Jan. 9 -- The opera "Angel Island," composed by renowned Chinese composer Huang Ruo, will be staged this month. It is reported that "Angel Island" vividly tells the life of Chinese immigrants who were detained on Angel Island, a California island in the early 20th century.
In the first half of the 20th century, hundreds of thousands of immigrants, mainly from China and Japan, were interrogated and detained, sometimes for months or even years, as they sought to enter the United States. Some of them left poems on the walls of the Angel Island detention station, expressing their anguish. According to statistics, the total number of such psalms is as high as more than 200. This scene is recreated in the opera.
The opera also addresses the legacy of injustice and discrimination against Asian Americans intertwined in historical events, including the Los Angeles Chinese Congress of 1871 and the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
Angel Island was inspired by Charlton Lee, a Chinese-American violist who worked with Huang Ruo, who believes that the history of Angel Island has been overlooked. Huang Ruo also said: "This place is unforgettable. ”
Huang Ruo describes Angel Island as radical art that wants to "bring people history that they didn't learn in school." "It's not just a story about Chinese Americans, it's part of the American story," he said. ”
The opera premiered on Angel Island in 2021, at a time when Asians were experiencing discrimination due to the pandemic. Angel Island alludes to the similarities between the past and the present, with Asians at the end of the 19th century being seen as carriers of the virus.
Matthew Ozawa, a Japanese-American who directed the opera, said the creative process was difficult because the history was so far away and the creative team was mostly Asian, but the work was exciting. "Racism, prejudice and exclusion are painful, but open your heart and allow yourself to feel what our ancestors felt and know that we are not alone," he said. It's a catharsis. The story is full of hope, redemption, and the power to change things. Ozawa said he hopes the story will resonate with a wide audience. (ENDS).