Joshua Kosman March 3, 2021Updated: March 4, 2021, 7:22 am
Mezzo-soprano Hai-Ting Chinn performs “Science Fair: An Opera With Experiments.” Photo: Kate Milford
The presenter looks like any number of science popularizers you’ve seen on TV or in person. She’s got the white lab coat, the props — oversize molecule models, vinegar and baking soda, a rock — and the retractable pointer.
The difference is, she’s singing.
In “Science Fair,” billed as “an opera with experiments,” mezzo-soprano Hai-Ting Chinn holds the stage for 80 minutes, with only pianist Erika Switzer for company. In musical phrases as transparent as they are lovely, Chinn explains the Big Bang and the formation of the solar system, explores the structure of sound, and enlists a child volunteer from the audience to help her squeeze DNA molecules out of a strawberry.