Professor Kurt Rohde’s new micro
opera 4:30
Movie will premiere April 29 and 30, 2023, at the
Bayview Opera House in San Francisco as part of a program
presented by the Left
Coast Chamber Ensemble. Soprano Nikki Einfeld, stars
in 4:30 Movie, complemented by percussion and
electronics. 4:30 Movie uses Donna Masini’s
poetry to explore the relationship between two sisters, one
of whom has died from cancer, the other who remains and
remembers. Funny, touching, and ruthless, the opera
reveals unexpected truths as the writer’s sister succumbs to her
illness. The program also includes a new chamber opera by
Anthony R. Green (Tenderhooks), music by Sarah
Hennies, along with J. S. Bach’s D- Minor Chaconne for solo
violin.
Professor Kurt Rohde has been given a 2022
San Francisco Arts Commission fund. The $20,000 commission will
be used to support 4:30 Movie, a new twenty-minute
micro-opera using poems by Donna Masini published
in 4:30
Movie (Norton, 2020). These funny, touching,
ruthless poems take the reader through the diagnosis,
treatment and death of the author’s sister from cancer.
Using the language of how movies are made and consumed, Masini
tells the story of her sister’s struggle, and of her grief—both
during her treatment and after her death.
