When learning a language, the alphabet is the basic element. The same goes for the Periodic Table, where grouping elements is the basis for understanding chemistry. Many of us were introduced to the alphabet or elements through a universal language called music. And we did not need a deep comprehension for these or other songs like “Feliz Navidad” or “Frère Jacques.” Most cannot translate their lyrics, but the tune is cemented in our minds.
What has been on my mind is how to connect music and science together. My name is David Quang Pham. I am a science communicator and composer-playwright residing in Washington Heights. As a Midwestern child of Vietnamese immigrants, I visited science events, acted on stage, watched cartoons, and played trombone to pass the time – as a science theatre artist, I write musicals to make sense of it all. If theatre can bring humanity out of people, then so can science out of labs and into the world. My musicals have been produced in Atlanta, Colorado, New York City, Philadelphia, and Portugal.
My musicals uncover human stories in nature. During my astrophysics undergrad at Michigan State University’s Cyclotron, the particles were like college students, colliding and running late to class. I wrote my first science musical Tour about Quark, Lepton, Boson, and Atom studying at Accelerator University. I found a family drama in the Big Bang which led to Ellipses, a universal musical about Singularity, their Galaxy family, and their dog Gravity. A greenhouse I worked in unveiled Turnover: A New Leaf, a plantbased musical about a mother-son pair of Cilantros who start a salon to earn their green cards. My musicals engage the public in social issues while reinforcing cultural and scientific literacy. The audience’s favorite numbers have often been formulaic songs, literally. In Turnover, Parsley and Pyrus sing the photosynthesis formula. In Ellipses, Cartwheel and Whirlpool sing the time dilation equation. Duets are most effective for relationship building. The intention of my songs goes beyond education and looks to demonstrate a bond or growth between characters. My songwriting process starts with splitting the equation into rhythms for four bars. Phosquare root of one minus velocity squared divided by the speed of light squared.” Then, I conceive the melody in either chromatic or pentatonic mode. Photosynthesis is chromatic for the poppy jingle while time dilation is pentatonic to bring an ancient tone. A case where I merged both modes is the quadratic formula, a fun and classic equation. In workshops, I group constants in bars alongside scansions and accents when devising with performers. Through my independent approach with music theory and the collaborative new play development, that is how I compose my science songs. I am not the only musical theatre writer with an academic background in STEM. However, most only realize their creative capabilities after retiring from their industries. I hope to encourage the science community to be bold and engage the public in their field with their own artistic passions as soon as they are ready. The world can only get more compassionate and innovative when STEM and the arts collide into STEAM. Anywho, here is “Photosynthesis” as a reminder to breathe!
Friendship between a Cilantro and pear whose Families are preju –
About the contributor
David Quang Pham is a Michigan-born composer-playwright dedicated to writing musical fables that weave science into storytelling.
The original pages
As published in Issue 2: United in Discovery. Click any page to view it full size.
First published in Issue 2: United in Discovery, the Innately Science newspaper.