Native Americans have a far greater geographical reach than the American West, W. Richard West said in the Amphitheater on Wednesday. But they have served as an “undeniably potent originating element” in the canvas of the West, making their history, art and culture a dynamic and complicated subject for museums to represent.
Composer Doug Opel’s commissioned piece shares a similar name to the popular song from the Rodgers and Hammerstein hit Broadway musical Oklahoma!
Opel’s score “Serried with a Tinge of Bop” is a play-on-words homage to the musical song “The Surrey with the Fringe on Top.”
“Any connection with my piece and that song stops there,” Opel said about the piece being commissioned by Chautauqua Institution.
For the next few days, Opel will assist piano students in learning his piece, in preparation for next Saturday’s start to this season’s piano competition.
The Chautauquan Daily 