Memory, music, and caretaking take center stage with 'Lucidity'

Lucidity is a new opera staging its west coast premiere at the Seattle Opera tonight.   The performance takes a deeper look at the personal impacts that a dementia diagnosis has on an individual, and their family.  The opera follows Lili, a former singer who has a bit of a diva streak. Her adopted son, Dante, pauses his career as a pianist to care for his mom. Together, they navigate Lili’s declining memory, her ability to perform, and her struggle to hold onto the thing at the center of her life: music. It’s a role that Lucy Shelton, the soprano portraying Lili, was gifted by her friend Laura Kaminsky, who wrote the opera for her. Shelton does not have dementia, but she has navigated the dynamic between aging and singing over a five decade career. GUEST: Lucy Shelton, portrays Lili in Lucidity. RELATED LINKS: Lucidity - Seattle Opera  Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.