U.S., Hawaii, Canada, and Brazil.
Story Circle of the Japanese Diaspora is produced by First Voice and commissioned by: The San Francisco Arts Commission, Supervisor Preston & District 5, Grants for the Arts, The Hewlett Foundation, the Office of Economic Workforce Development City and County of San Francisco
AAPI HERITAGE MONTH IS HERE!
"During the month of May, explore Asian American & Pacific Islander culture through films, foods, and books. The APA Heritage Foundation works with our Official Celebration Partners the Asian Art Museum, the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) and the San Francisco Public Library to compile a Celebration Guide with a list of activities and events in the San Francisco Bay Area taking place in May." (apasf.gov)
Want to help spread the word about AAPI Heritage Month?
Facebook: @APAHERITAGESF
Instagram: @APASF
Twitter: @APAHERITAGES
Our Mission
First Voice’s mission is to create and present the stories and music of people living between worlds. We are the nation’s only arts organization dedicated to multiracial people, one of the fastest growing demographics in the US. Through the pursuit of this distinct purpose, co-founders Brenda Wong Aoki and Mark Izu have contributed to the American cultural canon since 1976. Our core programming is creating, presenting, recording, and producing multidisciplinary new work rooted in this mission.
We are YBCA 2023 Honorees!
" Launched in 2014, the YBCA 100 list publicly celebrates artists, activists, and leaders who are committed to building regenerative and equitable communities. These fierce innovators work steadfastly through art and activism to provoke, inspire, ground, heal, and bring us together when we need it most." (YBCA)
In previous years, the YBCA 100 list has included national and international honorees. This year YBCA decided to focus on local Bay Area individuals and organizations. As artists who have been telling the stories of San Francisco since 1976, we are especially excited to be recipients of this year's award. We are proud to live in this city and make art that speaks to its history, cultural complexity, and collective resilience.
Our Artists and Collaborators Past and Present
Click thumbnails to view titles and dates of artworks
Brenda & Mark Awarded MAP Fund 2019
“J-town, Chinatown: Our Town” – a multidisciplinary and multimedia work, written by Brenda Wong Aoki, scored by award-winning jazz musician Mark Izu with Chinese & Japanese American home movies by Stephen Gong of the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM)
Brenda Wong Aoki and CAAM Awarded 2018 Hewlett 50 Arts Commission
for “J-Town, Chinatown, Our Town”
PRESS HIGHLIGHTS
[for more, visit our Press Page]
Gallery of First Voice
Stay in touch!
Celebrating 40 Years As A Performing Arts Duo
NBC Bay Area features Brenda and Mark as "master storyteller" and "Emmy Award Winning Composer" on their 40th anniversary
