OperaDelaware presents a world premiere later this month.
Fearless, by composer Derrick Wang, tells the true story of Hazel Ying Lee, the first Chinese-American woman to fly for the US military. During World War 2, Lee was a member of the Women’s Air Force Service Corps, flying missions in the US.
OperaDelaware’s Kerriann Otaño says Lee’s story is a compelling and timely one.
“She's a trailblazing Asian American woman who did something that no one else had done at that time," Otaño says. "And because she did that, look at where we get to be as a society.”
She says Wang represents a fresh voice in the world of opera.
“When people think of opera composers, I think they don't think of an Asian-American lawyer. They don't think of Derrick Wang and they should," Otaño says.
For Wang, this continues a fruitful partnership with OperaDelaware, which was one of the first companies to stage Wang’s opera Scalia/Ginsberg. Last year, they performed his completion of the unfinished Puccini opera Turandot.
“Continuing with that collaboration, now we are going to give the world premiere of this new work called Fearless, and I'm just very excited to have it happen at Opera Delaware," Wang says.
Fearless premieres at the Grand in Wilmington on May 16 with a second performance on May 18. More information is at operade.org.
Delaware Public Media's arts coverage is made possible, in part, by support from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
