Emily & Sue
November 12 & 15 at 9:30 PM
November 19 at 7:00 PM
November 20 at 3:00 PM

Composer and Producer - Dana Kaufman
Librettist - Aiden K. Feltkamp
Director - Ron Bashford

The Tank presents screenings of Emily & Sue, an a cappella pop opera film from L.A.-based composer Dana Kaufman and librettist Aiden K. Feltkamp on November 12, 15, 19 & 20. The film was directed by Ron Bashford, created in collaboration with Four/Ten Media and filmed in Emily Dickinson’s actual room. The popera album is out on November 11. Featured artists on both are soprano Jasmine Muhammad and Iris Vocal Trio. This project focuses on the little-known romantic relationship between Emily Dickinson and her sister-in-law, Susan Huntington Gilbert Dickinson. Letters between Emily and Sue, as well as Emily’s poetry, document an intimate relationship that was not socially acceptable or legally recognized in 19th-century Massachusetts. The plot of Emily & Sue extrapolates from Emily and Sue’s correspondences and explores the themes of isolation, queerness, and forbidden love. The opera premiered on June 2 and 3, 2022, at Amherst College, which owns Dickinson's home/The Emily Dickinson Museum and commissioned the work. The live version of the opera is composed for a fixed media a cappella pop trio (Iris Vocal Trio) backtrack and one live medium-high or high voice, who portrays Dickinson (a role created by Jasmine Muhammad).

**All screenings will be followed by a Q&A with composer Dana Kaufman.

*Please note that this performance will be presented at the Tank's in-person performance space at 312 W 36th St. All attendees and artists will be required to display proof of full covid vaccination before being admitted to the space, either by showing a vaccination record (vaccination card) at least two weeks out from the final dose of an approved vaccine, or by using New York's free Excelsior Pass service, available here. Patrons will also be required to wear masks while indoors at all times and for the time being, no food or bev