War drives a Hmong family from the mountains of Laos into a Thai refugee camp and on to Minnesota. The head of the household is determined to keep the memory of the old country alive. His daughter Kao Kalia Tang, another champion of remembrance, first told the machinist Bee Yang’s story in a prize-winning memoir. Now, she has adapted it for her first libretto. The music is by the Minnesota native Jocelyn Hagen, whose catalogue includes such curiosities as amass (which began as a mass but evolved) and The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci in seven movements (premiered in 2019 and already catching on). By popular demand, the premiere run of The Song Poet has already been extended to nine performances. Niche as it may seem, this project promises to have long legs. —Matthew Gurewitsch