For orchestra 
Duration: ca. 9
[2(pic.).2(bcl).2.2(cbsn). – 2.2.2(btbn).1 – 3perc. cel. pno. – harp – strings] or
[3(pic.).3(bcl).3.3(cbsn). – 4.3.3(btbn).1 – 3perc. cel. pno. – harp – strings]

San Francisco Bay’s Angel Island acted as an immigration station for mostly Chinese immigrants in the beginning of the 20th century during the Chinese Exclusion Act. Those held at the station would spend weeks, months, and even years on the island before being released or sent back to their origins. Several poems are inscribed on the walls telling of their feelings of anxiety, fear, boredom, and despair in the terrible living conditions and grueling questioning by the immigration officers. The title of the piece, “Cages of Jade,” comes from one of these poems. I sought to portray the journey of this author from their arrival at the station to their eventual release into the US. 
The end of the piece features a prominent violin solo which is at first echoed by the rest of the strings before they join in in unison. This represents the author’s “fellow villagers” rejoicing with them and the Asian American community as a whole coming together to thrive in spite of the violence, racism, and other hardships they have faced coming to the US.

Poem 135, Translated from Toishanese by Genny Lim

Detained in this wooden house for several tens of days,
It is all because of the Mexican exclusion law which implicates me.
It’s a pity heroes have no way of exercising their prowess.
I can only await the word so that I can snap Zu’s whip.

From now on, I am departing far from this building
All of my fellow villagers are rejoicing with me.
Don’t say that everything within is Western styled.
Even if it is built of jade, it has turned into a cage.