IU s Phan looks at Vietnamese life in 1945 in What the Horse Eats
Connie Shakalis
Special to the H-T
Making something appalling into something ravishing requires skill. Audiences will learn a bit of Asian history next month during a new one-hour chamber opera.
There s a relationship between composer and audience; those who see What the Horse Eats will learn something about its composer, director and co-librettist.
P.Q. Phan, professor of music composition at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, has come up with a chamber (short with only a few musical instruments, in this case eight) opera about Vietnam in 1945. World War II is moments from ending.
Outdoor concert series will resume under community bandstands, in town squares, or near vineyards at local wineries. The venues are working with their local health departments and following state guidelines to ensure a safe experience for visitors to enjoy the show. It s wonderful to have events coming back. People need to get out and enjoy themselves, said Martha Starkey, executive director of the Wayne County Convention and Visitors Bureau. As more people feel comfortable being with family and friends, events will attract more visitors, which will result in a more successful event.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines on April 27 that state fully vaccinated people can ditch their masks outside in most instances except when attending a crowded, outdoor event like a live performance, parade, or sporting event. A person is fully vaccinated 14 days after receiving the final dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
It s even truer today.
The coronavirus outbreak has affected us all, and it s especially been hard on musicians in New Jersey, said Patti Maloney of the New Jersey Hope and Healing Crisis Counseling Program.
“Musicians who were always performing aren t able to take gigs anymore, they re isolated and their worrying about their family members,” Maloney said. “Musicians socialize by playing music and that s been taken away from them.”
COVID-19 closed indoor entertainment venues from March to September last year. They re presently limited to either 35 percent of a venue s capacity, or 150 people for indoor shows.
“It s not natural to feel isolated and feel like you don t know what the hell you re going through and why you re going crazy,” Maloney said.