Opera about a school shooting’s aftermath has its US premiere in San Francisco

By MIKE SILVERMAN
Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The aftermath of a school shooting is the subject of an opera, “Innocence,” that will get its U.S. premiere in San Francisco beginning June 1. “Innocent” is the last opera by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, who died of brain cancer last year. Two worlds play out on its split-level rotating set. There’s a wedding celebration set in the present and the school shooting a decade earlier. The two worlds play out separately at first. But they gradually intertwine as we learn the tragic connections between the bridegroom’s family and the long-ago events at an international school. The opera is 100 minutes long with no intermission.