she/her

Sugar Vendil is a composer, pianist and interdisciplinary artist based in Lenapehoking, known as Brooklyn, NY. A late bloomer, she began making work after over a decade of primarily performing as a pianist and started dancing in 2020. Her compositions span acoustic and electronic music, and her interdisciplinary practice integrates sound and movement. Vendil’s work germinates from a kinesthetic and improvisatory approach. In 2024, Vendil’s Antonym: the opposite of nostalgia, a memoir of a Filipinx American childhood, will be presented by High Concept Labs and Living Arts. 

Vendil enjoys collaboration. In 2021, she scored Jih-E Peng’s short film “May We Know Our Own Strength” based on Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya’s installation of the same name, and Vendil dances in choreographer Emily Johnson/Catalyst’s “Being Future Being.” 

Her album, “May We Know Our Own Strength” is out on Gold Bolus Recordings.

The Project

Antonym: the opposite of nostalgia is a memoir of a Filipinx American childhood that interweaves music and movement, taking an imaginative approach to interdisciplinary performance and music composition. Excavating insignificant yet indelible experiences, Antonym envisions the future as an escape from pain and ponders how we can possess painful memories without being beholden to them. Using field recordings of New York City throughout the year, the four seasons serve as a cyclical frame and context for memory.