Spotlight on Three Asian-American Women in Connecticut

LUCY NALPATHANCHIL

Lucy is the host of one of WNPR’s popular talk shows, Where we Live. The show spotlights the stories of Connecticut residents and more recently in 2020 received an award from the Alliance for Women in Media, for a conversation she had with a Connecticut mom and her transgender son. The show also earned two national rewards in 2018, from the Public Media Journalists Association. As well as hosting Where we Live, Nalpathanchil hosts the weekly news roundtable, The Wheelhouse.

During her time in Connecticut since moving here in 2006, Nalpathanchil has focused mostly on immigration, including New Haven’s ID card program that was considered controversial, in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants, and the series titled Becoming American, which tells the stories of immigrants and the citizenship process.

MIN JUNG KIM

From 2015 to 2021, Min Jung Kim served as the 6th director of the New Britain Museum of American Art. During her time there, she brought over 25 years of experience in art to the museum field. During this time, she created frameworks that expanded the definition of American Art, and created alliances on both regional and national levels.

Currently, Min Jung Kim is serving as the Barbara B. Taylor Director at the St. Louis Art Museum. In the museum’s 142-year history, she is the first woman to be appointed to this position, and the 11th person overall. She has a Master’s degree in Art History from the Courtauld Institute of Art, with a specialization of Contemporary Art.

CAROLYN KUAN

Carolyn Kuan is the current Music Director for the Hartford Symphony, and has been the director since 2011. She’s recognized as an extraordinarily versatile conductor and had successful associations with orchestras, opera companies, ballet companies, and festivals on the worldwide scale. As her time as a conductor, Kuan has bridged the gaps between cultural and social issues in her work raising awareness of conversation and the environment through her performances. Before joining the Hartford Symphony, Kuan was also the Associate Conductor at the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Artist-in-Residence at the New York City Ballet, and even the Assistant Conductor for the Baltimore Opera Company.

Kuan is also the first woman to receive the Herbert von Karajan Conducting Fellowship Award in 2003. She was also the very first winner of the Taki Concordia Fellowship, and has received additional rewards from the Women’s Philharmonic, Conductors Guild, and the Susan W. Rose Fund for Music. She graduated cum laude from Smith College and received a Master of Music from the University of Illinois, as well as a Performance Diploma from the Peabody Conservatory.

 

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