Emily & Sue
An a cappella pop opera/musical about Emily Dickinson’s romantic relationship with her sister-in-law, commissioned by Amherst College
Jasmine Muhammad, performing the role of Emily Dickinson in 2022.
Adhyâropa Records presents Emily & Sue, an a cappella pop opera album from L.A.-based composer Dana Kaufman and librettist Aiden K. Feltkamp released in November 2022. Featured artists on the release are soprano Jasmine Muhammad and Iris Vocal Trio. This piece 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.
Emily & Sue was commissioned by Amherst College (which owns Dickinson’s house) and is available for downloading and streaming on Amazon, iTunes, Spotify, Bandcamp & Adhyâropa Records. A film version of the opera directed by Ron Bashford, created in collaboration with Four/Ten Media and filmed in Dickinson’s actual room, is being screened at events around the United States. The opera has been performed at Amherst College and the National Opera Center and by Lowbrow Opera Collective.
Conceived and Composed by: Dana Kaufman Libretto by: Aiden K. Feltkamp
Instrumentation: Emily Dickinson (Bb3-Bb5), Voice 1/Sue (A3-G5), Voice 2 (C3-Ab4), Voice 3 (Eb2-Eb4), Beatboxer or Drummer (or alternatively, a cappella pop backtrack instead of vocal trio)
Duration: ca. 45’
Watch the single “If you were here/Sunrise comes!” from Emily & Sue
