*Image: Kirk Richard Smith, Naissance Inc.*

FREE events! Coming soon -- several great opportunities to learn about what goes into making an opera, and to discover the challenges of translating Saramago.

March 8: Kurt Rohde on the radio with Sarah Cahill
Kurt Rohde will be talking about Death with Interruptions on Sarah Cahill's show Revolutions Per Minute on Sunday March 8 at 9pm on KALW (91.7 FM). A great chance to hear Kurt's thoughts on composing the music for his first opera and working with the talents of Thomas Laqueur (librettist), Majel Connery (director), Nikki Einfeld (soprano) and the whole ensemble. You can also listen live at http://kalw.org/listen-live.

March 16: Free performance at UC Berkeley
Free performance of excerpts from Death with Interruptions only: 12:15pm, Monday, March 16, 2015 at Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley campus

In conjunction with the opera's premiere, UC Berkeley's Doreen B. Townsend Center for the Humanities will host two discussions with noted scholars and artists. These talks are free of charge and all are welcome to attend. For detailed updates check the Townsend Center websites.

March 18: The Art and Craft of Translation
Wednesday, March 18, 5-7pm
UC Berkeley Campus: 308A Doe Library

The longtime translator of José Saramago's work, Margaret Jull Costa, joins in a discussion with other noted translators: Paula Varsano (Chinese), Dennis Washburn (Japanese), and Robert Alter (Hebrew).

March 19: Making an Opera
Thursday, March 19, 12-2 pm
UC Berkeley Campus: 3335 Dwinelle Hall

Mary Ann Smart (UC Berkeley, Music) leads a discussion about the new opera, Death With Interruptions, with librettist Thomas Laqueur, composer Kurt Rohde, director Majel Connery and Shalom Goldman (co-librettist of the Philip Glass opera Akhnaten).

Find out more about the new opera Death with Interruptions and info on buying tickets: http://www.leftcoastensemble.org/death/