Portland Opera is proud to present the next installment of the Our Oregon Project, Shizue: An American Story. This opera illuminates the remarkable life of Shizue Iwatsuki. Born to a wealthy Japanese family and trained in the arts of poetry and ikebana, she marries Kamegoro and emigrates to his orchard in Hood River. Like thousands of other Japanese Americans, she experiences both hope and horror in her new home—from the luscious taste of fresh strawberries to the injustice of America’s incarceration camps. Through it all, Shizue rises above and reaches beyond, embodying the concept of gaman, which means “enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity.” This performance is sung in English.